Olivier Masson - Le faussaire grec C. Simonides à Paris en 1854 - Jean-Luc Fournet on hieroglyphics

Steven Avery

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CARM
https://forums.carm.org/threads/cod...forge-the-codex-siniaticus.14468/post-1206421

The date of 1853 for the Autographa is possible whether by Simonides or Kallinikos. 1860 too by Simonides, but 1863, done by Simonides, is highly unlikely, because we almost surely would have seen a bunch of backwards-corroboration attention to Sinaiticus specifics. Since by late 1862 that had become the cause célèbre.

In fact the date of publication of the Autographa may have been 1864, which was after the Sinaiticus affair, as it was in 1864 that Simonides posted sundry documents, including the Autographa, in the Parisian Imperial Library &etc. What's also interesting is that after the 1863 exposure of his Sinaiticus claim, Simonides never sought to re-establish the claim to have authored Sinaiticus If it had been true, he would have persisted with it, and come up with the proofs. After all "one of his characteristics was tenacity." You can be sure he was lying over Sinaiticus, just because he gave up the ghost with his claim.

Masson Olivier. Le faussaire grec C. Simonides à Paris en 1854, avec deux lettres inconnues de Sainte-Beuve et un récit du comte de Marcellus. In: Journal des savants, 1994, n° pp. 367-379;

"Mais une des caractéristiques de l’homme était sa ténacité. Dix ans après, ayant subi bien des avanies, Simonides revient à Paris à la fin de l’hiver de 1863/4. Les témoignages sur ce second séjour sont rares, car je n’ai trouvé aucune allusion, soit dans ses dernières œuvres, soit dans les gazettes françaises (où l’enquête est assurément difficile). Toutefois, en examinant les ouvrages du Grec conservés dans les bibliothèques parisiennes, j’ai constaté que plusieurs exemplaires portent d’instructives dédicaces manuscrites (en grec moderne), localisées « à Paris » et dûment datées[1], signées par Simonides. Tout d’abord, à la Bibliothèque Impériale, le 14/26 février 1864, il dépose le volume intitulé Facsimilés[2], Τή έν Παρισίοις Αύτοκρατορική Βιβλιοθήκη Κ. Σιμωνίδης, έν ΙΤαρισίοις τή 14/26 Φεβρ. 1864; le lendemain, le 15/27 février, la brochure des Autographa[3] ; sans doute dans la même période, mais sans date, la brochure des Symmiga41. Le mois suivant, cette fois à la Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France (qu’il appelle Ακαδημαϊκή Βιβλιοθήκη), il dépose le 6/18 mars un autre exemplaire des Fac-similés, un des Autographa et un des Symmiga, tous dédicacés έν Παρισίοις."

_______

"But one of the characteristics of the man was his tenacity. Ten years later, having suffered many setbacks, Simonides returned to Paris at the end of the winter of 1863/4. Accounts of this second stay are scarce, as I have found no allusion to it either in his later works or in French gazettes (where investigation is certainly difficult). However, in examining works by the Greek preserved in Parisian libraries, I have found that several copies bear instructive handwritten dedications (in modern Greek), located "à Paris" and duly dated[1], signed by Simonides. First, at the Bibliothèque Impériale, on February 14/26, 1864, he deposited

the volume entitled Facsimilés[2], Τή έν Παρισίοις Αύτοκρατορική Βιβλιοθήκη Κ. Σιμωνίδης, έν ΙΤαρισίοις τή 14/26 Φεβρ. 1864;

the following day, February 15/27, the Autographa pamphlet[3];

probably in the same period, but undated, the Symmiga pamphlet41. The following month, this time at the Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France (which he called Ακαδημαϊκή Βιβλιοθήκη), he deposited on March 6/18 another copy of the Facsimiles, one of the Autographa and one of the Symmiga, all dedicated έν Παρισίοις." (Paris)



[1] Simonides aimait les dédicaces circonstanciées ; hors de Grèce il emploie ordinairement le double calendrier.

(Simonides was fond of detailed dedications; outside Greece he usually used the double calendar.)

[2] Il s’agit d’un beau volume, abondamment illustré, comportant un titre interminable à la mode de l’époque, Fac-similés of Certain Portions of the Gospel of St. Matthew and of the Epistles of Ss. James & Jude, Written on Papyrus of the First Century and Preserved in the Egyptian Muséum of Joseph Mayer, Esq., Liverpool, etc., Londres, Trübner, 1861. Assurément imprimé aux frais du mécène J. Mayer, le livre renferme une quantité surprenante de faux de toute espèce... Le recenseur anonyme (mais très énergique) dans The Athenaeum, December 7, 1861, commençait ainsi : « Is there no lîmit to public credulity ? Is there no limit to the power of abusing this credulity ? »

[3] Ces Λύτόγρχφχ, etc. (titre très long), autographiés en lithographie sur mauvais papier, entièrement en grec, sont présentés comme une édition due au « moine thessalonicien Kallinikos », personnage imaginaire et avatar de Simonides (voir Elliott, chap. iii, 71-121). Les dates de publication alléguées (Moscou, 1853; « 2c éd. » Odessa 1854) sont probablement fictives et destinées à « reconstituer » le passé de Simonides. Voir mon article dans The Griffon, News from the Gennadius Librarv, Sériés 3, Vol. 1, 1, Athènes, juin 1993, 7-15.

