Steven Avery
Administrator
This siggy is likely authentic.
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the Kallinikos signature in the Autographa - knight
- Thread starter Steven Avery
- Start date
Steven Avery
Administrator
The possibility of the rumor above ☝ actually being true, about a medal of honor in the shape of a star painted onto his personal copy of a lithograph, with three small ribbons attached to the bottom, gains a higher probability, when one remembers a title that Simonides' attributed to himself in one of his printed works.Matt13weedhacker wrote: ↑
1:12 PM - Jun 19
I went back and found the quote about Simonides lithograph.
It was taken from the official account of Simonides' legal trial (trials, actually) in Leipzig and Berlin in 1856, after his arrest for fraud and forgery for the selling of the Uranius Palimpsest.
The quote was sourced from the German book below (Linkhere
), which in turn quotes the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, circa 17th of February, 1856.
Simonides und sein Prozeß.
Uebersetzung vorbehalten.
Berlin, 1856.
Verlag von I. Bernhardt u. Comp.
Subheading
(Die Augsb, Alg. Ztg. theilte in Bezug auf.)
"Simonides"
Page 39
Paragraph 2
"Ein nicht uninteressanter Belag für die Eitelkeit des Simonides würde es übrigens sein , wenn es wahr wäre, was das Gerücht sagt, daß er nämlich in Leipzig sein Bild soll haben lithographiren und dabei auf seine Brust nicht nur einen großen Ordensstern malen lassen , sondern daß er sogar noch an die untersten drei Ecken dieses Sterns drei kleine Ordensfreuze angehängt haben soll , während er hat einräumen müssen, daß er gar keinen Orden besize. Eben so wenig besikt Simonides einen besonderen Titel, ist durchaus nicht berechtigt, den Doctortitel zu führen und hat sich bei seiner Verhaftung den Beamten gegenüber höchst einfach als einen griechischen
Gelehrten bezeichnet..."
Page 39
Paragraph 2
(DeepL Translate slightly modified)
"Incidentally, it would be quite an interesting piece of evidence of Simonides’ vanity if the rumor were true—namely, that he had his portrait lithographed in Leipzig and not merely content with this, that he painted onto his chest a large medal star, but that he even had three small medal ribbons attached to the three lowest points of that star, while he has admitted that he does not possess any order at all. Nor does Simonides hold any special title; he is by no means entitled to use the title of “Doctor,” and upon his arrest, he simply described himself to the officials as a Greek "scholar"..."
So, it appears that Simonides' himself, rather than having two separate lithographs made (as I thought, going by memory) but that he was rumored to have painted on himself, being a skilled forger, onto a copy of the same lithograph (which he may have carried around and displayed to others) a picture of a fake medal of honor, with three ribbons attached. Which he admitted, when he was arrested in Liepzig, that he didn't actually possess, nor was ever awarded (plus having the fake title "Doctor").
Was the rumor true? Possibly. Possibly not. One thing we do know for certain, is that the rumor does fit his extremely vain and insecure profile, and his forgery activities.
Click to expand...
What title is that? (You ask)
The well known title in question can be seen in the screenshot image below
PLEASE NOTE: The writing in the image below
Simonides above, represents himself as both a "Doctor", but more specific to our point (as highlighted in red), Simonides represents himself as a Greek Ιππότου "KNIGHT" (from Ancient/Classical Greek: plural ἱππεῖς Hippeis, singular ἱππεύς, Hippeus).
Translation of the full title, in context:
Αυτογράφα του Διδάκτορος και ιππότου Κωνσταντίνου Α. Φ. Σιμωνίδου Εξαχθέντα εξ επιστολών και ετέρων αυτού εγγράφων και περιέχοντα ποικίλλη αρχαιολογικήν ύλην λίαν σπουδαίαν / άπερ και εκδίδονται αυτογραφία υπό Καλλινίκου Ιερομονάχου, του θεσσαλονικέως τη αδεία του συγγραφέως και Κωνσταντίω τω Α' πρώην Κωνσταντινουπόλεως πατριάρχη ανδρί σοφώ λίαν και παντοία αρετή κεκοσμημένω και ευγνωμοσύνην αϊδίου τεκμήριον πανευλαβών καθιερούνται υπό του εκδότου και ταπεινού αυτού θεράποντος.
