Friday, February 10, 2006

The Engraved Copper Plates of Nicolaus Seeländer







Nicolaus Seeländer (~1683-1744) was an engraver and numismatist and was active in Hanover particularly, in the early 18th century. He published a book the year prior to his death that documented coins of the middle ages, including falsified examples which Seeländer sold. That's about the extent of my understanding from the scraps of information online.

However, a huge number (I didn't count but suspect it is around the one thousand mark) of his original copper plates have survived for some reason. The majority consist of either medallion/coin or coat of arms engravings. Of the remainder that retain their aesthetic character, there are a few emblems, portraits, landscapes and the occasional quirky illustration.

The collection of copperplates of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek Hannover are posted in thumbnail galleries at the ECHO site of the Max Planck Institute.

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