Brenner's Classic Work on Swedish Numismatics
Brenner, Elias. THESAURUS NUMMORUM SUEO-GOTHICORUM, STUDIO INDEFESSO ELIÆ BRENNERI L. ANNORUM SPATIO COLLECTUS, SECUNDUM SERIEM TEMPORUM DISPOSITUS, ATQUE E TENEBRIS CUM COMMENTATIONE IN APRICUM PROLATUS. ACCESSIT EJUSDEM AUCTORIS LIBELLUS DE NUMMOPHYLACIIS SUECIÆ: DE SCRIPTORIBUS REI NUMMARIÆ SUETHICÆ: ATQUE DE THESAURIS, SEU VARIIS VETUSTORUM NUMMORUM CUMULIS, PASSIM PER SUEONIAM FORTUITO CASU REPERTIS. Second edition. Holmiæ: Typis Joh. Laur. Horrn, 1731. 4to [24 by 20 cm], contemporary full brown calf; spine with six raised bands, decorated in gilt; remnants of spine label; marbled endpapers. Striking full-page engraved portrait of the author signed C.H.; finely engraved title by Brügge; printed title; (16), 270, (2) pages; 63 finely engraved plates or coins and medals, several double-page; hundreds of woodcuts of coins and medals throughout the text. Binding rebacked, with hinges reinforced; spine and boards rubbed and worn, with spine darkened, though binding still sound. Pages browned with occasional spotting. Good to very good. The best edition of this great classic work. Brenner (1647–1717) first published his Thesaurus in 1691, but as Clas-Ove Strandberg explains, it "would occupy the rest of Brenner's life until his death in 1717. He had for a long time considered issuing a second edition, more detailed and exhaustive than the first one though without the comprehensive historical summary on Swedish numismatic history. This would instead be replaced with a continuous commentary in Latin on the different coins. Such an edition was issued in 1731 through the agency of his friend Nils Keder, who also supplied a foreword" (The Queen Lovisa Ulrika Collection of Numismatic Literature, page 45). Pages 249–270 constitute a numismatic bibliography on the subject. Brunet 27692. Dekesel B527. Hesse 0608. Hirsch 18. Lipsius 57. Strandberg 45.