About The Catalog Listings

All items in this catalog are unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine and accurately described. Any item may be returned within seven days of receipt for a full refund. No reason for return is ever required.They are in fine used condition and are complete with all pages as issued. All papers are free of damage or objectionable defects. We are sure you will be delighted with their exceptional state of preservation. We purchase only the finest condition newspapers that can be found to offer to our valued friends and customers.

These are the finest quality original antique newspapers and magazines, that you might find elsewhere priced at much greater cost. It has always been my policy to present my catalog items at "wholesale to the public" prices. Therefore all catalog items and quoted prices are net, and are not subject to further discount, either for dealers or in consideration of quantity orders. It is our policy to price our items based on what we believe to be their fair market value. I do not set prices at absurdly inflated levels to take advantage of novices or "investors"; nor do employ the common ploy of starting with an unrealistically high price in order to "negotiate" a phony discount later. As over a third of our catalog orders are from dealers buying for resale, at our stated prices, we have every confidence that this policy maintains an ethical standard of integrity and fairness to all.

Newspapers are full folio size unless described as quarto (abbreviated 4to) or octavo (8vo), which are respectively smaller in format. Most newspapers have been removed from bound volumes and may exhibit characteristic minor spine weakness or separation without significant paper loss. Illustrations are provided of a number of items (more will be added), depicting as much of them as can be shown with my 8 1/2" x 11" scanner. To access the pictures, click on the highlighted link that follows the catalog listing. When done viewing, select the "Back" button in your browser to return to this page.

Each catalog entry is briefly described for its general appearance, historical significance, and content. Every one contains hours of additional historic reading and insights into the world preserved on its pages, much more than I could find the space to describe here.

I pride myself on the quality and accuracy of my catalog descriptions, and strive to provide all the information needed to enable you to make an informed selection. Please consult my collector information pages and glossary of terms page linked below, if you are not sure what the descriptions mean. Your comments are always welcome, as are your inquiries, if you have questions about these historic collectibles. We value our customers, and appreciate the confidence you place in us when ordering from our on line catalogs. We strive to merit your patronage and to enrich your collecting experience through accurate, knowledgeable descriptions, honest pricing, courteous service, and timely order filling. Enjoy your browsing!

Pictures of Cataloged Items
Scans or digital photos are available of many items in this catalog. To view them, click the "VIEW SCAN" button in the listing. You can return to the catalog by using your browser's "BACK" command. These illustrations are of the item being offered for sale and depict a full page or a detail close-up of a page of the issue. All papers are complete and undamaged as noted. Photos of newspapers described as "Atmosphere Issues" are of typical issues in stock and are provided to give a general idea of the papers' overall appearance.

Spend Ten Months in the France of 185 Years Ago
M5-002. [BOUND VOLUME] LE MONITEUR UNIVERSEL, March through December, 1823. [305 issues, 1,274 pages, each issue 4 to 6 pages, folio, 11" x 17½" per page size, published at Paris, France, by Agasse]
305 ISSUES of this important daily newspaper, printed seven days a week, Sundays included. Here are printed all the doings and "Ordonnonces" of the restored Bourbon Monarch, the hapless Louis XVIII, brother of the unfortunate Louis XVI who was executed during the French Revolution. His official notices are often decorated with an engraving of a crown. Also here is all the news from all over the world, all in detail, plus Parisian and French happenings in this most interesting and remarkable era. A round red Six Centime tax stamp, displaying a figure in Classical military attire, leaning on the Bourbon shield, is struck on the front page of each issue, and on the Supplementary sheets where they appear. Founded in Paris on November 24, 1789 under the title Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universal, it was the main French newspaper and the official journal of the French government. After being seized by the new government in 1830, it continued publishing until 1868. Quite a unique opportunity to acquire a significant run of this French "newspaper of record" very inexpensively. Extra domestic postage for this large and heavy volume is 8.65.
Condition of this issue is contents are in the main choice very fine; first issue is defective, slight corner wear in the lower margin of the first half dozen numbers, affecting no text. Foxing on last page of last issue. Half leather, front board lacking, rear board detached and worn. . . . 250.00

Nice Run of a 183 Year Old French Daily
M5-004. [BOUND VOLUME] JOURNAL DES DÉBATS, POLITIQUES ET LITTÉRAIRES, May 1-14, June 1 through July 29, 1825. [76 omplete original issues, each 4 pages, quarto size, published at Paris, France, by Le Normant]
76 ISSUES. (May 15-30 not originally bound in). Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, the Journal was a force in French journalism for over 150 years, until it finally ceased publication in 1944. A conservative spokesman at this period, it was the most read newspaper of the Restoration. In these issues is extensive coverage of the affairs of France, the workings of the Assembly, Decrees of the King, and the like, together with news and opinion from across the nation and the globe. We also find prices current and listings of what's playing the glittering capital's many theaters, and stories and anecdotes of every kind.
Condition of the issues is generally fine; removed from a larger volume, lacking boards. Waterstain affects the first 14 issues, diminishing in intensity as the volume progresses. Very occasional light foxing, overall a nice run. Extra domestic postage 4.25. . . 65.00

