The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, by Eric Newman & Kenneth Bressett
Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman, 1962

Description: NEWMAN, Eric P., BRESSETT, Kenneth E. (1962), THE FANTASTIC 1804 DOLLAR. First printing, Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman, 144 pp. Octavo, original brown textured cloth (Kivar), plain spines and silver lettering on front cover. Inscribed by Bressett "Bound page proofs in need of correction, Sept. 12, 1962" and signed by both authors on the front flyleaf in the year of publication, and later inscribed and signed again by author Newman to Craig Smith: "To my numismatic friend Craig N. Smith showing how close we came as writers to make a major error when newly discovered facts came along and saved the day. Eric P. Newman". Accompanied by a matching copy of the much more commonly encountered second printing (press run of 8,000 copies) - According to Augsburger & Orosz (2020:18): "At least four copies are dated September 12, 1962, and appear to have been inscribed thus by Bressett in response to a September 10 letter from Newman in which Newman asked for six inscribed copies of 'the original booboo printing' of 'The Fantastic'." The present copy seems to be one of the six not part of the census! – The book was due to be printed during the 1962 ANA convention, at which the discovery of the King of Siam set (including the 1804 dollar) was announced by David Spink and James Risk. This announcement elicited a frantic application of editorial brakes, as Newman and Bressett had to accommodate this new information and revise their publication to take it into account. What turned out to be an outstanding numismatic work could have been issued with a major flaw had it been prepared in time to be on sale at the ANA. According to Augsburger & Orosz (2020:15): "The final tally of first printings created is 16 sent to Bressett in Detroit; 2 sent to Newman in St. Louis, and 20-24 cased-in at Bressett's request, for a grand total of 38 to 42 bound copies".

Provenance: Kenneth E. Bressett (1962) • Eric P. Newman (1962-?) • Craig Smith (?-2005?). Craig N. Smith (1946-2018) collected in many domains, and assembled a select but outstanding numismatic library, sold via a Kolbe auction in a June 2005. He had forged a friendship with Eric Newman and they shared information on pioneer gold coins, particularly those of dubious origin (The E-Sylum (2019), 22 (1)). "The majority of first printing copies were sent to notable numismatists, not for review, but rather as mementoes" (Augsburger & Orosz, 2020:15).

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Ephemera compilations by Bella Landauer
New York City: Privately printed, 1940-41

Description: All with the indication "(No Copies for Sale)":
(i) LANDAUER, Bella C. (1940), Some Terpsichorean Tradecards from the Bella C. Landauer Collection at the New York Historical Society. Folio, peach wraps, full page b/w photo frontispiece, inscribed "To dear Babs" on tucked-in Landauer card. 5 sheets with 47 original mounted dance-related trade cards, two additional trade cards have been mounted in, 18 leaves of b/w photographic facsimiles (photostats). Includes a mounted letter from the librarian of the dance archives at the Museum of Modern Art New York, thanking Landauer (dated 8 July 1940).
(ii) LANDAUER, Bella C. (1940), Some Music Sheets from the Bella C. Landauer Tradecard Collection at the New York Historical Society. Folio, red wraps, "Babs" inscribed on blank page, 15 sheets, most with typed text on one side describing the music sheets and with mounted reproductions of advertisements, including a mounted original tradecard on the title page and one taped on the first page, next to the originally mounted reproduction.
(iii) LANDAUER, Bella C. (1941), Philatelic Influence Stamps American Advertising, from the collection of Bella C. Landauer at the New York historical society. Folio, orange wraps, mounted b&w reproduction of a trade card on cover, original mounted philatelic trade card on title page. Introduction, followed by 6 pages cataloguing 32 items from her collection. Sheet with two postcard sized mounted cards, 2 sheets with 13 mounted original trade cards, 7 sheets of b&w photostatic reproductions (photostats). With Landauer's usual card "With the compliments of ..." and "Babs" penned on piece of paper.
(iv) LANDAUER, Bella C. (1941), Trivial Washingtoniana from the Collections of Bella C. Landauer. The Harbor Press, 12 pp., 19 photographic plates. Printed red wrappers with mounted carton taffy box "Washington Taffy" by Huyler's, New York (at a time, the largest and most prominent chocolate maker in the USA).
(v) LANDAUER, Bella C. (1941), Some Embossed American Tradecards. The Harbor Press. Folio, embossed monogramed maroon wraps, 13pp. with 5 glossy photographic plates of embossed trade cards and an embossed trade card template frontis. "Babs" penned on endpaper.

