Clapp, George H. The United States Cents of the Years 1798-1799. Sewickley. 1931. Very Fine.Quarto. Hardbound in full black morocco, but over thin boards and somewhat pliable. Titles on the cover and spine are lettered in gilt. Only trivial wear is seen at the upper right corner of the cover, and any further evidence of wear is essentially microscopic, this copy being virtually new. The interior is clean and fresh throughout, with only a single penned addition, “December 1931,” just left of George Clapp’s name under the Preface, and likely in the author’s own hand. Two superb quality glossy photographic plates face each other, with double tissue guards in between. A single digit “9” is stamped on one of the final end papers, indicating that this is copy number 9 of just 10 produced in this full morocco binding. Housed in a later custom slipcase with gilt title on the front.<p>A landmark for the detailed work on just two dates of cents that foreshadowed what would later be accomplished in mapping the entire large cent series by William Sheldon and Howard Newcomb. This effort clarifies in no uncertain terms that George Clapp was not simply a wealthy collector with superb taste, but also a true numismatist deeply interested in the technical aspects of the field.<p>The subject matter, rarity and outstanding quality of this volume made it a natural fit for the Twinleaf Library, which, though spelled as one word in George Kolbe’s 2009 sale, refers to the same “Twin Leaf” collector who assembled the exceptional collection of middle date and late date cents sold in a series of our sales beginning in 2015. He also had collected a complete set of the Sheldon series (within a year’s time!), and sold that privately a few years prior. Like his coins, his library was exceptional in content and quality. Not unlike George Clapp, he was deeply interested in the technical aspects of his beloved cents and studied them in close detail.<p>According to the 2009 Kolbe sale where this last appeared, the original printer’s quote included 135 copies, 125 in cloth bindings and 10 in leather. The final invoice for these included 126 in cloth and 9 deluxe editions. There were 10 produced in leather, however, and Kolbe suggested quite reasonably that the writer’s copy was simply done in leather, gratis. In Charles Davis’ survey of literature sales covering 1980-1991, there are 16 appearances of this book, but only one is this binding, copy #8, which brought $4,620 in 1990. We sold another in our March 1995 Champa library sale, copy #7, which realized the same. The present copy brought $7,475 in 2009.From the D. Brent Pogue Library. Earlier ex George Frederick Kolbe, October 2001, lot 477; Twinleaf Library, George Frederick Kolbe, January 2009, lot 50.
