Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 19, May 6, 2001: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
Copyright (c) 2001, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
  

SUBSCRIBER UPDATES 

   We have two new subscribers this week:   Hal Dunn (referred 
   by Bill Murray), and Ed Snible.  One of last week's subscribers 
   (whose name I didn't know at the time) was J.E. Bizzell M.D, 
   also referred by Bill Murray.   Welcome aboard! 
   Our subscriber count is now 377. 
  

AOL OUTAGES 

   Once again, we've had several reports from America Online 
   subscribers who did not receive their issues of The E-Sylum. 
   This also happened to subscribers of another (non-numismatic) 
   email newsletter.   I would encourage those subscribers to 
   make their complaints known ot AOL. If you've missed any 
   issues, let me know and I'll forward fresh copies. 
  

SUBSCRIBER PROFILE: HAL V. DUNN 

   New subscriber Hal V. Dunn writes: "Colonel Bill Murray 
   suggested that I might be interested in NBS. 

   Numismatic interests:  Carson City coins, Carson City Mint 
   memorabilia, Nevada tokens and medals, Wyoming tokens. 

   Numismatic literature:  I have authored three exonumia 
   catalogs and numerous articles on Nevada and California 
   exonumia.  I collect published material (numismatic and 
   otherwise) on the Carson City Mint. 

   I have been a coin collector for over 50 years and involved 
   with exonumia since the mid-1960s.  Currently I am president 
   of the National Token Collectors Association, past president 
   of the Token and Medal Society, the ANA district delegate 
   for Nevada, and an officer in our local coin club. 

   I am looking forward to my membership in NBS." 
  

ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NUMISMATIC CATALOGS 

   Bill Malkmus writes: "Following up on the June 11, 2000 
   E-Sylum report on the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge) website, 
   the Numismatics International Bulletin (May 2001) reports that 
   they now have an on-line bibliography of over 26,000 
   Numismatic Auction Catalogues and Fixed Price Lists (which 
   they own) at: 

      http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/salec.html 

   This isn't my specialty, but I verified the address, and I would 
   imagine that quite a few NBS members would want to check it out." 
  

NICOLAS LEON WORKS SOUGHT 

   Adrián González Salinas Monterrey, N.L. México writes: 
   "I've been looking for numismatic treatises of Dr. Nicolás León 
   but I could find nothing.  I know that Dr. Nicolás León 
   published an article about Oaxaca's glass coinage tokens 
   (1910's-1920's)...does anyone  have publications of this 
   numismatist?..." 

   [Editor's note - Dr. Leon translated into Spanish Lyman 
   Low's monograph on the Coinage of General Morelos, 
   the subject of an article I wrote for The Asylum.  I am 
   not aware of his other works - can someone help? ] 
  

CONFEDERATE INTERCEPTED BACKS 

   Nolan Mims writes: "I am doing research on the Intercepted 
   Plates for Backs of Confederate Bills.  I know that Vol. 12 
   and/or 13 of the AJN had articles on the subject and I would 
   like to purchase photocopies of those articles.  I would also 
   appreciate any other information that E-Sylum readers can 
   contribute concerning the intercepted plates. I can be reached 
   at clrkcoin@bellsouth.net" 
  

MICROFICHE 

   David Lange writes: "Some years ago, I purchased a complete 
   set of The Numismatist in microfiche form from the ANA.  I 
   used it quite a bit until I joined NGC.  Since that time, I've had 
   access to a complete, bound set of originals (1888-93 are 
   reprints, of course), and I'd much rather skim through hundreds 
   of paper pages than hypnotize myself in front of a microfiche 
   viewer. I find it too easy to miss what I'm looking for with 
   microfiche and, of course, I also miss out on the inherent 
   enjoyment of touching the original pages and reliving these 
   moments in time. 

   Perhaps, the best defense of microfilming is this: By now, most 
   periodical collections would have been trashed in any case. At 
   least, by microfilming them during the 1970s and '80s the 
   information still exists, albeit in an unsatisfying form.  It's just 
   unfortunate that digital technology arrived a little too late for these 
   documents to be scanned, providing a somewhat better 
   reproduction than microfilm." 
  

NBS F.U.N. PHOTO 

   Fred Lake reports that several new photos have been added to 
   the web site of F.U.N., the Florida United Numismatists.  Included 
   is a photo of NBS Board Member Bill Murray speaking at the 
   NBS regional meeting held at the FUN show this past January. 
   We can all agree with the sentiment printed on his shirt. 

      http://www.funtopics.com/PHOTO8.jpg 
  

WHEN ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER 

   While surfing the net, your editor came across references to 
   Imprint, the journal of the American Historical Print 
   Collectors Society (see http://www.ahpcs.org/).  Their web 
   site features chronological and subject indices to the journal, 
   and there are a few articles of interest to paper money 
   collectors.  One such article is "The Angel in the Factory: 
   Images of Women Worked Engraved on Ante-bellum 
   Bank Notes" by Francine Tyler (Spring 1994, Vol 19, No. 1, 
   p2-10).   Back issues of the journal are available from the 
   society. 

