Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 6, February 6, 2000: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATES We have two new subscribers this week: Dan Vial, and Miroslaw Kupczyk of Poland. Welcome aboard! This brings our subscriber count to 278. NATIONAL COIN WEEK IDEAS SOUGHT Bob Christie writes: "Do any E-Sylum subscribers have good ideas of how to promote National Coin Week the week of April 16-22?" Bob can be reached at RChri81992@aol.com PHILADELPHIA SPEAKERS SOUGHT The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is looking for speakers for this year's ANA Convention in Philadelphia. Any topic relating to numismatic literature is welcome, but we're especially seeking talks with a Philadelphia theme, such as local dealers, collectors, or numismatic societies. If interested, please contact Joel J. Orosz at joel.orosz@wkkf.org AUTHOR GEORGE MALLIS IS DEAD Paul Withers of Galata Coins writes: No details have come to us yet, largely as George and his wife had no family, but it is with very deep regret that we tell people that George A. Mallis, joint author/compiler of the book on Morgan dollars, died some time around Christmas, shortly after the death of his wife. George was getting on a bit and we often used to joke to him when he was feeling down that he couldn't possibly die as he was almost the bionic man, having had so many bits and parts replaced. George was a great guy and a constant source of inspiration to us when writing our book on coin-weights and our book, Lions, Ships and Angels, on coin-weights found in Britain was dedicated to him. When he got going he was virtually unstoppable, despite his age, and he had many interests besides coins and coin-weights. He retained his interest in being a consulting engineer until the very last." ANS WEB ADDRESS CHANGED Bruce Perdue notes that the new web address for the American Numismatic Society is http://www.amnumsoc.org/ ANNE WILLING BINGHAM An article by Red Henry in the January 15, 2000 issue of "Penny Wise", the official publication of Early American Coppers, Inc, traces the life of Anne Willing Bingham, who is believed to be the model for the early U.S. "Draped Bust" coinage. The article was inspired by his chance discovery of a book "in a West Virginia junk store." Written by Robert C. Alberts in 1969, and published by Houghton-Mifflin, the book's title is "The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham, 1752-1804." Here's an excerpt from Henry's article describing Bingham's wife Anne: "Anne, nicknamed Nancy, grew up in an opulent household, and was given a thorough education in English, foreign languages, music, and other accomplishments considered suitable for young ladies of her day. She naturally became acquainted with many of the most remarkable people in town (many of whom were her relatives), and during the Revolution, George Washington made his headquarters for some time in the house next door, in which young Anne was a familiar visitor. By age 16, when she met William Bingham, she was "the most beautiful young woman in Philadelphia." Just as the name of Bingham rang a bell in Mr. Henry's mind, the title seemed oddly familiar to me, too. I wheeled my desk chair a few feet away and plucked a copy of the very book from a shelf. It had been sitting there for years, but I hadn't made the connection to U.S. coinage. The author, who passed away a few years ago, was a native of Pittsburgh, and I had the pleasure of meeting him once. I gradually accumulated copies of all his books. My favorite one is his first, "The Most Extraordinary Adventures of Major Robert Stobo", whom Alberts describes as "perhaps the least appreciated, most undervalued hero of our colonial period." Thanks to Mr. Henry, U.S. numismatic researchers have another source of information, and the Bingham book, with its portraits of Anne Willing Bingham by Gilbert Stuart, will now migrate to my numismatic library. THOUGHTS ON "IN GOD WE TRUST" In response to last week's featured web site about the motto "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins, subscriber Leonard Augsburger writes: "Maybe this is off topic, but the verbiage "separation of church and state" appears nowhere in the Constitution. What it does say is that Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion. The context, the reference, was to the Church of England and to the monarch established as head of both church and state. There is a difference between coinage depicting the motto "In God We Trust" and Bill Clinton declaring himself to be the head of the Christian church in America, and the courts have consistently ruled thus." THE CRITIC'S CORNER For at least the next few weeks, The E-Sylum will feature "The Critic's Corner", where we'll put selected numismatic books in the spotlight and critique their key features. Please note that we're not discussing content, which could be debated endlessly by researchers; rather, we'll take the bibliophile's perspective. What are the book's best and worst features? What could have been done to improve it? Say you were the editor, publisher, or designer of the book in question, and were presented with the manuscript. What, if anything, would you have done to improve it? Would you have changed the illustrations? The text? The layout? The arrangement? The numbering system? What features could have improved its usability, readability, or reference value? To start things off, I'd like to nominate "Ancient Coin Reference Reviews" by Dennis J. Kroh, Empire Coins, Inc, 1993. If you have any comments on this popular bibliography, or would like to nominate other titles for consideration in the future, please write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is the Ottilia Buerger Collection of Ancient and Byzantine Coins at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. "The central theme of the exhibition and its catalogue is that the coins were circulated not only as means of exchange, but also as significant bearers of meaning." http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/art/buerger/ Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/ There is a membership application available on the web site. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, contact Dave Hirt, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, 5911 Quinn Orchard Road, Frederick, MD 21701 (To be removed from this mailing list write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
