NEW BOOK: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF 18TH CENTURY NUMISMATIC BOOKS

Now available.Volume I : Introduction - A-B - All indexes for the 5 volumes : 1212 pages, illustrations title-pages throughout. Casebound in cloth, gilt, dust jacket. London, SPINK 2010. Limited to 100 copies.

Forthcoming volumes:
Volume II : C-GN : 1256p.
Volume III : GO-L : 1368p.
Volume IV : M-R : 1372p.
Volume V : S-Z : 1236p.

Early numismatic publications contain invaluable evidence which can throw new light upon unsolved numismatic questions. This is the starting point and the 'raison d'être' of this major new series of books which cover all authored numismatic publications from 1700 till 1800, excluding all numismatic publications concerning the French Revolution which will be the subject of a separate publication..

For more than 200 years the main bibliographic source for identifying early numismatic publications was the Bibliotheca Numaria, published by J.G. Lipsius in 1801.

During the last fifty years Christian E. Dekesel and his wife Yvette M.M. Dekesel-De Ruyck have not only identified, but also analysed page by page these 18th century publications, enabling them to expand the Lipsius bibliography of 18th century publications to no less than 6,500 items, many unknown to Lipsius and his predecessors.

The first volume explains the research strategy and also contains a detailed geographical, chronological, and categorical analysis of all 18th century numismatic publications. It also contains several indexes covering the 5 volumes which makes consulting the bibliography so much easier.

The rest of the first volume and the other four following volumes consist of an alphabetical catalogue of all 18th century numismatic books which have been located and analysed, excluding all non-identifiable secondary references from other bibliographies.

Each book has been the subject of a detailed bibliographic analysis, an 'autopsy' as the authors have termed it. No less than 8785 illustrations accompany the entries.

All entries are categorized under eleven headings, each dealing with a different aspect of the numismatic field.

• 1. Publications about the coins or medals themselves, their physical appearance, their relationship, and/or their place in a historical context.
• 2. Publications concerning monetary aspects, dealing with theoretical problems, metallurgical content, political constellation, legal consequences and the economical situations.
• 3. Publications concerning weights and measures, their use in coinage, and for other purposes, e.g. medicinal, trade, etc.
• 4. Ordinances, edicts, placards and coin-books used by money-changers as long as they have an author clearly mentioned on the title-page
• 5. Numismatic bibliographies and catalogues of libraries with a large proportion of numismatic entries.
• 6. Moral and religious dissertations on coins and money, their use and abuse.
• 7. Travel books with a numismatic content.
• 8. Publications on antique gems, rings, amulets, hieroglyphs and inscriptions with a strong connection to coins and medals.
• 9. Portrait books which have taken their inspiration from coins and medals or vice-versa.
• 10. Biographies of numismatists.
• 11. General historical publications containing numismatic references.

The heart of this remarkable book is the alphabetical catalogue, the index is its soul. The authors have thought long and hard on behalf of potential users of this new book. The indexes, which form part of the first volume, cover an extensive bibliography of 18th century publications in general, authors, editors, translators, printers, publishers, places and dates of publication, categories, subjects, and libraries with 18th century numismatic publications, and make it possible to search for a specific book from different angles.

Lipsius remained the standard numismatic bibliography of early numismatic books for more than 200 years - Christian Dekesel and Yvette M.M. Dekesel-De Ruyck's Bibliographic Opus is destined to replace it.

Biographical Dictionaries for 16th and 17th Centuries also available.

£135.00

To visit the Spink web site, see: www.spink.com

Wayne Homren, Editor

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