Elder’s Copy of the Legendary Bushnell Sale

Chapman, S.H. & H. CATALOGUE OF THE CELEBRATED AND VALUABLE COLLECTION OF AMERICAN COINS AND MEDALS OF THE LATE CHARLES I. BUSHNELL, ESQ., OF NEW YORK. New York: Bangs & Co., June 20–24, 1882. 4to, later brown cloth, gilt; original gilt-printed white paper front cover bound in. (4), 142, (2) pages; 3000 lots; 12 fine phototype plates with tissue guards. Original printed prices realized list and Supplement regarding the Good Samaritan shilling laid in. Plate 9 bound out of order, as often seen; some hand-pricing. Binding worn, with spotting and discoloration to cloth; contents clean. Very good. Inscribed in pencil at top of front free flyleaf: “Elder Private Copy, Chapman’s 1st Large Sale, 1878 [sic] Folio Cloth.” Adams 9, rated A+ overall, and A in large cents, colonials, medals, tokens, patterns, Washingtonia and comments: “Definitive for colonials, medals, Washington material and tokens. Many unique pieces, some made ex mint.” One of the landmarks of American numismatic literature. The Bushnell collection was the stuff of fables, being well-known, yet little seen. After Bushnell’s death in 1880, a number of prominent dealers attempted to obtain the collection, but it was the Chapman brothers who, to the surprise of many, made off with the prize, with the assistance of financial backer Lorin G. Parmelee. Of the five hundred copies of the Bushnell catalogue printed, one hundred were supposedly issued with plates. Judging from their frequency of appearance on the market, however, it is probable that fewer were actually distributed. Five of the plates depict colonials, along with early patterns; three illustrate medals; one depicts Washington pieces; one illustrates rare United States gold and silver coins; and two depict cents and half cents. The Bushnell sale was the first large format auction catalogue issued by the Chapmans with plates. It established the brothers as the dominant force in American numismatics, a position they were to occupy both collectively and independently for the following half century. Unmercifully criticized at the time for various typographical and factual errors, passions soon cooled and a landmark catalogue remained. The brothers had set a new standard: oversize format, thick paper, new type, gilt letters, photographically produced plates and detailed if sometimes controversial descriptions. All were welcome innovations and the furor raised at the time has secured the Bushnell sale catalogue a greater fame. Even today it remains a landmark in American numismatics, remarkable for its rare and unique colonial coins, Washingtonia, and historical American medals and tokens. In these areas, its value in terms of research and pedigree information is unsurpassed. The well-known owner of the example at hand, Thomas Lindsay Elder, more than any other top-tier dealer of the succeeding generation, carried on the Chapman brothers’ tradition of photographically illustrated numismatic auction sale catalogues and special editions. Clain-Stefanelli 11934. Davis 180. Ex Kolbe Sale 104, lot 211 at am impressive $7000.