Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 28, July 9, 2000:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
We have no new subscribers this week. Our subscriber
count holds at 299.
GREETINGS FROM BOB COCHRAN
Bob Cochran is back online after a stint in the hospital. He
writes: "I had an angioplasty procedure, and I'm doing quite well.
I've been participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program at the
hospital gym, and they've pretty much told me that I'm about
ready to take the training wheels off.
I was planning on going to Memphis last month and re-acquainting
myself with all of the "All-U-Kin-Eat" Bar-B-Q joints! Well, I
won't be doing that any more, although I AM able to have one
moderate size serving of ribs or pulled pig, but no more of the
fried catfish, unfortunately. I'm from the South, and being told
you can't have all the fried catfish you want is quite catastrophic!
But it beats the alternative, doesn't it?
I continue to marvel at your ability to produce a quality issue of
the E-Sylum each week, with nice articles and CONTINUED
contributions from the readership!"
ADAMS REPRINT IN PREPARATION
Joel Orosz' article in the recent Asylum issue laments the fact
that many of the standard references for United States numismatic
literature are out of print, including John W. Adams' 1982 work,
"United States Numismatic Literature. Volume I: Nineteenth
Century Auction Catalogs". Publisher George Frederick Kolbe
notes on his web site that an "updated reprint" is "in preparation".
But your help is needed - please send any comments, corrections
or updates to George at numislit@compuserve.com
ANA LITERATURE EXHIBITS
ANA Chief Judge Joe Boling reports that there are three
exhibits entered in the numismatic literature category this
year:
Building a Set of The Numismatist
Numismatic Revelations
Auction Catalogs That Led Me to Collect Numismatic Literature
Best of luck to all the exhibitors. Be sure to stop by the exhibit
area during the convention.
ANA MEETING TOPIC: EARLY DOLLAR LITERATURE
At our annual meeting at the ANA convention, W. David
Perkins will speak on "The Ostheimers of Philadelphia and their
Extraordinary Collection of Silver Dollars". Dave is a collector,
student and researcher of the early United States silver dollars
1794-1803. Dave also collects tokens and numismatic literature,
especially books, catalogs and documents pertaining to the great
early silver dollar collections and collectors.
In addition to NBS, Dave is a member of numerous numismatic
organizations; he has authored over 15 articles for the John Reich
Journal as well as articles for the TAMS Journal, Civil War Token
Journal and Talkin' Tokens. His articles have won awards from
NLG, JRCS and TAMS. His interest in Civil War Store Cards
(or tokens) started with a discovery that his great-great grandfather
issued two Detroit, Michigan Civil War tokens in 1863.
Dave was a consultant to Bowers & Merena in the cataloging of
the Eliasberg early silver dollars, and was a major contributor to
Jules Reiver's new book The United States Early Silver Dollars
1794 to 1803.
His talk is based on his research over the last decade. The
Ostheimer early silver dollar collection 1793-1805 [note '1805'
is not a typo] included specimens from many of the great sales
and collections from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
CAROTHERS' EDITIONS
Fred Reed writes: "I'm not quite sure what Henry Bergos was
saying, but my copy of Carothers was co-published by John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. of New York and Chapman & Hill, Ltd.
of London in 1930. The book is copyright Neil Carothers
(1930) and was actually printed by the Press of Braunworth
and Co. Book Manufacturers, Brooklyn. If this is the "original
PhD dissertation" to which Bergos refers, it definitely is not
"near impossible to get." I have seen dozens of copies over
the years. The copy presently in my library was purchased at
the ANA in Denver several years ago for $35."
[My copies are also of the 1930 edition; I've never seen a
copy of the original thesis. Does anyone else have a copy with
the original dust jacket? (spoken like a true biblio-nut) -Editor]
BREEN: FINAL ANALYSIS
Mike Hodder writes: "I've read Karl Moulton's essay on
Breen's shortcomings and Stuart Segan's more recent apologia.
Karl and I have discussed some of Breen's mistakes of fact,
many of which are well known, now. I'm sure Karl would
agree with me when I say no one can be expected to produce
flawless work, so mistakes are to be expected.
I'm not sure I detect in Breen's work what Stuart characterizes
as scientific method, however. If he means making factual
observations, constructing an hypothesis to explain them, and
then testing that hypothesis by experimentation, discarding it if
proven wrong, adopting it as an argument if shown to be right,
then I'm not sure I see much if any there. Breen typically
reports on what he sees in various sources, documentary and
anecdotal. He gives equal weight to both at times. He relies on
his memory for details of sales, coins, varieties, and owners,
even if his recollections are of events 40 years in the past. He
is uncritical of his sources and rarely puts them into their
contexts. He finds connections and causations when there is no
verifiable evidence for them. There is little of synthesis in
Breen and little that's really original, especially in the colonial
sections of his opus magnum. There is almost no testing of
conclusions.
I could go on but there's little point in rehearsing Breen's
shortcomings (and god help me when someone starts on mine).
In the final analysis, Breen did what no one else had before him
and if he produced a flawed book, it's one we all use. Breen's
personal life has nothing to do with his published numismatic
work. But let's not bang the drum too loudly for his apotheosis,
either. Or if we must, let's find some other reason than scientific
method for his deification."
NOW THOSE BOOKS ARE *REALLY* RARE
NBS Board member Bill Murray writes: "I offer the following,
found in a 1999 calendar under the heading, On Bookstores,
Unusual: "Rare, Out-of-Print, and Non-Existent Books,"
purportedly a sign in a bookstore in Jacksonville, Florida."
In his "The New Collector" column in the July 17th issue of
COIN WORLD, Bill offered this quotation: "Old people like
to give good advice, as solace for no longer being able to
provide bad examples." (Duke of Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680).
AN OBLIQUE REFERENCE
The collective vocabulary of our subscribers keeps me
running for my dictionary. In an article on images of Lincoln
in the same issue of COIN WORLD, Fred L. Reed III
writes: "... an image of Lincoln does appear on this $3 note,
in the form of an oblate revenue stamp at the left center."
The online Information Please Almanac (www.infoplease.com)
has these entries for adjective and noun definitions:
Pronunciation: (ob'lAt, o-blAt'), [key]
—adj.
flattened at the poles, as a spheroid generated by the
revolution of an ellipse about its shorter axis (opposed to
prolate).
—n.
1. a person offered to the service of and living in a
monastery, but not under monastic vows or full
monastic rule.
2. a lay member of any of various Roman Catholic
societies devoted to special religious work.
FEATURED WEB SITE
This week's featured web page relates a few amusing stories
from the history of the Bank of England, on the bank's web site.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/funny.htm
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 21704
(To be removed from this mailing list
write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
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