[3] These Λύτόγρχφχ, etc. (very long title), autographed in lithography on poor paper, entirely in Greek, are presented as an edition due to the “Thessalonian monk Kallinikos,” an imaginary character and avatar of Simonides (see Elliott, chap. iii, 71-121). The alleged publication dates (Moscow, 1853; “2nd ed.”” Odessa 1854) are probably fictitious and intended to “reconstitute” Simonides’ past. See my article in The Griffon, News from the Gennadius Librarv, Series 3, Vol. 1, 1, Athens, June 1993, 7-15.
 
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Steven Avery

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A propos d'Horapollon, l'auteur des Hieroglyphica (1992)
Jean-Luc Fournet - ( Olivier Masson )
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44264827?read-now=1&seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents
https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00001301


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Cependant, pour compléter ce dossier, et pour contribuer à l'histoire des connaissances au xix* s., il convient de signaler brièvement les élucubrations d’un certain Simonides (1824?-1867?). Dans l’article substantiel consacré à ce curieux personnage par Dawson et Uphill*, une phrase retient l’attention. Après avoir justement rappelé qu’il s'agissait d’un «Greek forger of papyri and manuscripts»*1, ils ajoutent : «Simonides was nevertheless a clever man, and he published in London in 1860 a dissertation... on hieroglyphic writing. a work on Horus of Nilopolis, 1863», etc. Tout cela doit être supprimé. Simonides fut non seulement un faussaire impudent, en tous genres, mais aussi un adversaire acharné et fielleux du déchiffrement de «Champollion. Lepsius et autres», qu’il voulait remplacer par une interprétation « symbolique »n. Dans la même veine, son «travail» sur Horapollon est une élucubration publiée à Londres en 1863, sur «Horus Apollo», dont le titre interminable annonce les prétentions : «Concerning Horus of Nilopolis, the Hierogrammatist of his Native Place, Son of Ammouthis and Thessais, with Notices of his Works, by C. Simonides, Ph. D.,
etc., etc., etc.»**.


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Steven Avery

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Constantin Simonidis et Jean Gennadius: Le Faussaire et le Bibliophile.3

The Griffon, News from the Gennadius Librarv, Sériés 3, Vol. 1, 1, Athènes, juin 1993, 7-15.

3. Masson 1993a. During the same years, Masson found himself dealing with Simonidis in an entire series of papers:
Masson 1993b, 1994; Masson and Fournet 1992.


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Masson, O. 1993a. “Constantin Simonidis et Jean Gennadius: Le Faussaire et le Bibliophile," The Griffon 3.1, pp. 7-15.
Worldcat
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1439946657

Masson, 0.1993b. "Frangois Lenormant (1837-1883), un erudit deconcertant,” Museum Helveticum 50, pp. 44-60.

Masson, 0.1994. “Le faussaire grec C. Simonides ä Paris en 1854, avec deux lettres inconnues de Sainte-Beuve et un recit du Comte de Marcellus," Journal des savants 1994, pp. 367-379.
http://www.persee.fr/doc/jds_0021-8103_1994_num_2_1_1581
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/issue/jds_0021-8103_1994_num_2_1

Masson, O., and J. L. Fournet. 1992. “Ä propos d’Horapollon, l’auteur des Hieroglyphica,” Revue des etudes grecques 105, pp. 231-236.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44264827
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00001301
 
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Steven Avery

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Pasquale Pinto
https://www.academia.edu/88108979/F...imonides_Morte_e_riapparizione_di_un_falsario

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,0 Simonidis riusci ad assicurarsi un posto anche in un noto strumento di
consultazione prodotto dalla filologia tedesca, il Nomcnclalor philologorum di
F.A. ECKSTEIN (Leipzig 1871, p. 536), che ne registre) la morte ad Alessandria nel
1867, ma il 19 ottobre (vd. itifra e nota 42). Luogo e data si ritrovano (senza men-
zione délia lebbra) in alcuni strumenti di consultazione correnti, corne, tra gli
altri: G. MaKRIS, Simonides, Konstantinos, in Biographiscb-Bibliographisches Kir-
chenlexikon, X, Herzberg 1995, coll. 430-432; M.L. BlERBRIER (éd.), Who Was
Who in Egyplology, 4lh rev. éd., London 2012, pp. 512-513. E si veda la più ré-
cente messa a punto in ambito greco: <I>Al’MAKIAUi: (PllARMAKIDIs), Koivaia-
vnvoç Lipü)viôr)ç, cit., passim.

