THE UNITED STATES CENTS OF THE YEARS 1798–1799.
Sewickley: 1931. 4to [31 by 24 cm], original black and blue cloth, gilt. 64 pages; 2 fine photographic plates. Bruise to fore-edge; front hinge cracked; very good. Item #7449
W.W. Woodside’s copy, later in the library of Eric P. Newman. No. 70 of only 126 copies bound in cloth, of an entire edition of 135. A classic work, the photographic plates of which are the finest of any large cent reference. This handsome production and Newcomb’s 1925 work before it set a new standard. Carefully written, painstakingly researched and wonderfully illustrated, they eclipsed all previous efforts. One of the founders and president of Aluminum Company of America, Clapp wrote in an April 16, 1932 letter (lot 192 in our 1993 ANA sale) to Michael Powills, that “there is no doubt but that I was foolish in putting out the book in such an expensive form, but I took a pride in my work and wanted it to be a credit to the subject, so hunted up the best printer that I could find and told him to do his best.” Clapp included the 1799 varieties only after realizing that his 1799 No. 1 was struck before 1798 Nos. 46 and 47. Davis 239. Ex William Winterbotham Woodside Library, with his engraved bookplate; ex Eric P. Newman Library.
Price: $450.00