Editions before 1850

Pierantonio Meneghelli, Ragionamento sopra un'antica moneta di Padova, in the Stamperia del Seminario, Padua 1803, pp. CXXXVI, 1 splendid plate reproducing the coin in question, 23 cm, br. ed. with handwritten title on the front cover.

A broad and thoughtful dissertation by Abbot Pierantonio Meneghelli, in which the examination of an ancient Paduan coin opens up to broader considerations of municipal erudition, including numismatics, antiquarianism, and the historical memory of the city.

Elegant ex libris on the back cover.

Bearded and in excellent condition. Rare.

GR Fleurimont, Medailles du regne de Louis XV, sn, Paris sd (after 1748), wonderful allegorical frontispiece, splendid frontispiece within a rocaille cartouche, dedication to the sovereign with an illustrated frame, 78 magnificent plates of finely engraved medals relating to the celebration of the most significant events in the life of Louis XV (the last of which bears the date 1748) each enclosed in a historiated frame and decorated with a tailpiece, 34 cm, highly valuable contemporary binding in spotted calfskin, six-ribbed spine with compartments enriched with phytomorphic friezes impressed in gold, gold title on a red morocco insert, plates decorated with elegant dry fillets and gilded edges, endpapers in fine marbled paper, edges dyed in red.

A sumptuous volume, in folio and on heavy paper, an authentic tribute to the art of numismatic engraving.

“Medailles du règne de Louis XV” was published in seven editions, each of which was enriched with new plates as Louis XV's life progressed. The 1748 edition, the subject of this description, is the seventh and last, the most extensive and definitive. The progressive and cumulative nature of the work has generated many uncertainties in the bibliographical field, further complicated by the alternation of editorial attributions: the first editions bear the name of Nicolas Godonnesche, while the subsequent ones are signed GR Fleurimont.

The known editions are:

1. With 33 plates, the last dated 1727, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

2. With 52 plates, the last one dated 1734, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

3. With 54 plates, the last one dated 1736, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

4. With 54 plates, the last dated 1736, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

5. With 54 plates, the last dated 1736, with dedication signed Fleurimont and engraved frontispiece.

6. With 63 numbered plates, the last dated 1745, plus 1 or 2 unnumbered plates and the frontispiece, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

7. With 78 plates, the last dated 1748, plus the frontispiece, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

Clas-Ove Strandberg in his catalogue of the collection of numismatic books of Queen Lovisa Ulrika (Stockholm 2001), clarified the matter by assuming that Godonnesche and Fleurimont were in fact the same person. Godonnesche was an engraver and curator of the Royal Cabinet of Medals. In 1731 he produced satirical engravings for JL Boursier's work, Explication abrégée des principales questions qui ont rapport aux affaires présentes, for which he lost his commission and was imprisoned in the Bastille. Once released, according to Strandberg, he continued to publish his works under the pseudonym Fleurimont. Regardless of the biographical truth, the work remains an extraordinary example of the art of engraving and a fundamental testimony to the medals of the period.

19th century numismatic ex libris on the back of the front cover.

Very slight traces of use on the spine, otherwise in superb condition with very fresh paper.

Very rare.

Alessandro Visconti, Unpublished Ancient Medals, from the Printing House of Paolo Salviucci and Son, Rome, no. 1, 1810, 56 pp. in total (numbered up to p. 23 with facing text in French with the same numbering), 2 splendid copperplates, 29 cm, paperback, colored edition with black titles within a double frame.

Additionally: Alessandro Visconti, Unpublished Ancient Medals, from the Printing House of Paolo Salviucci and Son, Rome, no. 2, 1810, 32 pp. in total (numbered from p. 23 to p. 39 with the corresponding French text), 1 splendid copperplate, 29 cm, paperback, colored edition with black titles within a double frame.

The numismatist Alessandro Visconti (1757-1835), active in the Roman antiquarian community, began publishing this numismatic periodical in 1810. It was among the first published in Italy, written in both Italian and French, as French was the international language of scholarly communication in the early 19th century. The editorial decision was likely also motivated by the hope of securing a significant number of requests in France, which would ensure the periodical's stable financial independence. However, after the second issue, publication was suspended. For further information, see Giuseppe Ruotolo's study, "Medaglie antiche inedite periodico edited by Alessandro Visconti," published in "Progresso Numismatico," March 2019.

