A Scarce 1878 Crosby

Crosby, Sylvester S. THE EARLY COINS OF AMERICA; AND THE LAWS GOVERNING THEIR ISSUE. COMPRISING ALSO DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WASHINGTON PIECES, THE ANGLO-AMERICAN TOKENS, MANY PIECES OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES, AND THE FIRST PATTERNS OF THE UNITED STATES MINT. Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1878. 4to [30 by 24 cm], original brown half morocco, gilt double fillets; spine with five raised bands, ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt; marbled endpapers and page edges. (2), v, (5), (11)–381, (1) pages; 110 wood engravings in the text; 2 folding heliotype manuscript facsimiles; 10 fine heliotype plates of coins and tokens. Binding a bit rubbed, but sound. Generally fine contents. Near fine, overall. The scarce 1878 edition, estimated by Eric Newman to have comprised ten percent or less of the entire printing (i.e. thirty-five copies or less). State with overprinted coin numbers on Plate IV; scarce state with photographically reproduced handwritten coin numbers on Plate V (present, according to Newman, only on “a few specimens,” though seemingly more common that he thought). Coin 15a on Plate VII hand-numbered in pencil, apparently as always. Without the handwritten correction, occasionally seen, to Miss Eliza Susan Quincy’s name in the subscribers’ list on page 381. Clain-Stefanelli 12115*. Davis 291. Grierson 218. Sigler 603.