Premier Fine Art & Antiques Auction
August 29, 2023
Below is just a small portion of the massive selection of high quality art & antiques to be featured in our upcoming August 29th 2023 auction! This auction will span multiple genres of collectibles, including Fine Paintings & Art, Jewelry & Silver, Orientalia, Rare Glass & Lamps, Early & Victorian Furniture, Decoys, Carvings, Coin-Op, & MORE!
RARE 1746 NUMISMATIC MASTERPIECE “NUMISMATA ANTIQUA” PRESENTATION COPY TO MARTIN FOLKES, FRS (FELLOWSHIP OF ROYAL SOCIETY)
02-18041
Quarto (12” x 9.5”, 3” thick), full leather bound, raised ribs, gold lettering, 8 page index, 308 hand numbered bound engraved plates illustrating Greek, Roman, English, Scotch, Irish and Foreign Mediaeval Coins and Medals. There is bound octavo manuscript page dated 1747 gifting this copy to Martin Folkes (1690-1754-president of the Royal Society) for help in correcting plates in my father’s book, signed “Pembroke”. The first illustrations of coins from America include Massachusetts Pine Tree coins, and a Carolina Elephant token are found in this book.
This most important early coin collection in Britain was that of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (1656-1733). It is the best documented of any early British coin collection. This rare very limited private printing is still revered by ancient coin collectors worldwide. Many of the illustrations are by Nicola Francisco Haym (1678-1729) author of Tesoro Britannico (1719). Even though this text was published many years after Haym’s death, correspondence shows he illustrated most if not all the plates.
The Pembroke coin & medal collection was offered to the British Museum 15 years after his death, but museum did not have the funds. It was subsequently broken up at a Sotheby’s 11-day sale in 1848, and some material was then acquired by the Museum, the loss of ‘the choicest lots’ to ‘foreigners’ was criticized. This book has annotations throughout showing lots & prices paid at Sotheby’s, and some added historical notes, undoubtably in Martin Folke’s hand as not only president of the Royal Society, antiquary, mathematician, & astronomer he was noted numismatist. He published several texts on early English & Roman antiquities in his lifetime. CONDITION: very good overall, hinges professionally repaired, leather binding with insect damage professionally stabilized, complete and every page very good, annotations all discernible.