RARE BROADSIDE FROM THE NAPOLEONIC OCCUPATION OF NORTHERN ITALY
M5-024. [BROADSIDE] IL CANCELLIERE DEL CENSO . . . AVVISO , August 8, 1807. [Complete singlesheet, 2 pages, folio, 11 x 17½" size, published at Faenza, Italy, by Louis Genestri]
This splendid document announces the newest regulations from the Office of the Census and how lawbreakers shall be reported to the office, under the law of the French occupiers. Deeply embossed printing on heavy handmade laid paper, a rare survivor form those turbulent times, when Napoleon had declared himself King of most of northern Italy.
Condition of this large poster is very fine, light waterstain, slight wear at the wide top margin (4.50). . . 144.00

Great Coverage of the First French World's Fair
M5-205. [SEVEN ISSUES] L'ILLUSTRATION, JOURNAL UNIVERSEL , dated in 1855. [Each, a complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at Paris, France, by Didion Frères]
Like the American HARPER'S WEEKLY, this top quality weekly is packed with fine woodcuts of the passing scene. I have selected this group for the splendid coverage of the Paris Expo of 1855, France's first World's Fair, patterned after the highly successful English Crystal Palace Expo of 1851. There are 14 fullpage wood engravings and one double page centerfold print depicting the exhibits, the floor plans, ceremonies, buildings, exhibits, and more, all you could wish to know about this spectacular celebration of technological progress. Also in these issues, good content on the Crimean War, in which France threw in with her long-time adversary England to attack Russia. Great lot. Extra postage 6.40 .
Condition is is choice very fine . . . 36.00

Church and State are One!
M5-0303. [PAMPHLET] Explications sur La Bulle 'Unigenitus', 1720. [Complete 67 + 8 + 4 pages, crown 8vo size, published at Paris, by L'Imprimerie Royale (the King's Printer)]
This pamphlet discusses the recent Papal Bull against Jansenism and how the French clerical establishment proposes to suppress the "heresy" and maintain control over its increasingly political power. The untrammeled power of the clergy in France would be a prime motivator for the coming revolution, which would see that class stripped of its ungodly powers, and many of its members, of their lives. These abuses served as models of what to avoid, in the eyes of America's founders, who would ensure a strong wall between church and state in their own government, sixty years in the future. Attached are a "Declaration du Roy", and the letters patent giving King Louis XV's assent to this activity and the backing of the full force of the government to root out and punish those who dare question orthodoxy. .
Condition is is a nice fine, disbound from a volume with no loss, a few high quality very old paper reinforcements in blanks. . . . 65.00

The First Numismatic Cartoons in the American Press!
M6-2033. [SINGLE ISSUE]. HARPER'S WEEKLY, February 21, 1857. [Complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at New York]
"Brother Jonathan's New Baby" is the title of a splendid backpage cartoon that shows Miss Liberty cradling the new Flying Eagle Small Cent, while the old Large Cent (depicted as a child with the wreathed reverse of the old coin in place of her head) weeps inconsolably. Great history for the coin collector, plus another cartoon "The Spanish American Difficulty" shows a U.S. Silver Dollar giving the boot to the old Spanish Milled Dollar, for the same Act of Congress that authorizes the Small Cent also demonetized Spanish silver, for finally the U.S. Mint was able to produce enough coin to supply demand. Good feature on U.S. intervention in Nicaragua, people reputed to be over 100 years of age (and how much they drink!). The "Revolution in Peru" is covered in a two page spread with 8 woodcuts of the battles and places. Lots more.
Nice fine condition. (.85). . . 50.00

A Fine Oversized Tax Stamp
M6-2087. [TAX STAMP]. DISTILLERY WAREHOUSE STAMP, 1878. . 9¼" x 3¼" size, printed at Bureau of Engraving & Printing Washington D.C.
Issued by the Internal Revenue Department, this oversized tax stamp recognizes the duty payment per cask of distilled spirits. A fine portrait of "Old Rough and Ready", President Zachary Taylor graces this uncommon Revenue Stamp. Engraved and serially numbered by the same facility that produced the nation's currency.
Nice fine condition, unissued, with three punch mark cancellations, as all extant specimens possess. . . . 7.50

