The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 48, November 13, 2005, Article 3

SPENGLER ON MARGINALIA

[The following item is reprinted from the May 11, 2003
issue of The E-Sylum (v6n19).  In it, Bill Spengler
recalls his purchase of a numismatic library. –Editor]

Gary Dunaier writes: "Regarding handwritten notes in the
margins of books: I, personally, don't care for them.  But
I don't think it's something that should be rejected on a
wholesale basis.

For example, I don't think any self-respecting numismatic
student would turn down the opportunity to acquire a
used coin book solely on the basis of writing in the margins
--  if the notes were written by Q. David Bowers or
someone of his caliber."

Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs writes: "While in general
I abhor the practice of underlining or writing in the margins
of serious books, especially in irremovable ink, this once
worked to my considerable advantage.  On a visit to my
favorite Oriental bookseller in England in 1976, I was
fortunate to acquire a 39-volume numismatic library of
original editions of most of the museum catalogues and
other standard references on ancient and medieval coins
of South Asia -- my specialty -- published between 1866
and 1941, including all the Numismatic Supplements to the
"Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" 1904-1937.  They
were all beautifully bound in tan leather with gold lettering
and decoration, and were in nice condition.

Several of the volumes, particularly those covering gold coins
of the Gupta Dynasty of ancient India, contained "marginalia"
written in blue pencil -- routinely used by British colonial
administrators in annotating documents and exchanging notes.
What a great find, evidently the personal reference library of
a British collector of Indian coins while stationed in the
Subcontinent!

I was eager to know who of the rather small group of such
British numismatists had owned and used this important library
long ago.  Sadly, however, these volumes did not contain a
single bookplate, owner's signature or other overt indication
of ownership, and the bookseller had had them in stock so
long that he couldn't recall where, how or when he had acquired
them!  I took this as a challenge in detection and eventually
discovered the solution in the volume on "The Coinage of the
Early or Imperial Gupta Dynasty of Northern India" by the
famous British Indian numismatist Vincent A. Smith, bearing
on its cover a faint inked note presenting the book to one
H. Rivett-Carnac Esq. "with the author's kind regards".  This
was the only such clue in the entire library.

Confirmation came in a notation on one of the plates in this
volume on which someone had written "to BM" in blue pencil
alongside a gold stater of Kumara Gupta.  When I looked up
this piece in the British Museum I found on the coin's little
round ticket that it had been donated by none other than
H. Rivett-Carnac.  This established ownership of this volume
and, by association, all the others.”

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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