The period which lasted from the beginning of the French revolution up to the definitive fall of Napoleon I has for a long time been of intense interest to the entire world, so collectors of metallic souvenirs of that period are many, and their number even seems to increase, not only in France but also in foreign countries. That is because the great events which developed then did not concern France alone; there is hardly a country which in the long metallic history of the period is not specifically mentioned, and its medals recall the part it took in these events.
There are books by various authors which have as their object the study and description of the numismatic products of that period of history.
In increasing this series of books I am compelled to make known the reasons which decided me to undertake this work.
For the period from the beginning of the French revolution (27 April 1789) up to 18 brumaire an 8 (9 November 1799) there exists the famous work of M. Hennin: Histoire numismatique de la Révolution française, Paris, 1826. There is no need of further praise for that book; M. Hennin has once and for all achieved his goal in such a way that his successors cannot dream of doing anything more than making a supplement containing the pieces --few as they may be-- which escaped his laborious researches.
It is otherwise for the numismatics of the consulate and the empire. From when I began to collect I often felt, as certainly did most of my colleagues, the need of a reliable practical guide for that period, able to replace the book to which one refers generally today when buying and selling medals of the time of Napoleon are concerned.
That book is L'Histoire métallique de Napoléon, London, 1819, or, as it is generally known, "Millin", although M. Millingen, who was conservator of medals and antiquities in the national library of France, had finished only thirty four of the seventy four plates which make up that book. Thus it is that M. Millingen is a stranger to all the part of the book which deals with the pieces after 1806 and even with some of the pieces of the earlier period.
Of the five hundred forty four pieces contained in the book M. Milligen had described only one hundred seventy four; seventy four of these are from the period before 18 brumaire and consequently are already described in Hennin, and one hundred ten pieces are either coins or proofs, so the number of medals and jettons of the consulate and empire described in the book is only three hundred sixty three, in any case only a fifth of the actually existing medals and jettons of the period.
This fact by itself would be enough to demonstrate the inadequacy of that book. Now when you go beyond the series of pieces from the Paris Mint, you actually have every chance of not finding in it what you seek; consequently the preface of the book is simply erroneous when it states, "This record contains not only the coins and medals struck in France, but also those struck in the states allied to France, those of the princes of Napoleon's family, and, in general, all the pieces which can serve to illustrate that period of history".
Moreover, the fact that everyone who consults this book verifies again the numerous faults contained not only in the text, but also on the plates, forms a serious objection which none the less pales before the capital defect which I indicated above by demonstrating that it contains only a small part of the medals about which the collector desires information. For my part, I stopped long ago consulting that book, which is so frequently used internationally that a number of collectors even believe that a piece is rare when they do not find it in L'Histoire métallique de Napoléon.
It is completely different when you consult the fundamental volumes of the Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique published in 1836 and 1840 for the consulate and the empire.
These capital books contain the descriptions of two hundred sixty four pieces belonging to the consulate and one thousand twelve pieces from the empire, some twelve hundred seventy six pieces, most of them illustrated, by a mechanical process which, unlike the wood engravings in the L'Histoire métallique, excludes any error. The Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique, on which I am basing the present work, has been indispensible to me in my work as a collector; I shall continue to use it because for what it contains it gives a lot more than my book can contain to others and to me myself, and if that work had become the meeting place for collectors and dealers, the publication of all the medals, clichés, repoussés, and jettons of the period would not have filled any perceptible lacuna; it would have sufficed to have been limited to composing a supplement, certainly considerable enough.
However, the Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique is far from being generally used. All collectors know by experience how rare it is that a medal from the Napoleonic period is described by referring to that book. The main reason is that that book was published in a format which makes it practically unusable in a collector's daily work. It does not give the pieces names and does not continue the series of numbers but begins anew with each plate; all this, coupled with its high price, results in the collector's conclusion that using it is hardly practical, however valuable it may otherwise be in many other ways.