Provenance: (i-iii) Bella C. Landauer • Barbara ('Babs') L. Widdoes

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No title, cattle scrapbook by Bella Landauer
New York City: unpublished scrapbook, 1940

Description: A unique two-volume scrapbook assembled by Landauer on the subject of cattle and presented to Rufflands Farm. Hardcover, two folio albums, one very large (61 by 51 cm) with black boards and "Scrap Book" on cover, both covers detached, spine loose with missing piece; with sticker "Presented to Rufflands with the compliments of BELLA C. LANDAUER New York Jan 22nd 1940" (handwritten). With 36 pages mounted with all sorts of cow and cattle related items including sheet music (Cows May Come and Cows May Go but the Bull Goes on Forever, Maggie the Cows are in the Clover), 4 pages mounted with 12 German coloured lithographs of cattle breeds, the rest w/ b&w engravings of cattle, some steel engravings from the Art Journal and 2 pages of cuts of beef from The Encyclopedia of Food. Second volume, maroon cloth with gilt "RUFFLANDS" at lower right front cover. Five sheets detached; loose sheets slightly ruled at edges; 3 sheets either foxed or marked, a couple with small watermarks. Contains 36 proof sheets of portraits of cattle breeds from all over the world including England, Wales, Belgium, Mexico, etc. Most are lithographs of cows and bulls in profile by the famous lithographer Julius Bien. There are a total of 164 b&w plates, some numbered in the top right with plate numbers that vary from 19 to 344. Joined by a postcard showing Landauer's collection office at the New York Historical Society titled The Bella C. Landauer Business and Professional Collection. NYHS, New York City (n.d., unused), depicting other elephant folio scrapbooks.

Provenance: Bella C. Landauer (1940) • Rufflands Farm (1940-?). Rufflands Farm was a cattle farm on 269 acres in Dutchess County, New York, which was involved in beef production from the late 19th century through the 1900s.

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No title, theatre scrapbooks by Bella Landauer
New York City: unpublished scrapbooks, c. 1928

Description: Two unique scrapbooks assembled by Landauer on the subject of theatre, (i) on 'Sainte Jeane, Bernard Shaw' and (ii) 'Rostand, Princess Lointaine, Déserteuse, Napoléon IV, Poèmes'. 4to, both volumes in identical half navy morocco, gilt title and decorative spine. Some wear. Each with early Bella C. Landauer bookplate on the front pastedown while the (i) copy also includes the bookplate made for her granddaughters Beverly Landauer and Barbara L. Widdoes. Consist mostly of theatre programs bound in and of a few newspaper clippings.

Provenance: Bella C. Landauer • Barbara ('Babs') L. Widdoes - Barbara ('Babs') L. Widdoes (1928-2018), daughter of James D. Landauer and granddaugher of Bella Landauer, was an active promoter of the arts in the city of Pittsburgh, PA.

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CIVIL WAR, scrapbook by Bella Landauer
New York City: unpublished scrapbook, n.d.

Description: A unique scrapbook assembled by Bella Landauer on the subject of the American Civil War as depicted through patriotic envelopes. Oblong leather-bound scrapbook with gilt edges and gilt spine title CIVIL WAR. Containing approximately 150 mounted items, chiefly clipped from envelopes and letterheads, many dated 1861. With Bella Landauer's bookplate, 'Lend a Hand.' This remarkable volume is a rare example of a Landauer scrapbook remaining outside institutional collections, having been preserved by Landauer's granddaughter Barbara ('Babs') L. Widdoes for many decades. It constitutes an important visual record of the extraordinary creativity of American printers during the Civil War era - Envelopes were still relatively novel in American postal use during the 1860s and quickly emerged as a powerful medium of wartime propaganda throughout the conflict of 1861-1865. The engravings, in most cases carefully clipped from envelopes, with only four examples preserved complete with addresses and stamps, display vivid patriotic and political imagery: red and blue flags, eagles, military generals, and national emblems on one side, contrasted with highly charged depictions of slavery, hanged bodies, demons, snakes, skulls, and other macabre symbols on the other.

