Henry Cohen (numismatist)

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Henry Cohen's photograph.

Henry Cohen (born April 21, 1806 in Amsterdam , † May 17, 1880 in Bry-sur-Marne ) was a French numismatist , composer , music theorist and bookseller.

Musician

Henry Cohen came to Paris with his parents in 1811 , where he attended school. At the École royale de chant et de déclamation he received a musical education a. a. with Anton Reicha , François Lays and Félix Pellegrini. Between 1832 and 1834 and 1838 and 1839 he stayed in Naples , where he wrote operas. From 1840 he taught singing and harmony in Paris. From 1841 he published music theory writings and his own compositions. From 1853 to 1854 he was briefly director of the Lille department of the Paris Conservatoire.

numismatist

Cohen also collected coins from the Roman Republic and from 1851 devoted himself permanently to numismatics. As a result of his studies, he often worked in the Cabinet des Médailles , where he began work on a catalog of the Roman coins of the Roman Republic, which was published in 1857. Immediately afterwards, he began to describe the coins of the Roman Empire , which he completed in 1862. In that year he was also employed at the Cabinet des Médailles , where he had been a civil servant candidate since 1859. His first task was to compile an inventory of the collection, which he began with a collection of gold coins and medals stolen from the Cabinet des Médailles in 1831 and began large parts of the collection of Baron Pierre-Philippe Bourlier d'Ailly. Only Ernest Babelon was able to complete the work. In addition to this work, Cohen also wrote catalogs for coin auctions for the Parisian coin dealer Jean Henri Hoffmann . In 1876 he published a handbook for coin collectors. Cohen's catalog of republican coins was soon replaced by the works of Babelon. This is not the case with the catalog of coins from the imperial era, which, in addition to a second edition, saw several reprints up until 1983. Cohen did not see himself as a scientific numismatist; for him, exact descriptions were primarily important. Both works were similarly simple and practically usable. The catalog for the imperial coins also indicated trading prices, which contributed to its spread among collectors.

In 1870 Cohen also wrote a standard work on book illustration of the 18th century.

Works

Operas

  • L'impegnatrice. Naples 1834.
  • Aviso ai maritati. Naples 1839.
  • Marguerite et Faust. Paris 1846 ( full text ).
  • Le Moine. London 1851, first performance conducted by Hector Berlioz .

Publications (selection)

  • Traité d'harmonie pratique. Paris 1841.
  • Description of the générale des monnaies de la république romaine, communément appelées médailles consulaires. Paris 1857.
  • Description of the historique des monnaies frappées sous l'empire romain, communément appelées médailles impériales. 7 volumes, Paris 1859–1868 ( full text ).
  • List of médaillons et des médailles d'or qui ont été volées en 1831 au Cabinet des médailles et qui n'ont pas encore été remplacées jusqu'à ce jour. Paris 1863.
  • Guide de l'amateur de livres à vignettes du XVIIIe siècle. Paris 1870 ( full text ).
  • Inventaire des médailles romaines d'or et d'argent. Paris 1874.
  • Guide de l'acheteur de médailles romaines et byzantines, ou Tableau du prix des médailles romaines et byzantines dans tous les métaux. Paris 1876.
  • Inventaire de la collection des monnaies de la République romaine léguée à la Bibliothèque nationale par M. le baron d'Ailly. Paris 1877–1879.
  • Description of the historique des monnaies frappées sous l'empire romain. 2nd edition, 8 volumes, Paris 1880–1892 ( full text ).

literature

  • Anatole Chabouillet : Allocution prononcée sur la tombe de M. Henry Cohen à Bry-sur-Marne (Seine), le mercredi May 19, 1880. Paris 1882 ( full text ).
  • Jean Babelon : Cohen, Henry. In: Dictionnaire de biographie française. Volume 9, Paris 1960, Col. 135-136.
  • Michel Amandry : Henry Cohen. Bibliothèque nationale, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris 1980.
  • Helmut Schubert: Cohen, Henry. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 239 f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cohen, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French numismatist, composer, music theorist and bookseller
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH May 17, 1880
Place of death Bry-sur-Marne