It is still necessary to report a very real and considerable defect in the Trésor de numismatique, that it is very incomplete for the years after 1812. I have the involuntary impression that the ardor of the author for gathering the metallic souvenirs of the period cooled somewhat as the victories of the French changed into defeats and as the medals became the expression of the triumph of those defeated yesterday and proclaimed the disasters of the French. What is certain is that even though the book pretends to have the aim of containing everything relating to France during the Napoleonic period, you find therein rarely, whatever the cause may be, English and German medals, and notably those related to the years of French reverses.
We other collectors, whether we are French or not, whether our sympathies and sentiments lean toward one side or the other, none-the-less in our quality as collectors consider this period from a completely objective point of view, and we want the book we consult to contain everything and not to omit anything which can contribute toward presenting the complete, imposing image offered to those who consider a metallic history of this period.
I have said earlier that the Trésor de numismatique contains the description of close to thirteen hundred medals etc.; if I am asked what I estimate the real number of pieces to be, I have to admit that at the present time it is impossible for me to indicate a number which is even approximately sure. However, I am led to believe that I shall eventually describe nearly two thousand pieces.
If in the course of my labors my colleagues in the collecting world wish to assist me and send me exact descriptions of the unpublished pieces which they find in their collections, I shall in any case succeed in exceeding even more sensibly than in this volume the number in the Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique. These descriptions which will have been sent to me will be inserted in the second and final volume of the book, with the name of the owner, in the same manner as I have proceeded to designate the unpublished pieces to be found in my own collection.
In addition to the books mentioned above and passing over some small books such as that of Miss Scargill (one hundred thirty seven medals) and that of Captain Laskey (one hundred forty one medals), I have to mention more particularly three books cited in the description of the pieces.
The first of these books is that of Médailles françaises dont les coins sont conservés au musée monétaire, published in Paris in 1892 by the Administration of Coins and Medals. This book contains the description of about four hundred pieces of the consulate and the empire, a great number of which can be ordered as restrikes, but then --alas!-- with the indication of the metal struck on the edge.
The second of these books is the special one of Count Nahuys: Histoire métallique du Royaume de Hollande sous le régne de Louis Napoléon, Amsterdam and Paris, 1888, in which are found some medals belonging to this period which are not described in the Trésor de numismatique.
Finally, there are found in van Heyden's book, Ehrenzeichen, Meiningen 1897, 1898, and 1903 some military medals of the period; French, Austrian, and German; which according to the plan of the Trésor de numismatique are not excluded from that book but which none-the-less are, with a few exceptions, not found there.
As for the aim of the present book, I have tried as author to give what I could not find as a collector, that is to say, a manual which because of its price could be in the hands of serious collectors, of a format allowing it to be used in the daily work, arranged in such a fashion that it would be enough to give the number and name of the piece to be understood, containing correct text and comprehending a greater number of pieces than any other similar book now existing.
As to the extent to which I have admitted different pieces, that is to say, the scope which I have given to the expression "medals related to France". it is evident that I have had to impose some rules.
Where French pieces are concerned I have felt it necessary to include them all. I have followed the same principle for those from the family and relatives of Napoleon.
For other countries, on the contrary, I have discarded the pieces which by their subject, their inscription, or the people whom they represent, do not make any direct allusion to France or to events connected to France and to its government.
I certainly know that objections can be raised to a principle which, for example, obliges me to describe a medal struck on the occasion of the inauguration of a church in Holland during the reign of Louis Napoleon. an event which has very little connection with the reign of Napoleon I, or to give the description of a medal struck on the occasion of the inauguration of a bridge in Parma by Marie Louise at a period not only when this last was an independent sovereign, but when Napoleon had been dead for a long time and Marie Louise married to another.
None the less, it was necessary to adopt a rule, and that which I have followed seemed to me to lead to a good result. In any case, without a principle the omissions and admissions would have had a completely arbitrary character.