Provenance: Bella C. Landauer • Barbara ('Babs') L. Widdoes

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Lorin Gilbert Parmelee (1827-1905), a bean baker in Boston, developed a keen interest in coins after local collectors asked him to set aside scarcer copper pieces encountered in his business. Parmelee initially specialised in Large Cents, but in 1873 he acquired the magnificent George Seavey Collection before it went to auction, including the ultra-rare 1841 quarter eagle. In 1876, he purchased the J. Carson Brevoort Collection, as well as the Cohen 1804 dollar from the collection of Henry S. Adams of Boston for $500. Two years later, he sold the coin to H.G. Sampson for $600 (ref. needed). In 1882, Parmelee acquired the Charles Ira Bushnell Collection from Bushnell's son for $8,000. He subsequently sold the collection through the brothers Henry and S.H. Chapman-Bushnell's nephews-while repurchasing many of the pieces himself. According to Bowers (1979), Parmelee often purchased entire collections in order to secure a few particularly desirable pieces before auctioning the remainder. He also acquired a number of rare coins from the numismatist Sylvester Sage Crosby. In 1890, at a landmark auction conducted by the New York Coin & Stamp Company, Parmelee dispersed his entire collection. It was described as "probably the finest in existence of American and Colonial coins [...] Some of his coins are entirely unique" (The Critic, March 6, 1890). The New York Times called the Parmelee sale "the most important event in American numismatics." If any American coin bearing a Parmelee pedigree represents the holy grail of a numismatic collection, then the 1890 sale catalogue, published in only one hundred copies, with plates attractively tinted to approximate the metallic colour of the coins depicted, is an essential prize for any important numismatic library.

A.C. GIES COPY - Parmelee Sale Catalogue
New York City: 1890

Description: NEW YORK COIN & STAMP CO. (1890), Catalogue of the Finest Existing Collection of American Coins, the property of Mr. Lorin G. Parmelee, of Boston, Mass. the whole to be sold at public auction without reserve, by Messrs. Bangs & Co., Auctioneers, 739 & 741 Broadway, New York City, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, June 25th, 26th, 27th, 1890, at 2 o'clock, P.P., sharp, each day. 96 pp., title printed in blue, black and red; 1443 lots; fine portrait of Parmelee; 13 fine tinted photographic plates. Tall 8vo, original black quarter calf, gilt; original gilt-printed wraps bound in. Handpriced throughout in ink. Spine well worn, as usual. A.C. Gies's copy, with his name impressed in gilt on the front cover - Arranged chronologically rather than by denomination, this innovation was not well received at the time, and has seldom been used since. The first two plates illustrate copper patterns and colonials; plates 3 and 4 depict silver patterns and colonials; plate 5 illustrates copper colonials and Washingtonia; plate 6 is mainly devoted to early cents and half cents; plates 7 and 8 largely depict superb early United States silver coins; plates 9 and 10 are devoted to choice cents and half cents; plates 11 and 12 mainly illustrate United States and gold patterns, including a Brasher doubloon; and the final plate is devoted to large denomination nineteenth-century United States silver coins. Copies with the recipient's name impressed in gilt on the front cover were thus prepared for presentation purposes, and are especially rare. Interestingly we have found two other copies of this catalogue with the exact same (fragile) binding and a gilt name on the front cover board: the copies of John Haigh and Geo. W. Rode. David F. Fanning mentions the following additional copies: George R. Drowne, H.P. Smith and A.M. Smith. Of the 100 copies originally produced (called plated Chapman catalogue?), it is likely than only a few dozens at maximum were presentation copies. Because the original bindings include a spine covered with terrible leather that is never very well-preserved, most copies have been rebound at some point (or discarded), which would include a number of presentation copies (pers. comm, David F. Fanning, 2024).