Rare 18th century Broadside with Numismatic Interest
M6-003. [BROADSIDE] MARIA THERESA, DEI GRATIA, ROMANORUM IMPERATRIX...DUX MANTUAE &c &c... June 6, 1779. [Complete original issue, singlesheet, 2 pages, large folio size, published at Mantua, Lombardy, by Alberto Pazzoni]
This broadside poster was issued in the name of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her co-regent Ferdinand. It provides for a major "rifforma delle Monnere, esequita nello Stato de Milano..." It specifies 22 new regulations, including weights, finenesses of the coins, their equivalents in other Italian city-states' money, how the work is to be done, and so forth. New gold and silver is to be introduced as well, to be struck at Milan, as Mantua's mint was shut down after an extensive coinage of Sessioni, Soldi, and Soldini in 1758, bearing the Austrian Monarch's portrait bust. Nice decrative item, with the Royal Arms in the heading. Under Austrian rule since 1708, Mantua enjoyed great prosperity. Its famed Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, the Scientific Theatre, and numerous Palaces were built in this period; meanwhile the Empress' young daughter, Marie Antoinette, had recently become Queen of France
Condition of this issue is very fine and clean; margins once trimmed, loosley mounted on a paper backing. Overall dimensions are 16½" x 23½". (4.75). . . 175.00

Mint State Israel Commemorative Lira, overSixty Years Old
M6-006. [COIN]. Israel, 1 Lira, 1960. [33mm size, copper-nickel]
This attractive Israeli coin was minted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Deganya kibbutz. Its obverse features a stylized modernistic view of the settlement; the reverse has the date, denomination, and "Israel" in Hebrew and Arabic characters. KM-28, catalog value $9.00 .
Condition is uncirculated . . . 4.50 Enter your order quantity here: 

British Shillings from the Year of the Beatles
M6-007. [TWO COINS].English Shillings , 1964. [25mm size, copper-nickel]
The English Shilling was coined on the standard of twenty to the Pound for many centuries. It was replaced by the Tenpenny piece in the 1971 decimalization of British currency. During the Reigns of Elizabeth II and her father King George VI, the Shilling was minted each year with two different reverses, the "English" design of three lions, and the "Scottish" design of a lion rampant. The former acknowledges the Royal Family's Scottish descent. We offer a pair of the handsome coins, one of each design, bearing the late Queen's first, youthful coinage potrait. Among the last of their kind to be minted, and in the year that Britain's most famous export, perhaps, was the Beatles. Seaby 4147 and 4148. The pair for .
Condition is uncirculated . . .2.95 Enter your order quantity here: 

Genuine Coins About A Thousand Years Old!
M6-010. CHINA. Large bronze or brass Multiple Cash coin, Northern Sung Dynasty, various rulers, about 1 1/8" diameter (about Half Dollar sized) minted in China between 960 and 1125 AD.
I am pleased to offer these very interesting early Chinese coins. They employ the standard design that was used for Chinese base metal coinage for over 2200 years, a round coin with a raised border and a square hole in the center, for stringing the coins together, and four obverse characters giving the name of the issuing authority and the denomination. The reverse side was blank or occasionally carried a mintmark. This style first appears in the Chou Dynasty ca 265 BC. The last of the type was made in the late 1940's during the Communist revolution.
Unlike western coins, which were decorated with elaborate portraits of gods and kings, in the East coins were strictly utilitarian and are quite elegant in their simplicity. These cash coins were hand-crafted in enormous numbers, somewhat crudely cast in molds rather than die-struck as western coins were. They remain among the most inexpensive genuinely old collectible coins to be found.
Condition is generally very good with surface adhesions as excavated. Their appearance can be easily improved with a little judicious cleaning. In my photo of the coins in this group, linked below, notice the darker and slightly brassier coin in the center. I picked one at random and cleaned it, and in just a few minutes, I was able was able to attribute it to the period "Hsuan Ho" of the Emperor Hui Tsung, 1119-1125 AD, using the online references below.
References. General information about early Chinese coins is online at Wikipedia and at the Coins of Ancient China. You can find details needed to precisely attribute these coins at Northern Sung Dynasty Coins. Price per coin is just . . . 2.50 Enter your order quantity here: 

M6-0680. 14 Different Philippine Tax Stamps, 1890 - 1899. A nice grouping of 14 different Revenue stamps from the Philippine Islands during its last years as a Spanish Colony. Denominations range from one centavo to three pesos, including perforated and imperf. varieties. All different, all mint condition. Nice lot . . . 3.50 My Order quantity: 

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