The metallic souvenirs contained in my book are exclusively numismatic, that is to say, my work includes only medals, cliches, repousses, and jettons. All decorations which have a form other than that of medals are thus excluded. I have likewise left out pieces made entirely by a graver and the pieces of that sort which are found in the Trésor de numismatique are thus not ordinarily admitted to my book.
The medals struck on the occasion of visits to the workshops of the French Mint are generally made with weights and dimensions equivalent to those of two and five franc pieces and provided on the edge with the inscriptions used for the coins. These pieces belong just as well in a collection of coins as in a collection of medals, and they are, contrary to what is the case with the other pieces, actively researched by coin collectors. For this reason I decided to give the description of these pieces a special place in the second volume. The pieces struck on the occasion of visits to the Medal Mint, are, on the contrary, uniquely medals and are consequently found in the ordinary order of the series in the book.
As to the order in which I have arranged the pieces, I have tried to maintain the chronological order for each year. None the less, there are a number of pieces which do not allude to or have a connection with any event. These pieces are added at the end of the year in which they were struck in the following order: 1) political medals, 2) medals with portraits, 3) public events, 4) institutions and public authorities, 5) societies and private enterprises, 6) masonic medals.
For the undated pieces I have followed the classification of the Trésor de numismatique, even in cases which I consider very doubtful.
The medals struck for an event which took place before the date indicated on the piece are described under the year which the medal bears and not under the date on which the event occurred. As for pieces struck later which do not carry the date of the striking, I have been forced to put them under the date of the event to which they allude, but I have then added a note indicating that the piece is of a later date.
Portrait medals which do not bear any indication of the date of their emission are classified under the date of the death of the person represented if the name of the person or the medal is not connected with a definite event; otherwise medals are placed under the date of the event.
Here follows in detail the order I have used in the description of the medals:
The description of each piece is preceded by its number; the numbers preceded by an asterisk are of items which are in my collection. Next comes a succinct designation of the piece. This designation is always made in such a way that it reminds you of the piece as briefly as possible, and these designations are thus the names I have given the pieces after a serious examination. The designation of the piece is followed by the name of the engraver in parentheses. This name is italicised when it is found on the piece either in full or as initials. However, there are a number of pieces of which the name of the engraver is known although neither his name nor his initials are found on them; for these pieces the name of the engraver is in roman letters.
This information is followed by the description of the obverse or face of the piece. First I report the circular legend. There follows the description of the types, then the inscriptions in the exergue, below and in the field, with an indication of their position on the piece. As for the inscription relative to the engraver or the director, it is only reported in the case when to these names is added the year or any other detail. In a second paragraph is found the description of the reverse, in the same order. When there are legends or ornaments on the edge, their description is given in a third paragraph.
The legends are copied exactly as they are found on the medals, but not in characters of the same size and typeface; such exactitude would have been too difficult to execute conveniently. In cases where the medal belongs to the series from the Paris Medal Mint (ordinarily of the forty or forty one millimeter size) with the obverse having the head of the emperor by Andrieu, Droz, or Brenet, the name of the engraver of the reverse is reported. The description of the types is often made brief so the book will not be too large, and thus often not all the parts of the subject are indicated, particularly when pieces already published are concerned.. By this expression I mean everything which has already been published in the books already cited.
When the inscriptions are in Greek, Russian, or Czech they are translated into French and the original language is indicated: on the contrary, inscriptions in French, German, Italian, English, and Spanish, as well as those in Latin, are reproduced as such.
After the description of the piece its nature is given as medal, jetton, cliche, repousse, decoration. The type of metal used in striking the piece is added only when just one metal was used. Since most of the pieces were struck in several metals, their composition is not indicated.
Finally I have added, for the pieces already described, the numbers they are assigned in the existing books, which will doubtlessly be welcomed by those of my colleagues who have arranged their collections and their inventories in accordance with the books in question.