Provenance: August Charles Gies • Donald M. Miller, who formed extraordinary collections of American tokens (bought A.C. Gies library from descendants?-1996) • Wayne Homren (1996-2024), who built a large numismatic library - August Charles Gies (1855-1944) from Pittsburgh was a hoarder/collector of coins and a charter member of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society.

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Catalogue des Timbres-Poste composant la collection de M. Ferrari...
Paris: Drouôt, 1921-1925

Description: DROUOT (1921-1925), Catalogue des Timbres-Poste composant la collection de M. Ferrari de la Renotiere. Bound in 3 volumes: sales 1-5, 6-10 and 11-14, with stamp "ZYMA KG. Briefmarkenauktionen 101 Wien, Führich-gasse 6, Tel. 52 97 58", all prices penned in red ink (a few penciled prices converted in British pounds) - The rarity of these catalogues is stated by Joachim Erhardt in the introduction to its 1987 facsimile publication: "It has taken me many years to acquire a complete set of the Ferrary-Auction catalogues. While working my way through the 14 issues, a suggestion from my colleague Bernhard Schoenwaelder made me decide to reprint these very rare and sought-after catalogues and thereby make them available to a broad public [...] There are at most 100 to 150 complete sets of Ferrary-Catalogues in existence, and these are limited to the French catalogues of the years 1921 to 1925". Sets with penned prices are naturally rarer. Bierman (1990:1) wrote that "the catalogues are historical documents of enormous fascination that attest to the distinguished accomplishments of [the] great collectors". This is especially true for the case of the monumental von Ferrary Collection, which auction catalogues describe the best stamp collection ever assembled and dispersed by the French Government through fourteen sales held between June 23, 1921 and November 24, 1925. Bierman (1990:42-50) describes the sales in great detail. Famous collectors, such as Alfred Caspary and Maurice Burrus ('the Prince of Philatelist') participated directly in the auctions while others, such as Arthur Hind, Alfred Lichtenstein and King George V ('The Premier Collector in the World') had agents.

Provenance:

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"Quando del trascrivere non contenti, di raccoglier, difendere, e conservare gli originali seriamente ci daremo cura. Qual è il pregio individuale dell'antiche Iscrizioni? egli è la sicurezza, e la verità: poichè ne' libri noi non siam molte volte certi di leggere le parole stesse, che da gli antichi Autori furon dettate; essendo che l'opere loro prima d'arrivarci son passate per le mani di cento copisti, altri de' quali ignoranti, altri infedeli, altri capricciosi.."
Scipione Maffei, La notizia del nuovo museo d’iscrizioni in Verona, 1720

Francesco Scipione Maffei (1675-1755) was an Italian humanist and polymath but above all an avid collector of ancient manuscripts and epigraphic monuments (especially Greek, Etruscan and Roman). He is best remembered for the founding of the Maffeiano Inscription Museum in 1745, one of the oldest public museums. A pioneer in historical linguistics, praising the Italian vernacular language and the 14th century as its golden age, he was interested in the early translations from Greek and Latin and how one could best preserve the meaning of antique texts, such as the ones by Plato, Homer, Caesar, Virgil, Strabo, or Ptolemy. One of his goals was to cleanse the translations of the principal authors and reveal manuscripts yet to be translated to Italian. Maffei saw inscriptions on the ancient marbles as some of the most precious witnesses of the deep past. This scholarly work is summarised in his 1720 publication, which is part a bibliography of existing translations of antique texts and part a study of famous marble inscriptions (Maffei, 1720). It also includes a note on his nuovo museo d'iscrizioni, which praises antique marbles as "speaking" antiquities and laments of their poor fate compared to the "mute" coins and medals favoured in private collections. Maffei however found both complementary and also promoted the idea to form and publish a complete collection of ordered and distinguished medals. His plan to create a museum of epigraphic monuments was based on the observation that surviving monuments of Antiquity were threatened with destruction due to the ravages of time and neglect, as well as with foreign collector interference. He therefore collected as many of those scattered around Verona to ensure their preservation for the future. Maffei was an advocate of public collections to ensure that no one would ever have the power to move or destroy them. He obtained permission to exhibit his vast collection of epigraphs in the space in front of the Philharmonic Academy of Verona and bequeathed it, alongside his collection of manuscripts, to the city.

