i804. | 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
INTRODUCTION fo the stuDY of AR- 
CHEOLOGY, or the KNOWLEDGE of 
ANTIQUE MONUMENTS. From the 
FRENCH Of A.L. MILLIN, CONSER- 
VATOR 6f the MUSEUM of ANTIQUI- 
TIES iz PsRIs, Ge. Ge. 
(Concluded from p. 117. No 119.) 
GEOGRAPHICAL ARCHEOGRAPHY. 
HERE are feveral defcriptions of the 
monuments of a fingle country, fuch 
as are contained in the work entitled 
** Antique Rome,”” in the Antiquities of 
Greece, in Sicilia antiqua, in the differ- 
ent Travels in Greece, Italy, Sicily, &c.5 
but the only general treatife on Geogra- 
phical archeology now extant, is that of 
Profeff.r Oberlin, already ftated in this 
introduction. 
After the Predromus, an idea of which 
has been given, this learned prof:flor ap- 
plies bimfelf to a geographical divifion of 
the ancient world. He begins by Spain, 
and afterwards defcribes Gaul, Britain, 
and Germany; thea Italy and Greece; 
and, laftly, Afia Minor, Syria, Paleftine, 
Perla, Egypt, and Libya. The modern 
_ geographical names are invariably placed 
oppofte to the ancient names. He con- 
fines himfclf to a fimple indication of the 
monuments of every defcription which are 
.to be found in each of the countries, and 
cites the authors who have undertaken 
to explain them. This work is termi- 
nated by avery full geographical table, 
and by a table of the authors quoted, 
which may be confidcred as an archeolo- 
gical library. 
ALPHABETICAL ARCHEOGRAPHY. 
__ The beit lexicon of archeograpiy is un- 
queitionably that of Sultzer, in the Ger- 
man language, entitled «‘ General Theory 
of the Fine Arts.”? The articles are fhert 
and precile, but traced by the hand of a 
mafter. It is, however, eafy to perceive, 
by the difference of the fyiz, and even of 
the ideas, that all the articles are not his 
own. Inthe fupplementary numbers of 
the firft French Encyclopedia, and like- 
wife in the diétionaries of the fine arts, in 
the fame language, and in the work enti- 
tled Encyclopédie methodique, the moft in- 
terelting parts of this production are to 
be found. The laft and the beft edition 
was printed at Leipfic in 1792. It is 
rendered extremely valuable by the care 
the editor has taken to point out at the 
clofe of each arricle, ali the works, how- 
ver Numerous they may be, and in what- 
ever language they may have been writ- 
Moxtuiy Mac. No. i21,. 
fntroduétion to the Study of Archeoligy. 
239 | 
ten, in which any information on the 
fame fubject is to be obtained. 
Several details on archeography are to 
be found under the head of antiquities in 
the Methodical Encyclopedia, in French, 
edited by Monges; and likewife in La- 
combe’s D.étionary of the Fine Arts. 
The ideas contained in the latter are, 
however, both fuperficial and incorre&. 
FLAN OF A 8YSTEM OF ARCHEOGRAe} 
PHY. - 
The greater part of the treatifes which 
have been pointed out have been written 
in the German language, and feveral in 
Latin, I: is a great defideratum to the 
fine arts, that a general work on this fub-~ 
jeét fhould be undertaken in fuch a ways 
as to be placed within the reach of all the 
pelifhed nations of Europe. The monu- 
ments of the art are difperfed in the pa- 
laces, and in the feats of the nobility be- 
longing to the different ftates. A delerip- 
tion of them cannot be obtained without 
confuliing an infinite number of books; 
and we are in need of a notice, or reper 
tory, of all the monuments of the art 
which ftill fubfift. Such an undertaking 
fhould be accomplifned in the following 
manner. 
The author fhould adopt, pretty-nearly, 
the fyfem or mode of arrangement fol- 
lowed by naturalifs. He ought, in the 
firft piace, to clafs all the monuments in 
their analytical order; and to give a very 
concife hittorical and literary notice of 
each of them, together with the opinion 
-waich may have been pronounced on it. 
He fhould afterwards introduce a chrono- 
logical fynonomy, which might eafily be 
carried down to h:m who fhould have 
been the firft to make the monument 
known. This fynonymy fhould cite all 
the works in which the monument may 
have been defcrived or engraved, witha 
fhort opinion relative to the fidelity of the 
reprefentation. The notice fhouid be ters 
minated by an indication of the place in 
which the monument is to be found, 
Such a work would without doubt con- 
tain many errors, which would in the 
firft infiance be inevitable ; but would af. 
terwards be improved by criticifms, and 
fucceflively augmented by ali the difcoves 
rieS that may be made. 
Such a tafk would be too great for the 
powers of a fingle man, unlefs he fhould 
poffeis the genius and activity of the im- 
mortal Linnzus ; in which cafe he would 
not be more terrified by the idea of fram- 
ing fuch a catalogue, than was that great 
naturalit when he-uncerteck to execute, 
Qg with 