The two issues constitute all the publications of this very rare periodical.

Copy in superb condition, untouched and with very fresh paper.

Benjamin Fillon, Considérations historiques et artisticiques sur les monnaies de France, Robuchon, Fontenay-Vendée 1850, pp. XI, 252, richly illustrated, 4 plates. finely engraved, 22 cm, br. and.

Untouched and in perfect condition, with very fresh paper.

Very rare.

Enrique Flórez, Medallas de las colonias municipios y pueblos antiguos de Espana, en la Oficina de Antonio Marin, Madrid 1757, pp. XVI, 408 with a black and red title page, finely engraved headpieces, tailpieces, and initials, richly illustrated, 23 copperplates of refined execution, 1 large folding map, 25 cm, finely bound in half morocco with beautiful natural grain, gold fillets and titles on a burgundy label on the spine, edges decorated with polychrome marbling with hand-finished details.

Bound with: Henrique Florez, Medallas de las colonias municipios y pueblos antiguos de Espana, Parte Segunda, en la Oficina de Antonio Marin, Madrid 1758, pp. II, 409-681, richly illustrated, 24-58 finely engraved copperplate plates.

Bound with: M. Mahudel, Dissertation historique sur les monnoyes antiques d'Espagne, chez Le Mercier Lottin Josse le Fils Et Briasson, Paris 1725, pp. II, 59, richly illustrated, 16 finely engraved copperplates.

The volume includes the first two parts of Florez's work, which consists of three parts overall (the third was printed well after the first two, in 1773), and Mahudel's essay, making it an uncommonly rare collection. Elegant blind stamps on the plates and back cover, some ink stamps on the pages, and an ex libris with an overprinted stamp of elimination from an old library.

A copy with notable bibliographic presence, in excellent condition with fresh paper and wide margins.

Very rare.

Enrico Noris, Duplex dissertatio de duobus nummis Diocletiani et Licinii ex Cimelijs Sereniss. ac Reverendiss. Principis Leopoldi Cardinalis Medici. Cum Auctario chronologico de Votis Decennalibus Imperatorum ac Caesarum, Typis Petri Mariae Frambotti Bibliopolae, Patavii 1676, second and last edition, pp. 111 with wonderful title page in black and red, major printers' brands on the title page and on the last page, finely crafted woodcut headpieces, endpieces and drop caps, beautiful woodcut engravings interspersed in the text reproducing coins, 34 cm, splendid and solid coeval all-parchment binding with gilt titles on leather insert on spine, edges sprayed with azure.

Second and last edition of this important work by the Veronese cardinal, historian and numismatist, Enrico Noris (1631-1704), court theologian of Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany, professor of Sacred History at the University of Pisa. This Paduan edition appears to be of a larger format and much more accurate, as well as being much rarer than the first Florentine edition.

Elegant ownership stamp on the first endpaper of an illustrious Italian numismatist from the first half of the 20th century.

Ordinary uniform browning to some leaves, otherwise in excellent condition. Very rare.

Domenico Promis, Coins of the Royal Savoy Edited and Illustrated, 2 volumes, Tipografia Chirio e Mina, Turin 1841, pp. 855, 87 total plates, 31 cm, sumptuous contemporary half-Moroccan binding with 5 raised bands, gold titles and fillets on the spine, finely blind-decorated compartments, endpapers in splendid peacock-tail marbled paper matching the tones of the binding.

Volume I, pp. XII, 532.

Volume II, pp. 325, 87 plates.

Published during the reformist era of Charles Albert, the work was conceived in 1832 when the sovereign acquired the numismatic collection of Domenico Promis (1804-1874) and entrusted him with the nascent Royal Medal Collection. This mandate sparked the creation of a "state" history of Savoy coin issues, based on archival documents and direct comparisons with the collections. Firmly embedded in Turin's cultural institutions—from the Royal Library to the Academy of Sciences—Promis organized his work in a systematic structure, arranged chronologically and thematically, which brought together regulatory sources, mint documents, and economic data. Recent research on the Charles Albert collections has clarified how this impressive publication fits into the sovereign's broader plan to make cultural institutions instruments of representation and dynastic legitimacy, offering Savoy coinage an exceptionally valuable historical and documentary framework.