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*' O. MASSON, Constantin Simonides et Jean Gennadius, le faussaire et le bi-
bliophile, «The Griffon» s. III, 1, 1993, pp. 7-15: 7, n. 2. E curioso che un cono-
scitore di Simonidis e dei suoi anni inglesi, nonché collezionista di suoi “cimeli”,
corne Ioannis Gennadios (vd. supra n. 1) non fornisse alcuna data per la morte
del falsario nella informata nota biografica acclusa al catalogo dattiloscritto délia
Gennadius Library da lui approntato, cfr. P.M. PlNTO, Constantinos Simonidis in
the Gennadius Library, «The Griffon» 12, 2011, pp. 85-102, in part. 96-101.

51 O. Masson, Constantin Simonides et Jean Gennadius, le faussaire et le bibliophile, «The Griffon» s. III, 1, 1995, pp. 7-15: 7, n. 2. E curioso che un conoscitore di Simonidis e dei suoi anni inglesi, nonché coliezionista di suoi “cimeli”, corne Ioannis Gennadios (vd. supra n. 1) non fornisse alcuna data per la morte del falsario nella informata nota biografica acclusa al catalogo dattiloscritto délia Gennadius Library da lui approntato, cfr. P.M. PlNTO, Constantinos Simonidis in the Gennadius Library, «The Griffon» 12, 2011, pp. 85-102, in part. 96-101.

O. Masson, Constantin Simonides et Jean Gennadius, le faussaire et le bibliophile, «The Griffon» s. III, 1, 1995, pp. 7-15: 7, n. 2. It is curious that an expert on Simonidis and his English years, as well as a collector of his “memorabilia”, such as Ioannis Gennadios (see above n. 1) did not provide any date for the forger's death in the detailed biographical note included in the typewritten catalogue of the Gennadius Library that he had prepared, see P.M. PlNTO, Constantinos Simonidis in the Gennadius Library, «The Griffon» 12, 2011, pp. 85-102, in part. 96-101.
 
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Steven Avery

Administrator
The Poet and the Forger: On Nonnus’ False Biography by Constantine Simonides. In: J. Martínez (ed.), Fakes and Forgers of Classical Literature. Ergo decipiatur! Leiden, Brill 2013, 59-72. ISBN 9789004266414
by David Hernández de la Fuente
https://www.academia.edu/5176018/Th...ur_Leiden_Brill_2013_59_72_ISBN_9789004266414

Drawing on contemporary sources, Masson has dug into the particulars of Simonides’ visit to France in 1854.9 This French scholar mentions with a certain degree of admiration how, following the bad press that accompanied Simonides and despite the warnings made by Mordtmann and Lalanne,10 the forger could still have access to the most relevant men of letters in France upon his arrival to Paris, and even captivate them with his mystifications. Among others, the writer Sainte-Beuve, who gave him recommendation letters to the Imperial Library in Paris, the Hellenist Ernest Beule, the Secretary of the Academie Frangaise, Abel Villemain, or even the Home Secretary, Hippolyte Fortoul. All these hosted and smothered him with their attentions in Paris. Among the scholars that Simonides was introduced to was Count Marcellus, a well-known character at the time, as specified by the biographer and supporter of Simonides, Charles Stewart,11 for being one of the finders of the Venus de Milo. This character, Marie- Louis-Jean-Andre-Charles Demartin du Tyrac (1795-1865), full name of Count Marcellus, had a stellar political career from his admittance into the personal guard of the Duke of Angouleme until his diplomatic missions in Constantinople, Palestine, London and Madrid, either as Secretary of Embassy or even as Minister Plenipotentiary. Marcellus took part in be a forgery. Simonides, according to Marcellus, “received my statement without any apparent embarrassment and, making use of that particular phlegm that never abandoned him, did not press the matter any further.” The quotation, reflecting the literal words of the Hellenist showing his surprise at the forger’s boldness, is taken from the letter included in the above-mentioned study by Masson. The issue of Nonnus’ biography was mentioned, finally, in an article entitled “Literary Forgery” published in the journal Athenaeum, in its English version, on 16 February, 1856, in which references were also made to the dubious business of Simonides in Leipzig.
 
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Steven Avery

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These writers allow more interest in the Simonides hieroglyphic dissertation.
This should be studied more, some translation needed.
 
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