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Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich Romanov, Corpus of Russian coins


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HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS

THE GRAND DUKE GEORGII MIKHAILOVICH ROMANOV

1863-1919

MONETI TSARSTVOVANIYA...

 

 

“A colossal and classic scientific work…stunningly deluxe, with paper of the highest quality, elegant typography and suberp photographic illustrations of the coins…an unexcelled masterpiece” will be sold at

the Waldorf on Saturday afternoon, January 9th, 2010. Lot viewing will be at the ANS on Varick St.

 

2,968 pages in all, including 12 fine portrait plates, 13 decorative titles, and 299 superb phototype plates of coins depicting some 6,000 coins. Russian text throughout. Folio: 39 x 30 cm. Matching mid-twentieth century black cloth, gilt. Fine/very fine

set. (30,000.00)

 

Grierson page 193. Clain-Stefanelli 11178: “The largest collection of Russian coins…with an important addition of documents.” Gromchevskii 92: “Rare, printed in a limited quantity of numbered copies, not for sale. A colossal and classic scientific work which has no equal in the Russian or in the entire field of foreign numismatic literature. Especially important for the coverage of monetary history through the inclusion of a vast wealth of hitherto inaccessible documentation. Each volume contains a well-focused summary covering the technical and fiscal aspects of the coinage it deals with, along with succinct, precise descriptions of the coins. A fully developed index in each volume covers persons, coins, subjects, etc. The edition is stunningly deluxe, with paper of the highest quality, elegant typography and suberp photographic illustrations of the coins. The Office for the Preparation of Government Documents has turned out an unexcelled masterpiece.” The renowned numismatic researcher and collector Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich was born in Tiflis in 1863 and was executed

on January 28th, 1919 by the Bolshevists in a massacre at Petrograd Prison, along with three other Russian Grank Dukes and 172 additional persons. This tragic end was in stark contrast to a life of privilege. The Grank Duke began collecting coins as a teenager and, being of unlimited means, soon formed an impressive collection. In Some Rare Coins in My Collection, he first proposed the publicaion of a corpus of Russian coinage from Peter the Great onwards. A corpus of pre-Petrine coinage had already been proposed by Count Tolstoï a few years earlier. Grand Duke George funded the project and under his direction the various volumes were compiled by Giel, Demmeni, and others. Twelve volumes had appeared when the outgbreak of war curtailed completion and parts 1, 3, & 4 of the Peter the Great series never saw publication. Though 200 copies of each volume were originally printed, the series has suffered heavy attrition over the intervening years. The appearance of a set, particularly complete and in fine state as here, is becoming an increasingly rare event.

 

lot 335. Georgii Mikhailovich, Grand Duke. Moneti tzarstvovaniya imperatora Petra I do Aleksandra III/coins of the reign of emperor Peter I to Alexander III. St. Petersburg, 1888-1914. Bound in thirteen numbered volumes, as follows:

 

1: PETER I. TOME II. St Petersburg, 1914. Half-title, printed title in red and black, magnificently engraved portrait, decorative phototype title, dedication leaf, ii, (2), 153, (1) pages, a few text illustrations, 55 superb phototype plates of coins, 1682-1710. Copy No 92.

 

2: CATHERINE I & PETER II. St Petersburg, 1904. Main half-title, main printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, 4 pages. Catherine I: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, 5, (3), 98 pages, 26 superb phototype plates of coins, 1725-1727. Peter II: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, 3, (3), 95, (1) pages, 12 superb phototype plates of coins, 1727-1730. Original printed gray wrappers

bound in. Copy No 186.

 

3: ANNA IVANOVA & IVAN III. St Petersburg, 1901. Anna Ivanova I: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, dedication leaf, vi, (2), 271, (1) pages, 16 superb phototype plates of coins, 1730-1740. Ivan III: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, dedication leaf, iv, (2), 55, (1) pages, 3 superb phototype plates of coins, 1740-1741. Original printed gray wrappers bound in. Copy No 172.

