Portraits of the First Twelve Caesars, and of 63 of Their Wives and Relatives, Engraved from Ancient Coins; Together with Their Lives and Deeds, Gathered from Various Authors

Portraits of the First Twelve Caesars, and of 63 of Their Wives and Relatives, Engraved from Ancient Coins; Together with Their Lives and Deeds, Gathered from Various Authors. Primorum Caesarum et LXIII Ipsorum Uxorum et Parentum, by Levinus Hulsius.

A rare Renaissance numismatic book, published in 1597 and 1599.

It is one of the most beautiful early numismatic works, with exquisite Mannerist engravings that were never used again. For the end of the sixteenth century it was very much up to date: the author treated coins not as curiosities but as historical documents, citing earlier numismatists and comparing the images on the coins. The early print runs were small, and copies were often cut up for the sake of the engravings, so few of those that have come down to us survive complete, and a good, complete copy with its margins and clean impressions is highly prized. Let us say, somewhere within 5,000 euros.