A superbly preserved copy, with exceptionally fresh paper and wide margins.

Extremely rare.

Lavy Numismatic Museum belonging to the Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin, 2 volumes, Royal Printing House, Turin 1839-40, 931 pp. in total on heavy watermarked paper, 10 beautiful plates in total, 32 cm, contemporary hardback binding with titles on a tag on the spine.

Volume I, Description of Greek Medals, 1839, pp. X, 447, 8 plates.

Volume II, Description of Roman Medals, 1840, pp. VI, 484, 2 plates.

A work of fundamental importance for Turin's numismatics and for the history of Italian scientific collections. The Catalogue of the Lavy Numismatic Museum represents one of the first systematic inventories of such a vast collection—over 10,500 coins, including 4,879 Greek and 5,747 Roman—conceived with modern criteria and descriptive rigor. It was published at a time when the Academy of Sciences and the Savoy cultural milieu made the cataloging and valorization of ancient holdings a hallmark of collecting and academic prestige. The work exerted a notable influence on subsequent catalogues, becoming a standard reference for scholars. Part of the Lavy collection was acquired in 1866 by the Royal Cabinet of Turin, marking a decisive stage in the formation of the Piedmontese public coin collection.

Work embellished with an autograph dedication by Filippo Lavy on the first flyleaf of volume II.

Ordinary signs of age, otherwise an excellent, largely untouched copy with fresh, margined paper.

Very rare.

Francesco de Dominicis, Numismatic Repertory for Knowing Any Greek Coin, Both Urban and Royal, and Their Respective Valuation, 2 volumes, Naples 1826-27, 1132 pp. in total, 2 plates, 31 cm, splendid contemporary full parchment binding with black titles and fillets on the spine.

Volume 1: pp. XI, 700, From the Vara Printing House, 1826.

Volume 2: pp. 423, 2 plates, From the Di Mattia printing house, 1827.

A monumental Neapolitan edition, enriched with additions and corrections in elegant contemporary handwriting. Large sections of the second volume (pp. 227-230 and 241-423), along with the two plates, are expertly written in 19th-century calligraphy, likely intended for teaching or study purposes.

Small contemporary labels with location marking on the spines.

Ordinary traces of use, but an overall well-preserved copy, with fresh and burred paper.

A copy of singular interest, made unique by the coexistence of printed text and substantial contemporary manuscript sections.

Michele Arditi, Coin to be struck as a perpetual monument to the royal amnesty issued by our august sovereign Ferdinand IV in favor of his subjects with his most clement proclamations sent from Palermo and Messina in May of the year 1815. Epistolary memoir drawn up by Cavalier Arditi, director of the Royal Museums, published by the Chianese printing house, Naples 1815, pp. 44, splendid frontispiece engraved by Vacaturo, 24 cm, br. ed.

A memoir of great interest for the history of commemorative numismatics in the Kingdom of Naples, a direct testimony to the antiquarian and patriotic fervor that characterized the final period of Bourbon rule before the Restoration. Arditi, one of the most authoritative figures in archaeological and museum culture of the time, proposes here the minting of a coin as an instrument of civil and political memory, in keeping with the 18th-century scholarly tradition of interpreting monetary issues as a vehicle of symbols and dynastic legitimacy.

Elegant ex libris on the first endpaper.

In excellent condition. Extremely rare.

Gennaro Riccio, The coins attributed to the mint of the ancient city of Luceria, capital of Daunia, with a note on its remote origins and grandeur, from the Tipografia Virgilio, Naples 1846, pp. II, 28, 5 marvelous plates, 28 cm, contemporary blank booklet.

A work of extraordinary importance in the history of Italian numismatic literature, it is the first comprehensive treatise on the coinage of Luceria. Riccio proposes a coherent typological sequence, which he supports with historical and metrological arguments, thus creating a framework that was innovative for the time. The five plates, drawn and engraved by Andrea Russo, are of excellent quality, giving the whole volume a first-rate documentary value. The volume dates back to the crucial moment when Italian numismatics was abandoning its scholarly-municipal horizons to adopt an increasingly scientific and methodical approach. An essential source for understanding the numismatic and antiquarian debate of the mid-nineteenth century.

Ownership note dated 1939 on the contemporary silent book.

Foxing and ordinary traces of use, otherwise in overall good condition.

