UNITED STATES COPPER CENTS, 1816-1857

New York: Numismatic Review, 1944. First edition. 4to, original full red processed leather, gilt. 284 pages; 11 plates. Printed on thick paper. Extremities only very slightly rubbed (see comments); near fine. [with] Newcomb, Howard R. United States Copper Cents, 1816-1857. First edition. New York: Numismatic Review, 1944. 4to, original full red processed leather, gilt. 284 pages; 11 plates. Printed on regular paper. Extremities only very slightly rubbed; previous owner's bookplate; near fine. Unusually well-preserved copies of both versions of the deluxe leatherbound special editions of the first edition of this important work. Only 75 copies of the thick-paper version were printed, and only 50 on regular paper. The leather used in these deluxe editions, however, was of poor quality, and scuffs easily: this set, while not perfect, is in exceptional condition. Completed four years earlier, Newcomb's work was not published until 1944 due to the war. One thousand copies of the regular edition were printed. It marked a great improvement over the pioneering work of Frank Andrews, nearly doubling the variety listings, and stood as the standard work for half a century. The result of many years of painstaking study, relatively few new varieties were discovered in the intervening years. Dr. Sheldon noted that "Newcomb's book doubtless achieves the highest pinnacle for numismatic completeness." His contemporary and collaborator George H. Clapp wrote: "In his line,—the Large Cents,—he can well be classed with the late Edward T. Newell in his line of Greece and Rome." Voted as one of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society's "One Hundred Greatest Items of United States Numismatic Literature." Clain-Stefanelli 12326.