Simonides titles in publications, Doctor, Knight - searching for 1853 Painter's Manual

[Steven Avery]

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bibleversiondiscussionboard/the-ever-changing-fiction-of-constantine-simonides-t6068-s30.html#p84186

Here's a short, and non-comprehensive study of the titles that Simonides' attributes to himself in his printed works (his forgery defense and propaganda literature).

Note: The ones listed in red below, are under suspicion of retro-dating (i.e. date tampering).


1843 (Barnabas) Doctor of Philosophy
1849 (Symais) Konstantinos Simonides
1850 (Kephallonias) Konstantinos Simonides
1853 (Panselinos) ?????????
1853 (Panegyric of Constantine) Konstantinos Simonides
1853 (Autographa) Doctor and Knight
1853 (Σπουδαϊον Ύπόμνημα) Doctor and Knight
1856 (Ueber die Echtheit des Uranius) Konstantinos Simonides
1857 (Memnon) Doctor of Philosophy etc etc etc
1857 (Horos) Doctor Konstantinos Simonides
1858 (Nicholas of Methone) Doctor of Philosophy
1859 (Four Theological Writings) Doctor of Philosophy
1859 (Biographical Memoir) Doctor of Philosophy
1860 (Dissertation on Hieroglyphic's [English ver.]) Doctor of Philosophy
1860 (Διατριβή [Greek ver.]) Doctor of Philosophy etc etc etc
1861 (Mayerianus) Doctor of Philosophy
1863 (Concerning Horus Of Nilopolis) Doctor of Philosophy etc etc etc
1864 (The Periplus of Hannon) Doctor of Philosophy


My observations.

Note: This is not a comprehensive list. The printed work commonly known as the Panselinos or Ερμηνεία των ζωγράφων of 1853 would be very useful, and probably make it fairly conclusive.

When we exclude the works in red, which are under various degrees of suspicion of date tampering, it seems that up until 1856 that Simonides doesn't use any fake titles in these books.

He is simply "Konstantinos Simonides".

But from 1857, beginning (presumably) with his bitter "Memnon" he gives himself titles like "Doctor", "Doctor of Philosophy", "Knight" adding "etc etc etc" behind some of these.

So, this too, has a bearing on the medal rumor and fake knighthood etc.

It's interesting too, that the works suspected of retro-dating have titles that the books that are not under suspicion of date tampering do not have. As noted above, he was simply "Konstantinos Simonides".

Does this too, add to the evidence of date possible tampering?

Maybe. It's not conclusive, nor comprehensive. But it's interesting nonetheless.

 

[Steven Avery]

Looking for a link to any copy of this book below online.

Konstantinos Simonides
Ερμηνεία των ζωγράφων ως προς την εκκλησιαστική ζωγραφιάν υπό Διονυσίου του ιερομόναχου και ζωγράφου του εκ Φουρνά των Λγράφων.
Νυν το πρώτον τύποις εκδοΟείσα δαπάνη της ημετέρας τυπογραφίας και Αθανασίου Γ. Ζωσιμά, τύποις Φ. Καραμπίνη και Κ. Βάφα, Athen. 1853​

It's Simonides' corrupted version of what is commonly known as in English as Panselinos, a Guide to Painting, or Interpretation of the Science of Painting.

Please post a link, even if it's not the whole book (although that would be great!). I'm particularly interested in the title page!

Even a screen shot of the title page (or pages) from an online bookshop's advertisement would suffice.

Please post here if you can help.

 

[Steven Avery]

AI Overview

This inquiry points to the complex history of the Painter's Manual by Dionysius of Fourna, notably the controversial Greek publication released in Athens in 1853. The date 1853 is also closely tied to the infamous 19th-century Greek forger, Constantine Simonides. [1, 2]


The 1853 printing of Dionysius of Fourna’s foundational manuscript and its intersection with Simonides involves a fascinating history of forgery. [1]

The 1853 Greek Publication

• The Manual: Written in the early 18th century by the monk Dionysius, this manual is an extensive guide to Byzantine iconography and painting techniques. [1]
• The 1853 Edition: The first Greek printing was published in Athens in 1853. However, the manuscript used for this edition is widely considered unreliable. It purported to be from 1458 but suspiciously contained references to heliogravure—a photographic printing technique invented in 1838. [1]

The Simonides Connection

• Constantine Simonides (1820–1890): A notoriously brilliant Greek calligrapher and forger, Simonides forged numerous ancient documents, papyri, and classical codices. [1, 2, 3]
• The Connection: Simonides famously claimed to have access to Dionysius's original work. He possessed his own heavily modified copy, which he used to "correct" and supplement the painter's manual. Scholars have noted that Simonides's habit of altering texts to fit his own narratives makes versions of the manual he handled highly suspect. [1]

If you would like to know more, I can provide details on:

• The contents of Dionysius of Fourna's manual and its impact on Byzantine art.
• Other famous forgeries committed by Constantine Simonides.

