Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 164 27 Aug 2022
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First Edition Dickeson, Inscribed by the Author
Dickeson, Montroville Wilson. THE AMERICAN NUMISMATICAL MANUAL OF THE CURRENCY OR MONEY OF THE ABORIGINES, AND COLONIAL, STATE, AND UNITED STATES COINS. WITH HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF EACH COIN OR SERIES. Philadelphia, 1859. First edition. 4to, original blindstamped brown cloth; gilt impression of an 1849 double eagle on the upper cover, in blind on the rear cover. x, (11)-256 pages; handsome lithographic portrait of the author printed in two colors; frontispiece of the Libertas Americana medal; text illustrations; 19 attractive lithographic plates of coins and currency printed in colors and metallic tints. Modern reproduced photograph of the author with a Native American laid in. Binding worn, with backstrip torn but complete; foxed. Very good or so. Inscribed in pencil on the front flyleaf: "Jno. J. Griffiths, Comp. of the author, M.W.D. 1860." Also present are the label of Jno. J. Griffith, ink stamps of Dr. W. Patton Griffiths and James Milne, along with the pencil signature of Charles Ruby. The first work covering the entire range of American numismatics, Dickeson's book is a landmark of American numismatic history. By nature a popularizer and showman, he toured the country for several years in the early 1850s lecturing on North American archeology and excavating Indian mounds. His Numismatical Manual (the al was dropped after the first edition) was also clearly intended to reach a mass market. Handsome in format and visual presentation, it was distributed by a major publisher of the day and written in an authoritative manner. Dickeson even envisaged, "if it should be approved, to prepare an edition for the use of schools." Until the appearance of Breen's magnum opus in 1988, it remained the only comprehensive work on American numismatics ever published. Rarely encountered signed or inscribed. Ex Kolbe Sale 73, lot 195; ex Jim Neiswinter Library.
(Estimate: $300)
Dickeson, Montroville Wilson. THE AMERICAN NUMISMATICAL MANUAL OF THE CURRENCY OR MONEY OF THE ABORIGINES, AND COLONIAL, STATE, AND UNITED STATES COINS. WITH HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF EACH COIN OR SERIES. Philadelphia, 1859. First edition. 4to, original blindstamped brown cloth; gilt impression of an 1849 double eagle on the upper cover, in blind on the rear cover. x, (11)-256 pages; handsome lithographic portrait of the author printed in two colors; frontispiece of the Libertas Americana medal; text illustrations; 19 attractive lithographic plates of coins and currency printed in colors and metallic tints. Modern reproduced photograph of the author with a Native American laid in. Binding worn, with backstrip torn but complete; foxed. Very good or so. Inscribed in pencil on the front flyleaf: "Jno. J. Griffiths, Comp. of the author, M.W.D. 1860." Also present are the label of Jno. J. Griffith, ink stamps of Dr. W. Patton Griffiths and James Milne, along with the pencil signature of Charles Ruby. The first work covering the entire range of American numismatics, Dickeson's book is a landmark of American numismatic history. By nature a popularizer and showman, he toured the country for several years in the early 1850s lecturing on North American archeology and excavating Indian mounds. His Numismatical Manual (the al was dropped after the first edition) was also clearly intended to reach a mass market. Handsome in format and visual presentation, it was distributed by a major publisher of the day and written in an authoritative manner. Dickeson even envisaged, "if it should be approved, to prepare an edition for the use of schools." Until the appearance of Breen's magnum opus in 1988, it remained the only comprehensive work on American numismatics ever published. Rarely encountered signed or inscribed. Ex Kolbe Sale 73, lot 195; ex Jim Neiswinter Library.
(Estimate: $300)