MORE ON JULIAN'S MEDALS OF THE U.S. MINT

Author R. W. Julian writes:

There can never be enough praise lauded on Robert Julian for his monumental work on the U.S. Mint medals. His book on medals is to the medallic field as Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins is to the coin field. Although their formats differ, their content is unsurpassed.

There is a story behind the publication of "Julian" -- it is well known by the author's name alone -- but its history is not well known. Two people should also be recognized for their part in its publication in 1977. By this time the Franklin Mint had been in existence for 15 years with notable success. Founder Joe Segel wanted to enhance collectors' opinion of the firm.

Segel donated a number of shares in Franklin Mint stock to the Token And Medal Society for medal research and publication. Julian's manuscript was ideal for just such support and publication. TAMS Treasure Charles Ricard sold half the stock to fund this book

Neil Harris, then editor of The Numismatist in Colorado Springs had previously been appointed Book Editor for TAMS. In this position he prepared a report to the TAMS board. They accepted Neil’s plan with instructions to prepare the manuscript for publication.

Neil was ideal for his knowledge of medals, his editorial skills and his artistic ability. Prior to his employment at ANA he had been a medical illustrator so he was well versed in graphic arts in addition to the glyptic arts of medals. Later he even designed and created the models for ANA convention medals.

With the adequate funds from the Segel grant, Neil knew he could create an attractive book. He chose the type (Goudy Handtooled for text, Linotron Palatino for headlines), the paper (eggshell), and the binding (brown cloth). The layout and design were entirely his choice. He chose the illustrations, even added line art drawings of medals from Joseph F. Loubat’s two volume work on these medals published in 1878.

I had a small part in contributing the Concordance and Index of Artists in the appendix. The rest of the text, descriptions and charts in the appendix were entirely that of Bob Julian.

The end product of Julian's masterpiece was enhanced in a book all could be proud. Julian ended with medals issued in 1892. He left readers wanting more, wanting his treatment of the Mint's issues into the 20th century.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
BOOK REVIEW: MEDALS OF THE UNITED STATES MINT (www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n01.html#article8)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web