It will perhaps be regretted that there is not to be found in this book an indication of the degree of rarity of each piece, but not wanting to expose myself to giving incorrect indications and knowing from experience that such indications are often erroneous, I have limited myself to the asterisk placed in front of the numbers which are found in my collection. Since I have been collecting for more than twenty five years and I have almost never refused pieces offered to me which I did not already possess because of their price, I can say with some surety that numbers which do not have the asterisk are to be considered rare, and even very rare when it concerns pieces related to political events. When I knew that medal had been struck in a certain number of copies I mentioned that in a special note. As to the other notes, it is to be noted that they do not ordinarily supply anything except special explanations about the piece described and that they are not historical or biographical notices, which must be sought elsewhere.
A great number of medals contain orthographic errors, sometimes even a whole series of them. It would be superfluous to add that I have scrupulously reported these errors, even if in valuable books a contrary process has been followed, which can only lead collectors into error.
In cases where the orthographic errors may lead the reader to believe that the mistake was made by me, I have put an exclamation mark to indicate that the error is in the original. When the errors are so numerous or of such a nature that the reader cannot have any doubt regarding them, I have not felt it necessary to add that mark.
On the other hand I do not dare to pretend that this book is without error, for there is no book of this sort without errors, but I think it useful to state that the differences which may exist between the descriptions in my book and those of the Trésor de numismatique and of Médailles françaises --without speaking of those of L'Histoire métallique-- are not by themselves a proof of the inexactitude of my descriptions, because there are in the text of those books a considerable number of errors which I have been able to establish by comparing pieces or the reproductions of pieces with the text.
Besides the errors which my book may contain there also may be found mistakes in the language, for which I solicit the indulgence of the reader. When one ventures to write a book in a foreign language one exposes oneself to the danger of making such mistakes, even if one has obtained the assistance of competent people.
Each of the two volumes will be followed by an index of all the medals contained in it, arranged according to their date in the year and including the name given to each entry. The second volume will contain in addition an index of the matters which are mentioned in the text. There will be found there the names of people and cities mentioned in the course of the work as well as the various matters covered in it.
Copenhagen, 1 January 1904.
L. Bramsen
Three years ago I said in the preface to the first part of the Médallier Napoléon le Grand that the Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique contains the description of twelve hundred seventy six numismatic souvenirs of the events of the Napoleonic era, but that the exact number of these souvenirs was unknown. I added that according to me one day there would be known close to two thousand of these souvenirs. I vow that I was deceived, because having worked through the period up to the end of 1815 I myself have already described seventeen hundred seventy five pieces, and I am far from the end. There are still lacking not only the numerous medals up to the death of Napoleon but also the period after that event and up to our days has produced many hundreds of pieces which without any doubt are connected to the Napoleonic period. If one adds on to this number the pieces coming from visits to the coin mint, I shall myself have exceeded sensibly the number two thousand when I shall have finished my work.
Under these conditions I have had to abandon my first idea of limiting the book to two volumes, but I hope at the end of another three years to be able to publish the third and final volume. I thought that the year 1815, which terminated the catastrophe in an irremediale fashion and which was for the hero of the last century the beginning of the tragedy on the desert rock of Saint Helen's, could form the natural end of the second volume.
It was with a certain feeling of confidence that I published the first volume, being nearly certain that I had not left out anything important. And I believe I was not deceived, for my work for the years 1799-1809 has been employed in accordance with its destination as a handbook used in the transactions between buyers and sellers and it is very rare to see that some piece is not in my book. I even dare to add that it has sometimes happened that a remark of that sort has been made about pieces which really do not enter at all into the limits of my book.
