| Description |
Dye's Exceptionally Rare 1855 Bank Note Plate DelineatorPublished by John S. Dye, Exchange Broker, Publisher of "Dye's Bank Mirror," 172 Broadway, Corner of Maiden Lane, New-York, 1855. First edition. Folio [34.5 by 21.5 cm], original embossed green cloth, lettered in gilt on the front cover. Lithographic illustrated title page; (2), 287, (1) pages, with blank leaf inserted between pages 132 and 133; bordered typographical depictions of bank notes, 27 to a page, throughout. A well-worn copy. The cloth binding is stained and in some places torn, though original and largely intact. The entire text block is detached from the binding. The lithographic title, printed on thicker stock, is detached and chipped, as are the first and last few leaves, some of which lack corners. Poor, but textually complete and in the original binding. Worthy of being restored. An extremely rare and important volume. Its groundbreaking status as the first work to provide detailed information on genuine bank notes is stated by Dye in the introductory text: "The Paper currency of the United States is so varied in design, that the Counterfeiters could sport on the ignorance of the people, for no Detector that was ever published described the genuine note, the force of all publications that are devoted to money, being directed towards the spurious, altered and counterfeit." Dillistin (page 146) observes that Dye's groundbreaking work "appears to have had a rather brief existence" but that soon thereafter "J. Tyler Hodges ... undertook the publication of Hodges' New Bank Note Safe-Guard. The description of the notes and the style in which they are presented is identical with that of Dye's Delineator." Dillistin concludes Hodges pirated the Dye publication, but this is now held to be unlikely, given that Hodges's Safe-Guard was published for a number of years, apparently without any objection from Dye, and that the first edition of Hodges would seem to have been printed from the very same plates as Dye's Delineator--all of which suggests a legal transfer of ownership. Whatever its ultimate legacy, Dye's landmark 1855 work is very rare. The ANS Library does not have a copy, nor was it in the Fuld, Champa, or Bass libraries. This is the first copy offered in numismatic channels since the Ford copy sold in 2004. That copy, well-preserved though in a modern binding, brought $3500 hammer. This is a rare opportunity. Estimate $1,000. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15206 (realized $1080).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11352 |