Let me know which area you'd like to explore further.

 

[Steven Avery]

Such a need and era produced the interpretation of the painters compiled by Dionysius of Fournas in his Agrafa16.

16 Εξεδόθη εν Αθήναις, τύποις Φ. Καραμπίνη και Α. Βάφα, 1853 δον σελ. α-ι και 1- 266 Αλλ’ η έκδοσις εγένετο δυστυχώς υπό ανδρός λίαν απείρου και απροσέκτου, όθεν βρίθει σφαλμάτων. Η αξιολογωτέρα εν αυτή προσθήκη είναι αι εις τα κείμενα της αγ. Γραφής παραπομπαί, αίτινες είναι, ως νομίζω, έργον του διαβοήτου Σιμωνίδου αλλ’ ούτος εις την ακατάσχετον εις παραποίησιν ροπήν ενδίδων και παρενέβαλε τα εξής πλαστογραφήματα εν σελ. 40 §64, εν σελ. 54 §86, εν σελ. 55 §87 και 88

16 Published in Athens, by F. Karampinis and A. Vafas, 1853, pp. a-i and 1- 266 But the publication was unfortunately made by a very careless and careless man, hence it is full of errors. The most valuable addition in this is the references to the texts of the Holy Scripture, which are, as I think, the work of the diabolic Simonides, but he, in his unbridled passion for counterfeiting, inserted the following forgeries on p. 40 §64, on p. 54 §86, on p. 55 §87 and 88

 

[Steven Avery]

Publishing house]
Φ. Καραμπίνη
Α. Βάφα

1853

Konstantinos Simonides
Ερμηνεία των ζωγράφων ως προς την εκκλησιαστική ζωγραφιάν υπό Διονυσίου του ιερομόναχου και ζωγράφου του εκ Φουρνά των Λγράφων.
Νυν το πρώτον τύποις εκδοΟείσα δαπάνη της ημετέρας τυπογραφίας και Αθανασίου Γ. Ζωσιμά, τύποις Φ. Καραμπίνη και Κ. Βάφα, Athen. 1853

Konstantinos Simonides
Interpretation of the painters regarding the ecclesiastical painting by Dionysios the hieromonk and painter from Fournas of the Lgrafa.
Now the first printed edition published by our printing house and Athanasios G. Zosimas, printed by F. Karambinis and K. Vafas, Athens. 1853


======

https://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/metadata/6/0/7/metadata-159-0000092.tkl

tkl

Ερμηνεία των ζωγράφων ως προς την εκκλησιαστικήν ζωγραφιάν / υπό Διονυσίου του Ιερομονάχου και ζωγράφου, του εκ Φουρνά των Αγράφων.

uniiversity of Crete

Written in Athos in 1458. Now first published in print at the expense of our printing house and Athanasios G. Zosimas.


https://www.alfeiosbooks.com/book/ermineia_ton_zografon_os_pros_tin_ekklisiastikin_zografian/

 

[Steven Avery]

BVDB notices

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bibleversiondiscussionboard/the-ever-changing-fiction-of-constantine-simonides-t6068-s30.html#p84190

We have a lead on the corrupted 1853 Simonides edition of the Ερμηνεία των ζωγράφων via Avery (See link here).

Now, presumably, this is the edition we are looking for.

Strangely though, Simonides' name, nor any titles etc, do not appear anywhere on the main title page.

Unfortunately, we have limitations in it being an advertisement for sale in an online bookshop (See source link here). So, we can't see the cover of the book, whether that has his name on it, nor any, perhaps handwritten dedications that might be inside the cover etc (which Simonides' was well known for doing).

Here's a screenshot below

So this is interesting for our previous short study (See link here and related links here and here) of Simonides' self attributed titles and medals of honor etc.

I did find another link (See here) to another copy at the Society for Macedonian Studies online.

There was an interesting general note (See link here) in Greek below:

Στη σελ. τίτλου υπάρχουν σφραγίδες του «Βιβλιοπωλείου Γρηγορόπουλου, Αγ.Σοφίας 43, Θεσσαλονίκη», καθώς και δύο Οθωμανικές. Στη σ. α΄. υπάρχει αφιέρωση.

"On the title page there are stamps of "Grigoropoulos Bookstore, 43 Agia Sophia Street, Thessaloniki", as well as two Ottoman stamps. On the first page there is a dedication."

You can see the ink of the handwritten dedication soaking through the page in the screenshot above ☝.

Unfortunately, that's the only information I can find for now. Was this a note by Simonides himself? We don't know. It's possible, and even probable (providing this is the right edition).

This Society for Macedonian Studies version, does give access to the first seven pages of this book (See the blue arrow and page numbers in the left margin here), and there is no reference to Simonides name anywhere to be found. Why? I don't know. Does this have something to do with the Zosimas Brothers supporting the publishing? Don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. Needs further research.

So I will edit the study in the previous post accordingly, with the limited information we have