The Nani Collection of Arabic coins through unpublished documents & drawings by Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832)

Abstract

At the corner of Palaeography, Numismatics and Antiquarianism, this contribution aims at discussing, attributing and presenting the contents of an unpublished manuscript by the famous Rosetta stone code’s breaker, Jean François Champollion. The manuscript is of numismatic interest since it contains drawings and notes taken from the first volume of the Jacopo Nani collection, published in 1787 by Simone Assemani. The manuscript evidence presented here contributes, on one hand, to enlarge the knowledge of Champollion’s numismatic research and, on the other hand, to a better understanding of the spread and influence of Assemani’s works on Numismatics in the scientific community. Moreover, an updated and illustrated catalogue of a number of specimens of the Nani collection is provided and new light is thrown on the Arabic coins of this collection, their provenance and attribution.