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| Name: |
Henry Drisler Semi-Centennial of Service to Columbia College Gold Medal, 1894. Choice About Uncircul |
| Description: |
435.6 grams of .999 fine gold (13.99 troy ounces of actual gold), 69 mm, thickness
6.8-7.3mm. Surfaces are bright gold with a slightly textured finish. A gold medal as large
and imposing as this would undoubtedly have been awarded in a custom case, since missing;
handling of the medal has left some minor surface disturbances and rim tics, not unusual
for a gold medal of this heft. Examination of the edge reveals a horizontal test cut and a
minuscule pinhole, both apparent attempts to test the quality of the gold by incredulous
previous owners. A graduate of the Columbia College class of 1839, Henry Drisler
(1818-1897) was a homegrown servant to Columbia who held nearly every post imaginable at
that institution. Ablest student of noted linguist Charles Anton (himself a famous
numismatist whose collection was sold in the late 19th century), Drisler started as tutor
at Columbia Grammar School (1843-45), became adjunct professor of Greek and Latin at the
College (1845-57), professor of Latin (1857-67), and John Jay Professor of Latin
(1867-94). He also twice served as acting president of the College (1867, 1888-89), as the
College's first dean (1889-94), and as president of the Columbia Alumni Association
(1872-79). His most important contribution to the field of classics was his work as joint
editor of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. Outside of Columbia, he was an ardent
opponent of slavery and served as a trustee of the Astor Library, the New York Public
Library, and the American School at Athens. This immense gold medal, boasting the actual
gold weight of nearly 15 double eagles, was bestowed upon Drisler at his retirement by the
Trustees of the College at the Commencement of 1894 in recognition of his 50 years of
service to his alma mater. His semi-centennial celebrations included a public reception by
the Columbia Alumni Association and the presentation of a tribute volume of classical
studies composed of articles by former students. Drisler's long service made him the de
facto biographical bridge between the early College located in the original King's College
building in lower Manhattan to the modern University of the early 1890s, then located
where Rockefeller Center exists today. The sheer immensity of this golden gift is a
testament to Drisler's importance to Columbia College and the affection for him shared by
his peers, students, and superiors. The medal itself is an imposing tour-de-force struck
by famed Tiffany & Co., clearly noted on the obverse. Although unsigned by any
specific sculptor, research in Tiffany's archives may prove fruitful in attributing this
work. The obverse boasts the high relief, left-facing busts of Homer and Virgil, the twin
muses of a classicist like Drisler. The reverse exhibits a modest wreath enclosing Latin
inscriptions recording the award of the medal to Drisler, with the awarding party recorded
at the peripheries. A medal as historical as this will fit comfortably into a collection
of academic medals, Tiffany medals, large gold medals, or a well chosen collection of
important 19th century medallic art. As the actual gold medal awarded to Drisler in 1894,
it is unique and irreplaceable.We have been able to track only two other off-metal strikes
of this medal: a gilt bronze version currently in a private collection, and a bronze
specimen presumably still at the University Club of New York, presented to its Council in
November of 1898. |
| Price: |
$12,650.00 (2007-05-22) |
| Original page: |
http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lri
d=AN00061370
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