NNP

Following up on the E-Sylum note of November 5 discussing miniature books (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n45a16.html), it’s worth noting that Julian Edison (1929-2017), a brother-in-law of Eric P. Newman, was among the foremost collectors of miniature books. Today, Washington University in St. Louis holds a group of over 3,500 miniature books from the Julian and Hope Edison Collection, a selection of which is currently on exhibit at Olin Library. Another group from the Edison collection was donated to the Houghton Library at Harvard University in 2019.

The Newman library sale (Heritage Auctions, November 2018) included a copy of the miniature Adventures of a Halfpenny, a moral tale for children decrying the adulteration of copper coins. The work was marketed along with a series of “little books” aimed at children.  This volume was reprinted in the August 1997 Colonial Newsletter with annotations by Charles W. Smith, and further discussed by Andrew Wager in the Conder Token Collector’s Journal in March 2000. The Newman copy sold for $456 on November 7, 2018.


Link to Newman copy of Adventures of a Halfpenny: https://archive.org/details/adventuresofhalf1830john
Link to August 1997 Colonial Newsletter: https://archive.org/details/CNLno105
Link to March 2000 Conder Token Collector’s Jounral: https://archive.org/details/CTCJournal15