Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 159 6 Mar 2021
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Benjamin Betts on John Law
Betts, Benjamin. A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE MEDALS RELATING TO JOHN LAW AND THE MISSISSIPPI SYSTEM, WITH AN ATTEMPT AT A BRIEF TRANSLATION OF THEIR LEGENDS AND INSCRIPTIONS (WITH NOTES), AND A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS ORIGINATOR. (Boston): Privately Printed, 1907. Small 4to, later dark brown cloth, gilt. (2), 77, (1) pages; title printed in red and black; fine frontispiece portrait of Law; fine map plate; fine caricature facsimile plate; bank note illustration plate; 5 lithographic plates of medals. Small corner bump; else fine. A very scarce work, being one of a very small number of copies reprinted from the American Journal of Numismatics. Thirty-eight Law medals are depicted and painstakingly described, preceded by a description of the Mississippi System, about which the author states: "the magnificent financial scheme originated by John Law... was perhaps one of the most striking examples of national delusions furnished by modern history." Far more comprehensive than C. Wyllys Betts in this area. Clain-Stefanelli 15024. Sigler 229.
Betts, Benjamin. A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE MEDALS RELATING TO JOHN LAW AND THE MISSISSIPPI SYSTEM, WITH AN ATTEMPT AT A BRIEF TRANSLATION OF THEIR LEGENDS AND INSCRIPTIONS (WITH NOTES), AND A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS ORIGINATOR. (Boston): Privately Printed, 1907. Small 4to, later dark brown cloth, gilt. (2), 77, (1) pages; title printed in red and black; fine frontispiece portrait of Law; fine map plate; fine caricature facsimile plate; bank note illustration plate; 5 lithographic plates of medals. Small corner bump; else fine. A very scarce work, being one of a very small number of copies reprinted from the American Journal of Numismatics. Thirty-eight Law medals are depicted and painstakingly described, preceded by a description of the Mississippi System, about which the author states: "the magnificent financial scheme originated by John Law... was perhaps one of the most striking examples of national delusions furnished by modern history." Far more comprehensive than C. Wyllys Betts in this area. Clain-Stefanelli 15024. Sigler 229.