Museum Veronense..., by Scipione Maffei
Verona: 1749

Description: MAFFEI, Scipione (1749), Museum Veronense hoc est antiquarum inscriptionum atque anaglyphorum collectio, cui Taurinensis adiungitur et Vindobonensis. Accedunt monumenta id genus plurima nondum vulgata et ubicumque collecta. Verona. Large-format, heavy leather binding with gilt-embossed spine title and six raised bands. Rubbed binding and small defect on lower spine end. Inside cover with bookplate "ex Bibliotheca Blomiana".

Provenance: Wulf von Blome (c. 1750-1784), part of the extensive library of Wulf von Blome (1728-1784) located in Salzau, whose origins trace back to the books he acquired during his Grand Tour in Paris, Marseille, Rome, and Sicily around 1750.

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Notizia del nuovo museo d'iscrizioni in Verona
Venice: Sebastian Coleti, 1720

Description: MAFFEI, Scipione (1720), Traduttori italiani o sia notizia de' volgarizzamenti d'antichi scrittori latini, e greci, che sono in luce. Aggiunto il volgarizzamento d'alcune insigni iscrizioni greche e la notizia del nuovo museo d'iscrizioni in Verona. Venice: Sebastian Coleti, in two parts. Contemporary full leather binding with gilt title and elaborate decorations on the spine; red edges. An old handwritten note on the front pastedown reads: "Charles Pougens lettre y n.342 Boulevard de la Comédie Italienne." Light scattered foxing and a barely noticeable damp stain on the margin of the last leaves - The first part is a catalogue arranged alphabetically of translated authors, including the name of the translator, place of publication, year and edition. For example, one reads under OVIDIO: "Le Trasformazioni da Giovanni di Bonfignore tradotte in profa nel secolo del 1300, Venezia 1497, fogl. Dal Dolce, Ven. 1553, 1555, da Fabio Marretti, Ven. 1570, da Gio: Andrea dall'Anguillara, Ven. 1561, e poi ben dieci volte: tutti in ottava rima." [The Metamorphoses by Giovanni di Bonfignore, translated into prose in the 1300s, Venice 1497. Printed by Dal Dolce, Venice 1553, 1555; by Fabio Marretti, Venice 1570; by Gio: Andrea dall'Anguillara, Venice 1561; and then ten more times: all in ottava rima (an eight-line verse form).]. The second part, titled Traduzione d'alcune insigni iscrizioni greche, consists of Maffei's translations of inscriptions on famous marbles (Iscrizion I to IV). It then includes his Notizia del nuovo museo d'iscrizioni in Verona. There, Maffei explains that marbles are the poor counterparts of archaeological collectibles, compared to coins: "Medals are sought after eagerly, gathered by princes and monarchs, stored in golden cabinets, and placed in jewelled cases; whereas inscriptions in courtyards and gardens are exposed to all the ravages of time, and often can be seen along roadsides or in fields, abandoned to ignorance, and not infrequently used for common purposes in walls and other uses [...] I will frankly say that medals are more fortunate, though not more precious, than inscriptions" (translated).

Provenance: Charles Pougens. Marie-Charles-Joseph de Pougens (1755-1833) was a French man of letters, renowned printer-bookseller, member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and creator of the literary journal La Bibliothèque française. Interestingly, Pougens was tasked with preparing the library that was to accompany the Egyptian expedition of Napoléon Bonaparte while Napoleon is known for having stolen some valuable marbles from the Maffei museum; most of them were then returned at the fall of Napoleon but some are still exhibited at the Louvre museum.

