A Complete Set of Svoronos’s International Journal

Svoronos, J.N. [editor]. JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL D’ARCHÉOLOGIE NUMISMATIQUE / ΔΙΕΘΝHΣ ΕΦΗΜΕΡIΣ ΤΗΣ ΝΟΜΙΣΜATIKHΣ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓIΑΣ. Tome premier à Tome vingt-et-unième (Athens, 1898–1927), complete. 4to [size varies], individually bound in later brown quarter morocco with brown sides (spines with three raised bands, lettered in gilt), with the exception of Volume XIV, which is present in the original paper-covered fascicles. Thousands of pages of text, with hundreds of fine plates. Bindings a bit worn, with spines rubbed, but contents near fine. A complete set of this important journal. An indispensable storehouse of information, particularly on ancient Greek coins, many important articles first appeared in its pages. Ioannis Svoronos (1863–1922) was the driving force behind the publication, and the author of much of its content. The 1920 volume (Volume XX, actually published in 1922) briefly announced his death; the next (and final) volume was not published until 1927 and includes an introduction signed A.J.S. (likely his son Aristée / Aristaios) which noted that Volume XXI had originally been scheduled to appear in the same year as the previous volume in an attempt to get the publication back on its schedule after the disruption of the war. Svoronos’s death, of course, complicated these plans. Acknowledging that it is the final volume, the writer closes the introduction writing, “Espérons néanmoins que l’idéal de collaboration internationale qui a inspiré cette publication et qui lui a donné la forme qu’elle a pu conserver surtout pendant les premières années de son édition, sera suivi à l’avenir” [“Let us hope, however, that the ideal of international collaboration that inspired this publication and gave it the form it was able to maintain, especially during the first years of its publication, will be followed in the future.”] The Journal international is quite rare. Printed in limited numbers to begin with, the journal, while well-printed and with excellent plates, was insubstantially bound, contributing to a poor survival rate. Complete sets are rarely encountered—this is the first we have offered since the Kreindler Library’s set ten years ago, which sold for $6000 hammer. Clain-Stefanelli 629. Grierson 19.