Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 2, Number 49:  December 5, 1999: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
   

SUBSCRIBER UPDATES  

   We have two new subscribers this week:   Craig Rathkamp and 
   NBS Member John Murison.  Welcome aboard!  This brings our 
   subscriber count to 256. 
   

CONDER COMPLIMENTS  

   Harold Welch writes: "As the editor of the "Conder"  Token 
   Collector's Club, which publishes but 4 times per year, I 
   continue to marvel at your ability to put out an interesting and 
   well done production - every week! 
   Good job and congratulations."  

   One thing that makes the E-Sylum editor's job easier is 
   our active readership, whose input is invaluable in putting 
   together each weeks' issue.   Keep those e-cards and 
   e-letters coming, folks! 
   

WOODWARD WRITING SAMPLES SOUGHT  

   New subscriber John Murison writes: "I am conducting minor 
   research regarding W.E. Woodward and would like to 
   examine samples of his handwriting for comparison purposes. 
   If successful I may be able to attribute a catalog in my library 
   to him personally."  John may be contacted at this address: 
   jam@apogeedesigns.com 
   

STACK'S FIXED PRICE LIST OF BOOKS  

   New York firm Stack's has released a retail price list 
   of numismatic books for the holiday season.  "Special 
   offerings" include their recent reprint of "The Joseph 
   Brobston Collection of United States Half Cents" at $250, 
   and Noe's "The Silver Coinage of Massachusetts" (the 
   Quarterman reprint) at $195.   For a copy of the price 
   list contact Stack's at 123 West 57th Street, New York, 
   NY, 1019-2280. 
   

S. S. CENTRAL AMERICA SALE  

   Read the books about salvaging the S. S. Central America 
   Treasure?  Want to put a gold-rush era relic from the 
   famous shipwreck into your collection?   The ad from 
   Sotheby's in the December 6th issue of COIN World 
   promotes their December 8-9 sale of "Treasure from The 
   S. S.Central America.... This treasure comprises gold 
   coins, assayer bars and placer gold from the California 
   gold rush.  Auction estimates range from $700 - $30,000. 
   

THINK YOU HAVE TOO MANY BOOKS?  

   The October 29, 1999 issue of The Coin Collector, 
   issued by Bowers & Merena Galleries, notes that "the 
   Library of Congress adds 30,000 volumes every 12 
   months!" 
   

MOST USEFUL NUMISMATIC CATALOGS?  

   The same article, by Q. David Bowers, goes on to 
   point out that when asked about building a good 
   numismatic library, his reply was "that a single shelf 
   of good references on subjects of interest would 
   probably suffice as a nucleus, and beyond that books 
   could be added as desired.  Quality is much more 
   important than quantity."  

   He suggests that "it would be a fine thing for someone 
   to make up a list of the most useful catalogues (from 
   an information viewpoint) published since 1950 in 
   such categories as: "U.S. Coins, Colonial and Early 
   American Coins, Tokens and Medals, Paper Money. 
   Such lists could be compiled for every numismatic 
   specialty."  

   The NBS numismatic bibliography, being compiled 
   by Larry Mitchell and available on our web site, 
   includes selected catalogs as well as books, but the 
   U.S. section is yet to be done.   Anyone care to 
   submit their own lists of "most useful" catalogs? 
   

ANS DUPLICATE CATALOGUES FOR SALE  

   Speaking of catalogues, buried deep in an article about 
   the American Numismatic Society in the December 13th 
   issue of COIN World, is an interesting quote from ANS 
   Executive Director Ute Wartenberg,  that "the ANS 
   basement is full of tens of thousands of duplicate auction 
   catalogs the ANS hopes to sell to four or five interested 
   book dealers starting next year."   It will be interesting to 
   see what firms and catalogues are represented in the hoard, 
   and what affect their availability will have on the numismatic 
   literature market.  

   Other articles in the issue include a great piece by Paul 
   Gilkes on Washington Funeral Medals, with research input 
   from David Alexander and others.   On page 20 is an 
   article titled "Bibliomaniac tracks first six volumes of The 
   Numismatist", a review of David Sklow's article in the 
   last issue of our print journal,  The Asylum. 
   

FEATURED WEB SITE  

   This week's featured web site is an online copy of an article 
   about the U.S. Mint in the December 1999 issue of Fast 
   Company, a magazine about "life and work in the new 
   economy."  

   The article focuses on how Mint Director "Philip Deihl and 
   his colleagues at the U.S. Mint have transformed a clumsy 
   bureaucracy into a fast-moving enterprise with great 
   customer service and a cutting-edge presence on the Web."  

      http://www.fastcompany.com/online/30/usmint.html 
   

  Wayne Homren 
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society 
   

  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a 
  non-profit organization promoting numismatic 
  literature.   For more information please see 
  our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/ 
  There is a membership application available on 
  the web site.  To join, print the application and 
  return it with your check to the address printed 
  on the application.   For those without web access, 
  contact Dave Hirt, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, 
  5911 Quinn Orchard Road, Frederick, MD 21701  

  (To be removed from this mailing list 
   write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)