Dattari, Giovanni (1908)
Book Summary
Dattari’s Rare Work on the Aboukir Medallions Dattari, G. I VENTI MEDAGLIONI D’ABUKIR. Milano: L.F. Cogliati, 1908. 4to, later tan quarter morocco; spine with four raised bands, lettered in brown; brown endpapers. 47, (1) pages; text illustrations; 2 plates of medallions. Fine. Very rare and rather important for historical purposes, being Dattari’s response to Dressel’s 1906 Fünf Goldmedaillons aus dem Funde von Abukir (see following). Dattari continues to argue against the authenticity of the pieces despite acknowledging the rigor of Dressel’s scientific approach. He concludes, “L’unica conclusione che mi possa permettere di fare si è che fino a tanto che non avremo delle prove le quali non basino sopra delle vane ipotesi, abbiamo diritto di ritenere che tanto i diritti come i rovesci di questi medaglioni non sono una creazione nuova, ma pur troppo furono bassamente copiati dalle monete come dai contorniati; per cui non possono essere opera del III secolo d. C. ...” [The only conclusion I can allow myself to make is that until we have evidence which is not based on vain hypotheses, we have the right to believe that both the obverses and the reverses of these medallions are not a new creation, but unfortunately they were poorly copied from the coins as well as from the contorniates; therefore they cannot be a work from the 3rd century AD. ...”]
