The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 2, January 13, 2002, Article 9

ASYLUM AND E-SYLUM SUBJECT MATTER

  Steve Pellegrini writes: "Being something of a newbie I have
  not read enough issues of The Asylum to really get a clear
  understanding of which subjects are appropriate and which
  are not. Personally, I buy books for my library for my
  numismatic education and as research and attribution
  resources for my  medal collection.   I collect mostly by
  maker, that is, the sculptor, designer, engraver etc.
  Collecting rare books is a bit beyond my means and all
  things being equal a third edition used with a coffee ring
  on the cover at $50 is preferable to a signed first edition
  of vellum and buckram at $1,000. Having said all that,
  what could I contribute which would be useful and of
  interest? Perhaps you could make a statement in
  E-Sylum explaining what you feel is the type of material,
  topics, focus the journal is looking for. I'm really good at
  making work for other people, no?"

  Well, yes, but two can play that game.  I'll give a quick
  response and leave the floor open to NBS members.

  First, I should remind our readers that the weekly electronic
  newsletter you're reading now is called The E-Sylum.  Our
  quarterly print journal is The Asylum.  The print journal is
  sent only to paid-up members of NBS, but The E-Sylum
  is free to all.

  Second, as Steve and John Kraljevich's questions point
  out, there are always newcomers entering our hobby and
  organization, and thus there will always be a ready audience
  for interesting stories and research, even if the subject has
  been visited before in the past.   So authors needn't be too
  concerned about avoiding topics that have been written
  about before. Each author brings a new perspective, which
  is always welcome.

  So what kind of articles are our readers looking for?
  Well, if you look at the winners of the yearly "Best Asylum
  Article" voting, I think you'd find that they fall into three
  main categories:

  1. New research into early numismatic books and periodicals,
      with a focus on the lives of the people responsible.
      Joel Orosz is the undisputed master of the genre, and has
      the awards to prove it.

  2. Reminiscences of collectors.  Randolph Zander's memoir
      comes to mind as a very warmly received member of this
      genre.

  3. Lists.  A number of important articles revolve around the
      simple compilation of lists, such as:  known copies of a
      certain important book;  past owners of a certain important
      copy of a book;  important references for a given topic,
      such as a bibliography of a specialized topics, such as
      large cents, Washingtonia, or (as mentioned above)
      medals.  Several authors have contributed articles of this
      type.

  Well, that's an initial list.  What do our readers have to say?

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

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