Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 160 22 May 2021
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Earliest Known Illustration of a U.S. Coin and First $ in Print
Lee, Chauncey. THE AMERICAN ACCOMPTANT; BEING A PLAIN, PRACTICAL AND SYSTEMATIC COMPENDIUM OF FEDERAL ARITHMETIC; IN THREE PARTS: DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, AND SPECIALLY CALCULATED FOR THE COMMERCIAL MERIDIAN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Lansingburgh: Printed by William W. Wands, 1797. 12mo, original full brown calf; black morocco spine label, gilt. Frontispiece engraving by A. Reed of coins in current usage in the U.S.; 297, (15) pages. Moderate browning. Early ownership signature and doodles on front flyleaf. Very good. This early American accounting and bookkeeping manual contains what is generally believed to be the first appearance in print of the dollar sign ($). It also includes, as a frontispiece, an engraving depicting a 1795 U.S. eagle, which Eric Newman has called "the earliest known illustration of a United States coin." Also included on the engraving are the Spanish pistole, French "guinea," British guinea, and Portuguese Johannes and half moidore. The book consists of a series of practical lessons for clerks. The dollar sign, which appears on page 56 for the first time and then throughout the volume, is a typographical approximation based upon the handwritten dollar sign used by some during the period. It resembles our own, but also differs from it. Much as a typographical ampersand is much more stylized than most of our handwritten ampersands, this initial attempt at a dollar sign in type is less a strict representation of the handwritten sign than an attempt to establish a similar sign for more formal treatment in type. A scarce volume, of exceptionally high importance. For a fascinating, if at times controversial, overview of the history of the dollar sign, see Eric P. Newman's "The Dollar $ign: Its Written and Printed Origin" in America's Silver Dollars (New York: ANS, 1995). Evans 32366: "It is claimed that this work was the first to use the dollar mark, $." Howes L196 (aa): "First book to adopt the dollar sign." Ex Dan Freidus Library.
Lee, Chauncey. THE AMERICAN ACCOMPTANT; BEING A PLAIN, PRACTICAL AND SYSTEMATIC COMPENDIUM OF FEDERAL ARITHMETIC; IN THREE PARTS: DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, AND SPECIALLY CALCULATED FOR THE COMMERCIAL MERIDIAN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Lansingburgh: Printed by William W. Wands, 1797. 12mo, original full brown calf; black morocco spine label, gilt. Frontispiece engraving by A. Reed of coins in current usage in the U.S.; 297, (15) pages. Moderate browning. Early ownership signature and doodles on front flyleaf. Very good. This early American accounting and bookkeeping manual contains what is generally believed to be the first appearance in print of the dollar sign ($). It also includes, as a frontispiece, an engraving depicting a 1795 U.S. eagle, which Eric Newman has called "the earliest known illustration of a United States coin." Also included on the engraving are the Spanish pistole, French "guinea," British guinea, and Portuguese Johannes and half moidore. The book consists of a series of practical lessons for clerks. The dollar sign, which appears on page 56 for the first time and then throughout the volume, is a typographical approximation based upon the handwritten dollar sign used by some during the period. It resembles our own, but also differs from it. Much as a typographical ampersand is much more stylized than most of our handwritten ampersands, this initial attempt at a dollar sign in type is less a strict representation of the handwritten sign than an attempt to establish a similar sign for more formal treatment in type. A scarce volume, of exceptionally high importance. For a fascinating, if at times controversial, overview of the history of the dollar sign, see Eric P. Newman's "The Dollar $ign: Its Written and Printed Origin" in America's Silver Dollars (New York: ANS, 1995). Evans 32366: "It is claimed that this work was the first to use the dollar mark, $." Howes L196 (aa): "First book to adopt the dollar sign." Ex Dan Freidus Library.