Difference between revisions of "Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece"

__NOTOC__[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatics

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Barth%C3%A9lemy Jean-Jacques Barthélemy] (1716-1795) was a French writer who was especially interested in the classics and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatics numismatics].<ref>Louis Delamarre, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02312d.htm "Jean-Jacques Barthélemy"] in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907), accessed October 18, 2013.</ref> Numismatics is the study or collection of coins, paper money, and currency in general.<ref>August Loehr, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11152a.htm "Numismatics"] in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907), accessed October 18, 2013.</ref> Barthélemy worked as the Keeper of the Royal Collection of Metals and continued his post during the tumulus French Revolution.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', s. v. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/54312/Jean-Jacques-Barthelemy "Jean-Jacques Barthélemy"], accessed October 18, 2013, .</ref> Though he penned numerous works, his most famous remains ''Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis en Grèce, dans le Milieu du Quatrième Siècle avant l’ère Vulgaire'' (''Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece''), first published in 1788. The four volume piece tells the story of a young Scythian man, descendant of the philosopher in the title, who tours through Greece and writes about the customs and idiosyncrasies of each place he visits.<ref>Ibid.</ref> The works offer an interesting cultural view of Greek civilization rather than a strict recitation of facts.<ref>Ibid.</ref> "Recent archaeological discoveries have shown some of the statements to be erroneous, but on the whole the book remains a very successful attempt to diffuse a correct knowledge of Greek manners and customs."<ref>Louis Delamarre, "Jean-Jacques Barthélemy."</ref> Barthélemy's signature work was reprinted multiple times and in several English translations beginning in 1790.

 

 

 

 

 

Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Anacharsis. Eng. 5.v. 8vo. Eng.'' [[Thomas Jefferson]] gave Wythe's copy to his grandson [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph]]. The precise edition owned by Wythe is unknown. English, octavo editions were published in London in 1796 and Dublin in 1795. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on April 21, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe </ref> on LibraryThing indicates the London edition as the "[p]robable edition." The [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> lists the 1795 Dublin edition based on the existence of a copy of that edition at the University of Virginia with the inscription "T. J. Randolph, Monticello, June 3^d 1809, Friday 3^d, Edgehill" on the front fly-leaf. This copy also has Thomas Mann Randolph's signature on the front boards of volumes one and two. It has no bookplate or signature which definitively links it to Wythe.