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V4 2001 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 12, March 18, 2001, Article 15

In another coincidence (I'm detecting a pattern here...) Q. David Bowers sings the bibliophile's lament in an article in the Spring 2001 issue of The Civil War Token Society Journal. In an article titled "Some Personal Notes and Observations Concerning Civil War Tokens", he writes:

"I am a pack rat. Especially when it comes to books and catalogues. I have been squirreling books and other printed material away - if it has something to do with coins. In fact, my favorite things are not numismatic texts at all, but, instead, are other things - preferably printed in the 18th or 19th century - that mention coins in passing"

"I have also acquired a lot of other things, such as bound runs of daily papers from New York and Cincinnati for the Civil War. The 'problem' with such things is that if I were blessed with 100 hours per day and 100 days per month, it would take two lifetimes to look through them all. I've loaned the Cincinnati papers to Steve Tanenbaum, but at last word he has not had the time to look at them either."

[Editor's note: there are probably few among us to whom that first sentence does not apply. In fact, I'm sure our spouses would all love to enroll us in a "Packrats Anonymous" program, where we would stand up and state (ashamedly), "My name is John Doe, and I am a pack rat". Instead, we go to NBS meetings, damn proud to proclaim ourselves as numismatic pack rats.]

Wayne Homren, Editor

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