Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/489

 NoticES of ^rc|)acologt(nl publications. rriNERARIUM ANTONINI AUGUSTI ET HIEROSOLVMITANUM EX LIBRIS MANU.SCRIPTIS Ediderunt G. Partliey et M. I'inder. Ik-rolini, 1848, 8vo. ; with a general Map, aud plate of facsinules of tlie various MSS. We owe a new edition of the so-called Itinerary of Antoninus to the labours of two learned scholars at Berlin, Dr. Purthey and l>r. Finder, whose merits have hitherto been known very little beyond the city in which they reside. The first is, perhaps, the most distinguis'ied example of what the Germans call a Privatgelehrtcr. There is scar -ely a branch of classical and oriental antiquity with which he is not perfectl .' conversant : he combines the soundest knowledge of languages, of ge )graphy and history, with good taste and a sincere love for everytliing 'Imt is crreat and beautiful. Free from ambition, he has never held any public appoint- ment, nor is he even a member of any academy or other public learned body ; but Parthey had travelled up the Nile at a time, when neither Rosellini, Wilkinson, nor Lepsius had visited Egypt, and when the study of hieroglyphics was still in its infancy. His dissertation upon the once famous Museum of Alexandria was crowned with the highest prize the Royal Academy of Berlin can bestow.' Ilis works and maps illustrative of the Geography of ancient Sicily have acquired a standard reputa- tion, and in order to show the variety of his studies, it ma}' be mentioned, that he has recently published a voluminous catalogue of Hollar's prints, the first complete list, probably, of the works of that celebrated artist. Dr. Piuder is, perhaps, a little more known. Besides being a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, he is one of the editors of that import- ant collection of Byzantine historians, the publication of which was begun and superintended by Niebuhr, at Bonn. He is at present at the head of the numismatical branch of the Royal Museum, and one of the Librarians of the Royal Library, at Berlin. Under bis care an excellent catalogue has recently been completed, systematically arranged according to subjects, which in every great national collection of books is indispensable for the furtherance of scientific researches. These two distinguished scholars, being great friends, and intimately connected by the same ardent curiosity for whatever is left to us of the sciences and arts of the ancients, resolved to republish the Roman Itinerary. Three or four years were employed in collating the MSS. in France, England, and Germany, in collecting information about MSS. in other countries, revising the text and arranging the critical apparatus, till at last a volume has been prepared, which at once superseded the laborious and bulky publication of Wesseling, and the far inferior editions that have appeared before and after his time. It is scarcely necessary to off'er any observation regarding the nature or the value of the Itinerary of Antoninus. Yet, before describing the ^ G. Parthey, das Alexaudi'inische Museum. Berlin, IU37.