Watch List notes:

Heath, Laban. HEATH'S GREATLY IMPROVED AND ENLARGED INFALLIBLE GOVERNMENT COUNTERFEIT DETECTOR, AT SIGHT... Boston and Washington: Heath, 1866 (Pat'd July 2, 1867 on cover). Second edition. 16mo, original blindstamped green cloth; front cover lettered sideways in gilt. 39, (5) pages; double-page plate of impressions of genuine and counterfeit fractional currency notes following the title; folding counterfeit $100 First National Bank of Boston note, in green and black, preceding introduction; 17 engraved numbered plates of bank note design elements with original tissue guards, interspersed out of numerical sequence in the text, plates 2 and 5 serving as frontispieces, plate 5 printed in green ink, plate 15 being an engraved folding Heath bank note facsimile, and plate 16 being a folding facsimile of a counterfeit $5 Bank of Orleans note taken from captured engraved plates, several plate numbers overprinted; four pages featuring four Heath microscope illustrations printed one per page. Latest Recommendation dated January 15, 1867. Binding worn, particularly at spine, but sound; some spotting. Very good. Newman 2-P-s-4(b). The first printing to include the folding plate of a counterfeit $100 First National Bank of Boston note, printed in green and black. 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." The second Pocket Editions were divided by Newman into those lettered horizontally on the front cover (denoted by the h in the Newman number), and those lettered sideways (denoted s). He also continued to study the series after the initial publication of his work and added a few new variations, including to this printing, 2-P-s-4. Finding that this printing came with and without four pages of illustrations of Heath microscopes, Newman designated the variety without the illustrations (a) and the present variety, with the illustrations, (b).