Barnsley’s New Jersey Notebooks

Barnsley, Edward R. THE NUMISMATIC NOTEBOOKS OF EDWARD R. BARNSLEY. THE NEW JERSEY COPPERS. NOTEBOOKS 1 & 2 OF 2. FROM THE NUMISMATIC LIBRARY OF JAMES C. SPILMAN. Photocopy reproduction of one of six sets produced by Spilman, bound in two volumes. 4to, original green half morocco, gilt, with marbled sides; spines with five raised bands, ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt; red morocco spine labels, gilt. Approximately 400 leaves total, printed on one side. Fine. A remarkable body of material, including unpublished research. All of it is photocopied, including: short articles from various periodicals; annotated auction catalogues; correspondence between Barnsley and other numismatists (Breen, Spilman, Anton, Picker, Bowers, Ruddy, et al.); and original material on the rarity of individual varieties, mints, attribution points, censuses, collectors, etc. Barnsley (1906–1989) was a noted expert on American colonial coins, particularly the Connecticut series. He was a Patron and Benefactor of the Colonial Newsletter Foundation (CNLF), and wrote a great many articles for the Colonial Newsletter. His notebooks passed to James Spilman, longtime editor of the Colonial Newsletter and head of the CNLF, upon Barnsley’s death. Spilman produced six reproductions of the New Jersey notebooks in 2003, one of which he donated to the library of the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4). Roger Siboni reproduced that set and gave these copies to Martin, who had them bound by George Sargent of Dragonfly Bindery.