Extremely rare.

Aloysius Cristiani, Adpendicula ad numismata Graeca populorum et urbium a Iacobo Gesnero tabulis aeneis repraesentata, Typis Georgii Ludovici Schulzii, Academici Typographi, Vindobonae 1762, pp. 80 with finely crafted woodcut headpieces, finials and drop caps, 2 splendid plates. folded, 22 cm, br. and. waiting.

This Viennese work complements Jakob Gessner's celebrated plates of Greek civic coinage, enriching them with additions, corrections, and precise typological clarifications. It demonstrates the scholarly environment that would lead to the future Viennese numismatic "school," providing an early, pre-Eckhelian source for the classification of civic types and for comparing legends and iconography. The second plate bears the signature of the young engraver Johann Ernst Mansfeld, who was destined to become one of the protagonists of 18th-century Austrian copperplate engraving.

Insignificant 1 cm halo on the upper corner, otherwise a very fresh example, in excellent condition.

Extremely rare.

Aldini, Concordance and use of archeology, numismatics, diplomatic and heraldic studies. Inaugural speech for the opening of this new chair in the Imp. Regia University of Pavia, in the typography of Pietro Bizzoni, successor of Bolzani, Pavia 1820, pp. 48, 22 cm, br. and. with title inside decorated panel.

Autograph dedication to the front cover.

Non-disfiguring signs of aging on the paperback, inside in beards and in excellent condition with very fresh paper.

Work of extreme rarity, missing in all specialized libraries repertoriate.

Gian Rinaldo Carli, On the works of the commander Don Gian Rinaldo conte Carli, volume IV, In the Imperial Monistery of S. Ambrogio Maggiore, Milan 1784, pp. 368, 2 splendid plates. folded intaglio depicting coins, 23 cm, coeval binding in cart. and.

Volume IV is complete and independent in itself and includes the following dissertation by Carli, numismatist, historian and Koper economist: Coins minted and used in many mints in Italy have reached their intrinsic value up to the seventeenth century.

Artwork in superb condition, with very fresh paper and beards.

Extremely rare.

Annibale degli Abati Olivieri Giordani, On the mint of Pesaro and the Pesaro coins of the lower centuries, for Lelio dalla Volpe impressor of the Institute of Sciences, Bologna 1773, pp. 64 with splendid intaglio vignette on the title page, 4 beautiful plates. chalcographic prints, one folded, 31 cm, half canvas binding.

Annibale degli Abati Olivieri Giordani (1708-1789), was an illustrious numismatist, archaeologist and bibliophile, founder of the Oliveriana Library of Pesaro, opened to the public in 1793.

Traces of use on the title page and halo of old millstone not disfiguring the tables, otherwise exemplary in excellent condition with fresh paper and in beards.

Extremely rare publication.

Jacopo de Concina, On the trade of the Romans in Aquileja, for Nicolò and Giovanni Bettoni, Alvisopoli 1810, pp. 71, 1, dedicatory to His Imperial Highness Eugene Napoleon of France, Vice-King of Italy, typographical mark in woodcut on the title page, wonderful chalcographic portrait of the author placed on the frontispiece engraved by G. Ginanni based on a design by L. Zuccolo, 6 beautiful pl. intaglio prints including 5 reproducing coins, 25 cm, splendid and solid contemporary binding in all spotted calfskin, gold decorations on the edges of the plates, on the edges and on the spine, end caps in fine turquoise marbled paper.

Alvisopoli, a hamlet of Fossalta, was commissioned and created in 1800 by the noble Alvise Mocenigo; in 1810, he decided to equip it with a printing press and appointed the printer Niccolò Bettoni as its director. De Concina's publication represented, chronologically, the third printing in the history of this typography. The work was extensively examined and presented by Giovanni Comelli in his work "The Friulian affair of the typography of Alvisopoli" (1985).

Volume embellished with an elegant ex libris on the front pastedown by an illustrious medalist and historian from Trieste.

Exemplary in superb condition, with very fresh paper and wide margins.

Extremely rare work to find complete.

TE Mionnet, Atlas de géographie numismatique pour servir a la description des médailles antiques, chez Crozet, Paris 1838, pp. 7 with large Roman medallion protected by tissue at the end of the Preface, 7 splendid geographical maps finely engraved on double pages, 36 cm, br. silent waiting.