None the less, I do not have the same confidence about the present, second volume-- quite on the contrary I am certain that there are a good many gaps, especially for the years 1813, 1814, and 1815. The reason of my supposition rests on the fact that although the numismatic books for the period from 1799 to 1812 are very complete, it is not the same for the following years. Of the five hundred sixty pieces for the years 1813-1815 described in the present volume, more than four hundred are not described in the Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique. Some of these pieces in my book are described from the originals in my own collection, some from impressions kindly sent me from various sources, finally, from my researches made in various public collections, researches otherwise very difficult because the pieces in question are found in the series of a great number of different countries, no public collection having adopted the plan of my book. Finally, I have listed a small number of medals with the descriptions I have found in Hildebrand, Ampach, and Appel without myself being able to verify the exactness of the description by comparing it with the original piece or an impression of the piece.
Under these conditions it is almost certain that there are gaps, and so I have to make a very specific appeal on this subject to collectors so that what is lacking can be inserted into the supplement of the third volume.
I address my sincere thanks to those who have already kindly wished to lend me a support thanks to which I have been able to make this volume as complete as it is.
Copenhagen, 1 January 1907.
L. Bramsen.
If the third and last volume of the Médallier Napoléon has not appeared until now, that is to say, six years after the second volume, it because my efforts have been directed mainly toward gathering the greatest number of pieces possible, given that I shall certainly not have occasion to publish a second supplement containing that which shall have been left out of the present volume. I have no pretention at all of having succeeded in my efforts, because even in the course of the printing of this volume and afterwards I have acquired the certitude that it contains gaps, even numerous enough that after me others will be able to succeed in forming a supplement filling them. In any case, the number of twenty three hundred thirty pieces reached by me for the century after the birth of Napoleon has exceeded by far my anticipation at the start, and seeing the general usage being made of my book in citing it when pieces change handsI have the conviction that it will be used to even greater advantage after the publication of the present volume. I shall then have reached the principal aim which I proposed to myself at the beginning, that is, to create a connection uniting the buyers and sellers of medals having a connection to Napoleon I.
I still have to make a few explanatory remarks about the indexes annexed to this volume, because I have tried to set up those indices in a manner which is essentially different from that ordinarily used. According to my experience the indexes annexed to books of this sort are of mediocre value for collectors, they not being able to tell where they should look for the piece about which they want to inform themselves. Every index where the author lists the piece in an alphabetical order chosen by himself is not good for much, because according to the choice of the author often the piece could be listed under one letter as well as under another, but what is of concern, according to me, is that when one has a piece in his hand he can rapidly and surely ascertain whether the piece is described and under what number. I have tried to arrive at that by placing each piece in the index according to whether it contains the name of a person or place. If the piece contains the names of many people or of many places you can always find it under one of the names. For personal names I have quite naturally made an exception for the name on Napoleon, because there would have been more than a thousand pieces under his name, which would have made searching useless. The numbers found under his name are thus only medals having no other subject than Napoleon himself, that is to say, medals not connected to any other event than the very existence of Napoleon.
As for place names I have omitted, besides the name of the City of Paris, the names of the countries France, Prussia, England, Russia, Austria, Italy, because there as well because of the great number of pieces, the application of the system would hardly be practical, much more because the frontiers of some of these countries were frequently modified then: searching under them would not be very sure. On the contrary, I have naturally noted all designation of localities found within these countries.
My system of including in the index only those pieces containing either personal names or place names has the defect that the index does not include the pieces which have neither the one nor the other of these names. It is true that this is so for only a modest number of pieces, and if the year is known they can easily be found in the chronological list. If you know in advance that you can find them only in that way you will not look for them in my index.
At the end will be found an alphabetic list of masonic medals. which was relatively easy to compile.
After these remarks about the order employed and in finishing my book after fourteen years of work I feel the need to address my most heart-felt thanks to all the numismatists who have encouraged me by their contributions and their friendly letters. I now know that there are today in every country friends who understand that in spite of the modest place which this book occupies within numismatic literature and in spite of its lacks and defects it represents a notable work. I began this task because being a collector myself I felt the need for such a book; and now, having myself stopped collecting, I like to believe that I have succeeded, even though incompletely, in filling that gap for my ancient colleagues.
Copenhagen, 1 September 1913.
L. Bramsen.