 

4: ELIZABETH I & PETER III. TOME I. St. Petersburg, 1896. Main half-title, main printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, ii pages. Elizabeth I: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, iv, (2), 295, (1) pages.

Original printed gray wrappers bound in. Copy No 197.

 

5: ELIZABETH I & PETER III. TOME II. St. Petersburg, 1896. Main half-title, main printed title in red and black. Elizabeth I: 69, (1) pages, 22 superb phototype plates of coins, 1741-1761. Peter III: half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, title printed in red and black, ii, (2), 40, 14 pages, 2 superb phototype plates of coins, 1762. Original printed gray wrappers bound in. Copy No 108.

 

6: CATHERINE II. TOME I. St Petersburg, 1894. Half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, xiv, (2), 362 pages. Original printed gray wrappers bound in. Copy No 91.

 

7: CATHERINE II. TOME II. St Petersburg, 1894. Half-title, decorative phototype title, printed title in red and black, 125, (1) pages, 43 superb phototype plates of coins, 1762-1796. Original printed gray wrappers bound in. Copy No 91.

 

8: PAUL I. St. Petersburg, 1890. Half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, v, (1), 47, (1) pages, 7 superb phototype plates of coins, 1796-1801. Original printed wrappers bound in. Copy No 93.

 

9: ALEXANDER I. St. Petersburg, 1891. Half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, printed title in red and black, v, (1),

147, (1) pages, 22 superb phototype plates of coins, 1801-1825. Copy No 93.

 

10: NICHOLAS I. St. Petersburg, 1890. Half-title, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, xii, 281, (1) pages, 41 superb phototype plates of coins, 1825-1855. Original printed gray front wrapper bound in. Copy No 93.

 

11: ALEXANDER II. St. Petersburg, 1888. Printed title in red and black, fine portrait, decorative phototype title, dedication leaf, viii, 223, (1) pages, 28 superb phototype plates of coins, 1855-1881. Original printed gray front wrapper bound in. Copy No 93.

 

12: ALEXANDER III. St. Petersburg, 1891. Half-title, printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, (2), 115, (1) pages, 6 superb phototype plates of coins, 1881-1890. Original printed gray front wrapper bound in. Copy No 93.

 

13: RUSSIAN COINS STRUCK FOR PRUSSIA, GEORGIA, POLAND, FINLAND. St. Petersburg, 1893. Main half-title, decorative phototype main title, main printed title in red and black, dedication leaf, ii pages. Prussia: (2), vii, (1), 100 pages, 4 superb phototype plates of coins, 1759-1762. Georgia: (2), v, (1), 64 pages, 3 superb phototype plates of coins, 1804-1833. Poland: vi, 86 pages, 7 superb phototype plates of coins, 1815-1841. Finland: (2), iv, 41, (1) pages, 2 superb phototype plates of coins, 1864-1890. Original printed gray front wrapper bound in. Copy No 93.

 

 

:ninja:;);)

Georgii_Mikhailovich_yuoth.jpg

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And for those of us who don't have $30,000 to spare, Alex Basok sells it on 2 CDs for around $70. :ninja:

For Numismatic books collectors it is the same as collect images of Russian coins instead the coins.

But it is good idea with low budget to have books files in your computer and view any time then you need it. I have one CD copy and use files then I have to read, but not for images.

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many do not have so much funds, agree, however few can afford it and will bid on it,

plus dealers, numismatic firms, libraries, coin auction houses, numismatic bibliophiles, etc :ninja:

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Just curious. How does the real thing compare to the large format 12-volume set that came out a few years ago?

