Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 165 3 Dec 2022
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First Pocket Edition, Newman 1-P-3
Heath, Laban. HEATH'S INFALLIBLE COUNTERFEIT DETECTOR AT SIGHT... Boston: Heath, 1864. First edition, third printing. 16mo, original blindstamped brown cloth; front cover lettered in gilt. 31, (1) pages; 8 engraved plates of bank note design elements, some with original tissue guards, interspersed in the text, plate 6 serving as a frontispiece, plate 4 printed in red ink, and plate 8 printed in green ink. Spine chipped; damp-stain to front endpapers affecting frontispiece Plate 6. Very good or so. Newman 1-P-3. An early printing of the first edition of this remarkable publication. These fascinating volumes were chronicled by Eric P. Newman in a substantial article appearing in the 1991 American Numismatic Association Centennial Anthology, titled "Heath's Counterfeit Detectors: An Extraordinarily Successful Comedy of Errors." In it, Newman writes, "A highlight in American numismatic literature is the myriad of editions of Laban Heath's counterfeit detectors. These books gained great popularity by the simple technique of complimenting the intelligence and ability of members of the public to recognize counterfeit paper money and by the appeal of spectacular illustrations. The series of editions from 1864 through 1889 carried a transition of text and a development of pictorial content by a masterful huckster and a skilled political maneuverer. He was the first person to promote a numismatic book into a best seller." Heath claimed a total issue of 25,000 copies of the first edition. If accurate, the proportion surviving is very small. This third printing is scarce. Ex Michael Sullivan Library.
Estimate: 200 USD
Heath, Laban. HEATH'S INFALLIBLE COUNTERFEIT DETECTOR AT SIGHT... Boston: Heath, 1864. First edition, third printing. 16mo, original blindstamped brown cloth; front cover lettered in gilt. 31, (1) pages; 8 engraved plates of bank note design elements, some with original tissue guards, interspersed in the text, plate 6 serving as a frontispiece, plate 4 printed in red ink, and plate 8 printed in green ink. Spine chipped; damp-stain to front endpapers affecting frontispiece Plate 6. Very good or so. Newman 1-P-3. An early printing of the first edition of this remarkable publication. These fascinating volumes were chronicled by Eric P. Newman in a substantial article appearing in the 1991 American Numismatic Association Centennial Anthology, titled "Heath's Counterfeit Detectors: An Extraordinarily Successful Comedy of Errors." In it, Newman writes, "A highlight in American numismatic literature is the myriad of editions of Laban Heath's counterfeit detectors. These books gained great popularity by the simple technique of complimenting the intelligence and ability of members of the public to recognize counterfeit paper money and by the appeal of spectacular illustrations. The series of editions from 1864 through 1889 carried a transition of text and a development of pictorial content by a masterful huckster and a skilled political maneuverer. He was the first person to promote a numismatic book into a best seller." Heath claimed a total issue of 25,000 copies of the first edition. If accurate, the proportion surviving is very small. This third printing is scarce. Ex Michael Sullivan Library.
Estimate: 200 USD