   One of your Editor's favorite pastimes is bibliography- 
   diving; one of the first things I look for in a newly discovered 
   book or article are references to other books or articles that 
   may be of use.  Footnote 7 of Tyler's article references 
   an article by Charles Toppan Carpenter, "History and 
   Progress of Bank Note Engraving" from The Crayon, 
   February 21, 1855.   The Crayon was "considered by many 
   to be the best American art journal of its time", according 
   to one bookseller who has a partial set in stock. 

   Another favorite area is ephemera, and another of the 
   article's footnotes describes a banknote printer's 
   advertising piece:  "An advertising circular of the Jocelyn 
   engravers stated that the cost of engraving four notes on 
   copperplate was $250.00 and produced 6,000 good 
   impressions;  the cost of engraving four notes on steel 
   was $500.00, producing 35,000 good impressions. 
   Printing cost $2.00 per hundred impressions.  Advertising 
   circular of N. and S. Jocelyn, New York and New Haven, 
   2 May 1831, in The Jocelyn Family Papers, 1810-1835, 
   collected by Foster Wild Rice, Connecticut Historical 
   Society, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford." 

   A web search for information on "Jocelyn" turned up 
   this reference on a page about the Amistad case: 
   "On November 17, 1840, John Quincy Adams, sixth 
   President of the United States, and then serving in Congress, 
   visited thirty-six African men being held outside of New 
   Haven, Connecticut. The Africans who had mutinied on a 
   Spanish slave ship were being tried for piracy and murder 
   on the high seas...." 

   "...three prominent abolitionists intervened: Lewis Tappan, 
   a merchant and industrialist who had raised funds to defend 
   and care for the Mendians; the Reverend Joshua Leavitt, 
   editor of the antislavery journal, Emancipator; and Simeon S. 
   Jocelyn, an engraver active in the antislavery movement." 
   Could Simeon S. Jocelyn be the "S" of "N. and S. Jocelyn? 
   (see http://www.npg.si.edu/col/amistad/) 

   The question was answered on another web page, this one 
   containing bibliographies of "Jackson-Era Characters." 

   "Jocelyn, Nathaniel 1796 - 1881:  b.1/31,d.1/13 
   Painter and engraver, who was born in, and mostly lived in, 
   New Haven. Brother of Simeon Jocylyn, who tried, in 
   association with the New York Tappans, to establish 
   something between a college and what today would be 
   called a trade school for African Americans. 

   Son of a watchmaker; helped found the National Bank Note 
   Engraving Company; began painting portraits at 25; was 
   exhibited, and praised, at the National Academy. He was 
   somewhat of a protégé of Samuel F. B. Morse, who encouraged 
   him in the early 1820s when they both lived in New Haven. He 
   traveled and studied in Europe in the late 1820s through 1830, 
   and at least crossed paths with Morse over there. Back in 
   New Haven, he set up a studio, and got into trouble for 
   promoting the idea of the negro school. Made a famous 
   portrait of Cinque, the leader of the Amistad revolt, which 
   hangs in the building of the New Haven Colony Historical 
   Society, along with a portrait of himself. 
   (Source: DAB; Wyatt-Brown, Lewis Tappan, p87ff)" 
   (See http://216.202.17.223/BIOG-J.htm) 

   So "N. and S. Jocelyn" were Nathaniel and Simeon, 
   who were certainly men of their times who led very 
   interesting lives.  Who knew where the footnote would 
   lead?  That's the fun of it! 
  

THE GENTLEST OF INFIRMITIES 

   A note about the title of "A Gentle Madness", by Nicholas 
   Basbanes (reviewed in the July 25, 1999 issue of The E-Sylum 
   (v2#30).   The following is taken from an online book review, 
   originally printed in The Boston Globe.  For the full text, see 
   http://www.bates.edu/pubs/mag/97-Spring/bibliophile.html 

  "The book's title comes from an affectionate description of 
   Isaiah Thomas, the Revolutionary War-era patriot and printer 
   who founded the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, 
   repository of early American books. "At Thomas's funeral his 
   grandson, Benjamin Franklin Thomas, said his grandfather 
   had been touched early by `the gentlest of infirmities, bibliomania,'" 
   Basbanes said." 
  

FEATURED WEB SITE 

   This week's featured web site is "Some Educational Websites 
   about Roman Coins"  by Warren Esty 

      http://www.math.montana.edu/~umsfwest/numis/sitelinks.html 
  
   Wayne Homren 
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society