 

it is a bibliographic rarity books, set (corpus) of numismatic books of Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich Romanov of pre-revolution Tsarist Russia;

 

not all folks like reprint; in this situation the origianl set is of high price, so of course better have a cheap reprint;

 

lets go down a little bit,- some people preffer to have an original of Hermitage Duplicates catalogs, some - modern reprint;

the price is affordable for either one, however an original ones now very expensive for some, not for all;

 

going back to coming Kolbe auction, as I have earlier mentioned, this set can be easy affordable for few collectors, but in most for libraries, numismatic firms, auction houses, dealers, etc.;

 

one more thing, for example in Russia, about ten years ago, one of a senior numismatic author had an accuracy to mention in one of his articles that Grand Duke corpus cost about 100 000 dollars in the West; since then, this number ($100 000) is duplicated in all over russian press, websites, numismatic publications and unrelated to numismatics press;

so $30 000 is not a lot in contrast to $100 000 for russians :ninja:

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Thank you for the answer. A more specific question...I have the new 12-volume set which I like very much ($800 in 2005 I remember correctly) but have never seen the original. If you have seen both, how does the image quality compare?

no doubt that the image quality of original is surpassed reprint's one; stop by in our area one day to see an original :ninja:

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Thank you for the answer. A more specific question...I have the new 12-volume set which I like very much ($800 in 2005 I remember correctly) but have never seen the original. If you have seen both, how does the image quality compare?

Will add images on the weekend.

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Tha auction catalog is now available:

thirty five dollars for printed catalog can be disctractive for few :ninja:

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OK! This weekend? You guys tell me which volume I should bring so we can compare directly. And bring your 1810 2K.

 

:ninja:

Catherine II ;)

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Big format! I have the blue Set and I know they are very large!

 

Thank you ;)

 

large, but still not full size. You know, there is a reason why They (Grand Duke & Co.) were able to sell only about 1/3 of the run -- people simply did not have the book shelves big enough to accommodate these folios. :ninja: Moreover, if not hard bound on custom order, these would fall apart, if used, rather quickly because of the weight. So, the reason some unbound specimens are still in decent shape (like the much more scarce Peter I plates volume shown off by rarenum -- like he could not pick a common garden variety volume of Catherine II... ;) ) -- they were never used because they were too big and heavy. Thus, Mr. rarenum should either bind it in very expensive leather it deserves, or continue to use his blue reprint. ;)

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-- people simply did not have the book shelves big enough to accommodate these folios.--

 

people did not have a room (space) for a nice large comfortable stylish table where can few can be sited and enjoy looking at Grand Duke coin collection;

also these volumes, once bound, could have been kept on such tables too in mint cabinets :ninja:

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Well, after a very pleasant few hours that included examining several versions of the Corpus, my opinion is that in terms of image quality:

 

1st Place: GM Corpus Plates. Highest resolution, good contrast

Tie 2nd Place: Red (French) Volume & Standalone Corpus Image Plate reproductions. Dotty resolution under a loupe, but nice contrast.

3rd Place: $800 Blue Set (mine). Same dotty resolution under a loupe but weaker contrast.

4th Place: Basok CD (I also have it). Poor resolution but as a handy reference you can't beat it for the price.

 

 

The only question now is where to find $30,000.

 

:ninja:

 

Steve

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Well, after a very pleasant few hours that included examining several versions of the Corpus, my opinion is that in terms of image quality:

1st Place: GM Corpus Plates. Highest resolution, good contrast

Tie 2nd Place: Red (French) Volume & Standalone Corpus Image Plate reproductions. Dotty resolution under a loupe, but nice contrast.

3rd Place: $800 Blue Set (mine). Same dotty resolution under a loupe but weaker contrast.

4th Place: Basok CD (I also have it). Poor resolution but as a handy reference you can't beat it for the price.

 

The only question now is where to find $30,000. Steve

A minor added note. The Corpus volumes used the Collotype printing process for the plates,

which means a very high quality reproduction. The cost of doing that today for a set of these

volumes (reprint) would probably mean that virtually no one could afford to purchase a set.

 

The Quarterman reprint of the 1916 French edition used a high-quality dot printing process

which I think was 150 dpi.

 

RWJ

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