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Etching after Titian (1567), by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger
Antwerp, ca. 1630-1640

Description: 17th-century engraving of Strada's portrait (after the 1567 oil painting by Titian) by Lucas Vorsterman the Younger, or Lucas Vorsterman II (1624-c. 1670), who was famous for producing etchings after the work of the leading painters of the previous generation. Etching on thin laid paper (39 x 25 cm sheet), with traces of pressure in the upper plate edge, with wide margins. Bottom left: "I Titian pinx", right: "L. Vorstermann iunior f."", middle: "7 Alta, 5 Lata." - Jacopo Strada was immortalised in 1567 in one of Titian's finest painted portraits, now preserved at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Strada had commissioned it from Titian (1488/90-1576), the court painter of the Habsburgs. This famous painting, showing Strada in his studio with coins and statues, is the first portrait to celebrate a subject in the role of an imperial antiquarian. He called himself an antiquarius as early as 1553 and received the official title of Antiquarius Caesareus from Maximilian II in 1566 (Freedman, 1999:15-17). Titian's "aim was to paint a manifesto attesting to the 'true' antiquario [...] While capturing his likeness, the portrait presented him as a representative of a certain profession and of high social standing. [...] Visitors face a magnificently dressed man, depicted within his studio. In the studio's background is a cupboard, on the shelf of which we see two books, a partially visible bronze statue, and a flask. Seen as if in an action, da Strada averts his face to the left as he raises himself from behind a table while holding a marble statuette of a nude woman in his outstretched hands. On the table we see a few coins, a letter, and two other statues. The sitter's splendid attire comprises a black velvet costume with rosy satin sleeves and a gray lamb's wool coat (pelicce d'agnello). He wears a massive gold chain that encircles his neck four times. It has a suspended medallion, bearing an effigy of an unidentified ruler. He also has a golden dagger at his right side and a decorative sword belted to his waist. Titian's painting thus conveys the overall impression of a person of high rank and wealth. [...] Two features [...] distinguish Titian's Portrait of Jacopo da Strada from other 'studio' portraits. The first is the sitter's posture: the studi-type portrait usually shows a sitter as comfortably seated; Titian's portrait, however, shows the subject as if caught in motion, between standing and sitting. This position is well-suited to da Strada for it manifests an important aspect of his profession. [...] The second feature [...] is the introduction of statues into the interior setting. Moreover, in Titian's painting, statues occupy a more prominent place than do the traditional books" [Ref. 7] (Freedman, 1999:21-24).

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COLLEGE DE LA TRINITÉ COPY - Epitome du Thrésor des Antiquitez
Lyon: 1553

Description: STRADA, Jacques de (1553), Epitome du Thrésor des Antiquitez, c’est à dire, Pourtraits des vrayes Medailles des Empereurs tant d'Orient que d'Occident. Traduit par Jean Louveau d'Orléans. Lyon. First French edition (published by the same printer two months after the Latin edition Epitome Thesauri Antiquitatum), (12) ff. unpag., 394 pp., (15) ff. unpag., 391 in-text woodcuts. In-4, 18th-century binding in leather and corners, spine with raised bands with title and gold fillets. With faint inscription "Collegii Lugd. Societ. Jesu SS Trinit. Catal Inscript. 1672". Early 20th-century bookplate Biblioteca Caproni, Vizzola (5962, Sala G, Scaffale 11, Fila IV), Italy.

Provenance: Collège de la Trinité, Lyon (1672 accession) • ... • Biblioteca Caproni, Italy. The Collège de la Sainte Trinité de la Compagnie de Jésus, Lyon, was founded in 1519 by members of the Brotherhood of the Trinity and was directed by the Jesuits from 1565 to 1762. The College possessed an immense and prestigious library (created in c. 1641) as well as a cabinet of curiosity which comprised a Médaillier and antiques. The accession of this copy, in 1672, was done under the curatorship of Claude-François Ménestrier (1631-1705), who became the College's librarian in 1667 and oriented his purchase policy according to his main interests, History, Heraldry and Numismatics (Guillemain, 1992:206; Bertin, 2014:61). He also participated to the creation of the Médaillier under the direction of the College Rector François D'Aix De La Chaise (1624-1709), who was a famous numismatist and who had a separate personal coin collection at the College. Interestingly, Father Ménestrier wrote the treatise Histoire Du Roy Louis Le Grand Par Les Médailles..., possibly inspired by Strada's epitome for it follows a similar historical use of coins. The French Revolution inflicted much damage to the College under the attack of the Republicans, and the present copy survived while in-folio incunabula were destroyed by some bullets (Bertin, 2014:44).

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