The Weber collection; Greek coins ... - Forvm Ancient Coins

INTRODUCTION
Conspicuous amongst the most important collections of Greek coins ever formed by a pri-
vate individual was that begun some forty years ago by the late Sir Hermann Weber, and purchas-
ed en bloc from his executors at the end of December 19 18, by Messrs Spink & Son Limited,
17 & 18 Piccadilly, London W.
Sir Hermann Weber ' was born on December 30, 1823, at Holzkirchen, a small village in the
North of Bavaria, where his father, a native of Bielefeld, resided as the administrator of an estate
of Count Mensdorff-Pouilly. His mother, whose maiden name was Ruperti, was said to be of
Italian descent, one of her ancestors having come from Italy in the suite of one of the Prince-
Abbots of Fulda. Young Hermann spent his early life on his father's farm and there developed
that love for open-air life, which, later in his medical career, he so strongly recommended, and
which perhaps led him to take such a prominent interest in the subject of climatotherapy . At
the
age of nine he was sent to a private school at Wurzburg, and in 1838, he was transferred to the
Gymnasium at Fulda, to which town the family had removed from Holzkirchen. After passing
his matriculation, he began medical studies at Marburg University, 1844, to pursue them later at
Bonn, where in 1848 he took the M. D. degree, and started to practise as a physician.
From early youth, a great admiration for Skakespeare's plays, had led Weber to study the
English language. His university teachers were apparently in the habit of attaching him as a
guide to English visitors who came to them bearing letters of introduction. Thus it was that he
made the acquaintance of Sir James Simpson, and it was doubtless in that way that at Marburg
he had met Carlyle, of whom he always kept the most pleasant recollections. Of great influence
on his later life was his intercourse with the English colony residing at Bonn, where he was
brought into professional contact with Sir Peregrine and Lady Sarah Maitland, Colonel (later
Major-General Sir Henry) Havelock, the Turtons, and many distinguished visitors and residents
at the famous university town. His love for England and the British led him to apply for the
vacant post of Resident Medical Officer of the London German Hospital (at Dalston), to which
he was elected in May 185 1, becoming afterwards physician and consulting physician to the
Hospital. On the completion of this appointment, he decided to start a practice as a physician in
London, giving up the idea of returning to Germany, a disposition which was confirmed by his
1. Notes culled from " Autobiographical Reminiscences of Sir Hermann Weber, written for the family; with Anno-
tations, and a list of his Medical Works, by his son, Frederick Parkes Weber", London, 1919. Privately printed for
Dr F. P. Weber. — Through the kindness and courtesy of Dr F. P. Weber I was able to consult this monograph, and
obtained permission to reproduce for a frontispiece of the Catalogue the excellent portrait of Sir Hermann Weber,
taken in 1908.
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