Henry Cohen (numismatist)

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

Musician

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

Numismatist

Alongside he collected coins of the Roman Republic and devoted himself from 1851 onwards permanently numismatics. Because of his studies, he frequently worked in the Cabinet of Médailles, where he began work on a catalog of the Roman coins of the Roman Republic, which was published in 1857. Immediately afterward, he began the coins of the Roman Empire to describe, he graduated in 1862 from this work. In that year he was also employed at the Cabinet des Médailles, where he worked as an official candidate since 1859. His first task was to create an inventory of the collection, which he began with a collection of 1831 the Cabinet of Médailles stolen gold coins and medals, and began large parts of the collection of Baron Pierre -Philippe d' Ailly Bourlier. Only Ernest Babelon was able to complete the work. Besides these works, Cohen also wrote catalogs for the Paris coin auctions coin dealer Jean Henri Hoffmann. In 1876 he published a handbook for coin collectors. Cohen's catalog of Republican coins was soon afterwards superseded by the work Babelons. Unlike the catalog of the imperial coins, which until 1983 also saw several reprints in addition to a second edition. Cohen did not have the self-understanding to be a scientific numismatists, for it was mainly accurate descriptions of meaning. Both works were constructed similarly simple and practical use. The catalog of the imperial coins were also at wholesale prices, which contributed to its spread in the circle of collectors.

Cohen wrote in 1870 a standard work on the book illustrations of the 18th century.

Works

Operas

• L' impegnatrice. Naples 1834
• Aviso ai Maritati. Naples 1839
• Marguerite et fist. Paris 1846 ( full text )
• Le Moine. London in 1851, world premiere directed by Hector Berlioz

Publications (selection)

• Traité d'harmonie pratique. Paris 1841.
• Description générale des monnaies de la république romaine, communément appelées médailles consul aires. Paris 1857.
• Description historique sous l' empire of monnaies frappees romain, communément appelées médailles impériales. 7 volumes, Paris 1859-1868 (full text).
• List of médaillons et qui ont of médailles d'or 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 you XVIIIe siècle. Paris 1870 ( full text ).
• Inventaire of 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 dans tous les byzantines métaux. Paris 1876.
• Inventaire de la collection of monnaies de la République romaine léguée à la Bibliothèque nationale par M. le baron d' Ailly. Paris from 1877 to 1879.
• Description historique sous l' empire of monnaies frappees romain. 2nd edition, 8 volumes, Paris 1880-1892 (full text).