Geographical supplement to Mionnet's monumental work “Description de médailles antiques, grecques et romaines”, which is missing from most of the works. The text is dedicated by the author to the memory of Jean-Jacques Barthélemy: “Mon protecteur et mon maître. Témoignage d’une éternelle et pieuse reconnaissance”.

Non-disfiguring halo of old gore on the upper margin of the first four leaves, ordinary signs of aging, otherwise the work is in excellent condition with wide margins.

Very rare.

Domenico Sestini, In catalogs of Hedervarian museums. First part. Numos graecos. Amplectentem castigationes, Apud Guillelmum Piatti, Florentiae 1828, pp. 68, 29 cm, br. and. mute.

Insignificant defects on the spine, otherwise intact and in perfect condition. Very rare.

M. Raoul-Rochette, Lettre a M. le duc de Luynes sur le graveurs des monnaies greques, Impr. Royale, Paris 1831, pp. 49, 4 tables beautifully engraved woodcut, 32 cm, elegant br. and.

Small halo of old mill stain that does not disfigure the upper outer corner, slight browning on the endpapers, otherwise untouched, in excellent condition and with very fresh paper.

Very rare.

Carlo Afan de Rivera, On the return of our system of measures, weights and coins to its ancient perfection, From the Stamperia and Carteria del Fibreno, Naples 1838, pp. VI, 246 with titles in black framed on the front cover, 23 cm, br. and. protected by contemporary paper.

Monumental metrological repertoire of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies embellished by the following handwritten annotation on the back cover: Gift of Luigi Oberty, Inspector of Bridges and Roads, 1838. The engineer Luigi Oberty (1790-1874) was Director General of the Superior Council of Public Works and is remembered for having created important buildings and works in the neoclassical style in various Italian cities.

Traces of use on the paperback, interior in excellent condition with fresh paper and stubble.

Very rare.

Mariano Leopoldo d'Avella, Funeral honors paid to the memory of Salvatore and Gio. Vinc. Fusco, Stamperia del Fibreno, Naples 1850, pp. VII, 367, splendid engravings in the text, 2 tablets. with the portraits of the Fusco, cm 27, elegant coeval half leather binding with titles and decorations in gold on the spine.

Neapolitan edition of great interest, full of numismatic references.

Traces of use and minimal abrasions to the binding, slight blooms and some signs of aging on the pages, however a discreet copy. Extremely rare.

Summary of the weights and measures of capacity and foreign currencies of the main trading squares according to their yield in Naples, From the Printing House of the Ministry and Real Secretariat of State of the General Police, Naples 1826, pp. 31, coat of arms of the Giornale delle Due Sicilie on the title page, 19 cm, br. moult.

Specimen trimmed at the margins, however in excellent condition.

Extremely rare, missing in all specialized libraries listed.

Salvatore Betti, Around a denier from the Tizia people. Dissertation read at the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archeology, Typography by Rev. Cam. Apostolica, Rome 1838, pp. 24 with splendid woodcut engraving of the coin examined, 30 cm, beautiful half canvas binding with marbled paper plates and gold titles on the back.

In excellent condition. Very rare.

Luigi Cibrario, Domenico Casimiro Promis, Documents, seals and coins belonging to the history of the Savoy monarchy collected in Savoy in Switzerland and in France by order of King Carlo Alberto, from the Royal Printing House, Turin 1833, 121, 389, in the front door 1 pl. beautifully engraved in copper and covered with tissue paper, cm 23, br. and. protected by br. coeval wetsuit.

Work embellished with an autograph dedication by Promis to the editorial paperback.

This monograph was published by the will of the director after the literary journey carried out in 1832 by the two scholars in Savoy, Switzerland and France, in search of ancient monuments, in the fields of sphragistics and Savoy numismatics between the 10th and 14th centuries, with patient historical investigations. and archival. Domenico Promis at the time held the role of Conservator of the Savoyard medal collection, while the Cibrario was definitively establishing himself as a historian and medievalist. The publication, which appeared in a non-venal edition for the types of the Royal Printing House, bears witness to the attention and interest in the historical studies of Carlo Alberto.

Lossless tear on the editorial paperback, for the rest volume in excellent condition and in beards.

Very rare.