The numismatic networks of Eckhel´s Austrian precursors

The history of scholarship can be traced just partly through printed books: often the manuscript material is of even greater relevance drafts of monographs and other scholarly publications, and especially correspondences. The digital revolution of the 21st century allows us to virtually re- assemble in online-databases correspondences which are often widely scattered in libraries and archives around the globe: consequently, research in early modern intellectual history is booming at the moment. In view of this, the international initiative Fontes Inediti Numismaticae Antiquae (FINA) was launched, aiming primarily at the study of unpublished correspondences on ancient numismatics of the years 15001800. In the framework of FINA, the correspondence of the Father of ancient numismatics Joseph Eckhel (17371798) has been reconstructed and prepared for publication from 2013 onwards in a three year project, led by Bernhard Woytek and sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund. The project has brought about a paradigm shift in the modern conception of Eckhel as a scholar. Eckhel, who authored a groundbreaking 8-volume-work on ancient coinage, the Doctrina numorum veterum (Vienna 17928), did not work in splendid scholarly isolation at his desk in Vienna, as earlier scholarship would have us believe: he had a widely cast network of correspondents who resided in many different European countries as well as the Ottoman Empire, comprising numismatic scholars and collectors with whom he shared information and who, in turn, provided him with important material for his work. In the course of the project, it became clear that Eckhel was particularly indebted to two of his Austrian precursors: the Jesuit numismatists Erasmus Froelich (17001758) and Joseph Khell (1714 1772). Froelich was the first to try and devise a system according to which the whole of ancient coinage could be ordered: it was mainly in response to this arrangement that Eckhel later created his own system. Khell was Eckhels teacher in numismatics, and he had numerous international contacts, which he left to Eckhel as his legacy. Hence, in order to understand and appreciate Eckhels life and work, one must be familiar with his two important Austrian precursors. In this follow-up project, the correspondences of Froelich and Khell will be reconstructed and published with commentaries: we will prepare not only a print edition, but also a digital edition, in close cooperation with the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (Austrian Academy of Sciences). In this way, it will be possible to trace the development of the so-called Vienna School of Numismatics in the first half of the 18th century: this will also be the topic of an international workshop in Vienna in the framework of the project.

The history of scholarship can be traced just partly through printed books: often the manuscript material is of even greater relevance for example drafts of monographs and other scholarly publications that never made it into print, and especially correspondence. Since research in early modern intellectual history is currently booming, the international initiative "Fontes Inediti Numismaticae Antiquae" (FINA) was launched, under the aegis of the Union Académique Internationale. Its aim is the study of unpublished manuscript material on ancient numismatics of the years 15001800; the main focus of FINA are letters dealing with Greek and Roman coinage. In the framework of FINA, the correspondence of the "Father of ancient numismatics" Joseph Eckhel (17371798) has been reconstructed and prepared for publication from 2013 onwards, in a project led by Bernhard Woytek and sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The project has brought about a paradigm shift in the modern conception of Eckhel as a scholar. Eckhel, who authored the groundbreaking "Doctrina numorum veterum" (8 vols, Vienna 17928), did not work in 'splendid scholarly isolation' at his desk in Vienna, as earlier scholarship would have us believe: he had a widely cast network of correspondents who resided in many different European countries and the Ottoman Empire, comprising numismatic scholars and collectors with whom he shared information and who, in turn, provided him with important material for his work. In the course of the project, it became clear that Eckhel was particularly indebted to two of his Austrian precursors: the Jesuit numismatists Erasmus Frölich (17001758) and Joseph Khell (17141772). Frölich mainly published on Greek coins and was one of the first scholars to try and devise a "system" according to which the whole of ancient coinage could be ordered: it was mainly in response to this arrangement that Eckhel later created his own "system". Khell was Eckhel's teacher in numismatics, and he had numerous international contacts, which he left to Eckhel as his legacy. His correspondence with the collector Joseph Pellerin (1684-1783), who introduced the geographical arrangement into Greek numismatics, is particularly momentous. In order to understand and appreciate Eckhel's life and work, one must be intimately familiar with his two important Austrian precursors. In this follow-up project, the correspondence of Frölich and Khell has been reconstructed, transcribed and prepared for publication, in cooperation with the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (Austrian Academy of Sciences). Currently, 293 letters either written by Frölich and Khell or addressed to them by altogether 52 correspondents are known. By analysing these letters, it was possible to trace the development of the so-called "Vienna School of Numismatics" in the first half of the 18th century.