Lot 257
The First U.S. Publication on American Numismatics
Sold
$8,500
Est.
$3,000
Live Auction
Sydney F. Martin Numismatic Library - Sale 163
Live bidding began Apr 30, 2022 at 12 PM EDT
Description
Mease, James. DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE MEDALS STRUCK IN RELATION TO IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NORTH AMERICA. Collections of the New-York Historical Society, for the Year 1821. Volume III (1821). New York: Published by E. Bliss and E. White; J. Seymour, printer. 8vo, modern maroon half morocco, gilt, with marbled sides; spine with five raised bands, ruled and decorated in gilt; two green morocco spine labels, gilt. Fine frontispiece engraving of Hugh Williamson; 404 pages [Mease’s article comprises pages 387 to 404]. Ex the University of Pittsburgh Library, with their perforate stamp on the title page; otherwise near fine. Mease’s article on medals is the first work published in the United States on an American numismatic subject and is of the utmost importance to the history of the hobby in this country. Topics covered include the Libertas Americana medal, a few Betts medals, the Comitia Americana series and some War of 1812 medals. Mease later revised this article, publishing it again in 1834. The present volume is the first printing (1821), and is several times more rare than the second printing. This volume of the Collections of the New-York Historical Society also contains David Hosack’s inaugural address as president of the Society (pages 269 to 280), in which he comments on the Society’s coin collection (much of it received from Rev. John Christopher Kunze, who began collecting in the 18th century, and who wrote an interesting account of his collection also present in this sale), and makes a cogent argument for the importance of a numismatic collection. James Mease, M.D. (1771–1846) was a polymath who published on an number of different subjects, including medicine, geology and history. His Picture of Philadelphia (1811) is a foundational work of local history and contains the first useful description of U.S. Mint operations. In addition, he is considered to be the first writer to publish on the subject of U.S. numismatics. In a groundbreaking series of three articles (of which this is the last), Mease examined U.S. medals and coins from the perspective of the numismatist. In his groundbreaking lecture on the topic of U.S. numismatic literature, William S.F. Mayers noted that “the first actual attempts at systematic classification and record of the coins struck in or for the American colonies and United States, appear in the shape of papers to be found in the collections of State Historical Societies” (“The Literature of American Numismatics,” Norton’s Literary Letter, No. 3, 1859, p. 6). Mease’s articles are specifically mentioned by Mayers in his article, showing that these works, long forgotten until recent years, were still in the memory of some in the late 1850s. Attinelli 109. Ex David F. Fanning Numismatic Literature, 2010 (rebound since).