Bathe on Jacob Perkins

Bathe, Greville and Dorothy. JACOB PERKINS: HIS INVENTIONS, HIS TIMES, AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Philadelphia, 1943. 4to, original light and dark green cloth, gilt. Frontispiece portrait of Perkins; xiv, (2), 215, (1) pages; 6 maps (1 folding); text illustrations; 43 high-quality plates. Near fine. Number 161 of 200 copies printed of this modern classic and notable rarity. Greville and Dorothy Bathe’s biography of Jacob Perkins (1766–1849) is widely considered to be a masterful biography of this important engraver of coins, paper money and stamps. The authors manage to encapsulate their subject’s wide-ranging interests and activities in one highly readable volume, whether they are discussing the development of his nail-making apparatus or his finely-honed engraving skills. Published in the midst of World War II, it is perhaps not surprising that only 200 copies would be printed of a book-length work on an inventor, engraver and engineer whom time had largely forgotten. Of these 200 copies, many, perhaps most, were impounded in institutional libraries—copies such as this, which have never been part of an institutional library, are difficult to find. In recent years, numismatists have come to a better understanding of the role Perkins played in the development of U.S. currency and, earlier in life, of his work on the Massachusetts coppers. The book is also actively sought by historians, philatelists and engineers, among others. Of considerable importance. Davis 72.