"Beginning in 1517, with the publication of Andrea Fulvio's Illustrium Imagines, the coins themselves were joined by another kind of object that could be collected, circulated, exchanged, and given away, and which seemed to gush forth from its own perennial vein-the numismatic book."
John Cunnaly

The acquisition of two incomplete copies of Andrea Fulvio's 1517 Illustrium Imagines gave rise to the idea of making the charming coin engravings found in the first illustrated numismatic book available to a wider audience. To enhance appreciation of this rare and historic work, it was decided to include an English translation of the important introduction of Fulvio and his time by the late Renaissance scholar Roberto Weiss. This little known essay was published in Italian in 1967, and it appears here in English for the first time.

· Only 151 copies of the regular clothbound edition-each including an original illustrated leaf from Fulvio's 1517 Illustrium Imagines-have been issued, along with 17 copies featuring two additional original leaves, bound in full goatskin with matching clamshell case.
· The book was printed by letterpress on mouldmade paper at the Bird & Bull Press of Newtown, Pennsylvania. The text was composed in Garamound types by Michael Bixler, and both the cloth and leather editions were bound by Campbell Logan Bindery.
· In addition to the original illustrated leaf from the 1517 first edition of Illustrium Imagines, each copy of the book includes fine reproductions of the 1517 title and both varieties of the colophon, as well as a tipped-in color plate of a Renaissance Gentleman holding an ancient Roman coin, and an illustration designed expressly for this work, executed by Canada's foremost wood engraver, Wesley W. Bates.

Copies of the regular edition limited to one hundred fifty-one numbered copies, handsomely bound in black cloth with a red goatskin spine label, gilt, and accompanied by an original leaf from the first edition of Illustrium Imagines depicting a coin, are offered for sale at $195.00 plus $5.00 for domestic shipping or $15.00 for overseas airmail. Copies of the special edition limited to seventeen numbered copies, handsomely bound in red full goatskin, housed in a quarter goatskin clamshell case (both with black goatskin labels bordered and lettered in gilt), and including a total of three original leaves from Illustrium Imagines, are offered for sale at $495.00 plus $10.00 for domestic shipping or $25.00 for overseas airmail.

2001 February 20