""Autographa" [Or: "Autographs"] by [Lit., "of"] the Doctor and KNIGHT Konstantinos A. F. Simonides, compiled from his letters and other documents and containing a wide variety of extremely important archaeological material / which are published in autograph form by Kallinikos, a Hiero-Monk of Thessaloniki, and with the authorization [Or: "permission"] of Constant[ius] the 1st, a former Patriarch of Constantinople, a man of great wisdom and adorned with every virtue, and [to whom,] as an eternal token of gratitude, are hereby dedicated by the publisher and his humble servant."
This is, at the very least, verification of Simonides' overt, extreme, and dishonest vanity.
It is also possible verification that the 1856 rumor about him (See link here) that the hand painting on of fake medal of honor onto his copy of his lithographed portrait is probably true.
It's possible that Simonides kept this modified lithograph tightly in his own possession, and possibly (and smugly) displayed it to small groups of individuals of his acquaintance in Germany (Prussia and Saxony back then) in 1855-1856.
Did the source of the rumor originate from the touched up lithograph being found among his confiscated possessions during his two arrests and imprisonments during the Uranius scandal?
It's possible. But we can't be certain.
If (note: "if") it was, then it's highly likely that it would have been returned to him when he was released from the Berlin jail.
It's unlikely that it was kept by the criminal investigators because of it being viewed as important, as was the case with one or two of his forged manuscripts, and at least one of Simonides' personal scrapbook's of newspaper clippings which gave evidence of his previous criminal activity in Athens, Constantinople, Athos, and England. Which is what Simonides' is referring to, and makes a big fuss about on Page 20 of his Biographical Memoir (Note, it is highly likely that Simonides exaggerated and distorted the facts about his confiscated belongings in his account).
But...
We ask the question about his self-proclaimed title as a "KNIGHT" (and the knighthood ceremony that would have accompanied this, if it was true)!
Where did it come from? Which Royal family bestowed it? In, or from which country did he receive it? And when? Who specifically gave him the distinguished honor of being a "KNIGHT"? And why? Hmmm?
In other words, Who? When? Where? And Why?
What independent proof (outside of Simonides' forgery defense literature and usual propaganda) is there of him being a real and authenticated "KNIGHT"?
Where's the publicity and fanfare that would have, and should have been in the papers (media etc of the day), which definitely would have gone along with something like that? Particularly with Simonides' (i.e. Konstantinos A. F. Simonides) who admitted his family had become impoverished in his Biographical Memoir, and that he was a war refugee being dragged about and abandoned in an orphanage at one time by his father, and having been, according to the only authentic letter (without suspicion of forgery hanging over it) that comes from Alexander Sturdza that mention's Simonides' actual (note "actual", not made up as in Simonides' distorted forgery defense literature) dealings with him, saying that he was one of the poor/impoverished "Outsiders" who needed financial help to get an education at the Richelieu Lyceum Academy in Odessa.
Where is it? (I don't see any!)
Yes, where's the provenance of this alleged "KNIGHT[HOOD]" in any royal archives and records?
I say, there was none for a "Knight[hood]" of any kind for Simonides, back then, in Germany, in 1856, as there is none now! (to my present knowledge at least)
The question to think about though! Is...
Would a medal of honor go along with Simonides' alleged Knight[hood]?
Hmmm...that's an interesting question, isn't it...
Il'll put it a different way. It does not seem unlikely to me, that he would actually do something like that (painting fake medals of honor onto his lithograph), seeing that he went as far as fraudulently portraying himself in print as a "KNIGHT"...
So, to me, the rumor IMO, is probable, not just possible.
FOOTNOTE 1: The one signature example of forged handwriting of the fictional character named "Kallinikos" can be seen in my own screenshot below from Page 6 of Simonides Autographa, and a screenshot of the same signature in Kevin McGrane's "A Review Of The Forging Of Codex Sinaiticus By Dr. W. R. Cooper Against Detailed Background Of The Discovery Of The Codex" Version 9, 16/11/18, See link Page 76.
Steven Avery
Administrator
Nikolos Farmakidis
Indeed, Kallinikos' signature must be genuine. Besides, Kallinikos' calligraphy does not resemble Simonides'. I believe a good handwriting expert could verify this.
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Afawk, the Life of Simonides has never had transcription or translation.
Indeed, Kallinikos' signature must be genuine. Besides, Kallinikos' calligraphy does not resemble Simonides'. I believe a good handwriting expert could verify this.
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Afawk, the Life of Simonides has never had transcription or translation.
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