| Description |
The Foundational Work on Confederate Paper, Photographically Illustrated and Very RareA Description of the Various Notes, Their Dates of Issue, Varieties, Series, Sub-Series, Letters, Numbers, Etc.; Accompanied with Photographs of the Distinct Varieties of Each Issue. Compiled from Official Records and Other Sources. Washington, D.C., 1875. Small 4to, contemporary or original black calf-backed black cloth boards; spine ruled in gilt. 27, (1) pages; 10 superb plates [all different but numbered I, II, III, III, IV, IV, V, VI, VI & VII], comprised of printed headings and item numbers on thick card stock with photographic prints mounted thereon, depicting 62 fronts or backs of Confederate notes at one fourth size, from 50� to $1000, and the obverse and reverse of an 1861 Confederate 1� at actual size. Front board detached but present. Some marginal spotting, including to plates, but nothing distracting. Very good or better. Exceptionally rare and of the utmost importance. It appears that only 30 copies were issued, a number of those, apparently, without plates. The 10 plates of mounted photographs here present are perhaps the earliest such illustrations of Confederate currency. In his introduction to the 1885 auction sale of Dr. Lee's Confederate paper money, Ed. Frossard wrote: {blockquote}"An exhaustive and valuable work on the subject of Confederate Currency was published, ten years ago, by Dr. William Lee, of Washington, D.C., who had the fullest access to the Confederate archives in the possession of the U.S. Government; but the smallness of the edition (30) prevented the work from attaining the popularity it would otherwise have gained at the hands of collectors; and the concise and generally correct descriptive list of Confederate Currency published two years later by John W. Haseltine, became, and now is, the standard work of reference on this subject..." {/blockquote} Dr. Lee's pioneering study is the first major treatise on Confederate currency, as well as being the first book to describe and photograph the Confederate cent. Of the 30 copies printed, we are able today to trace only 10, half of which are in institutional libraries. A rare opportunity. Estimate $3,000. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15330 (realized $5040).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11409 |
