We love to alert readers to new numismatic books. And a new publication of a long-lost manuscript from a long-dead numismatic author would be a sensation, like the score of a Chopin waltz recently discovered in the Morgan library.

To read the complete article, see:
Hear a Chopin Waltz Unearthed After Nearly 200 Years(https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/27/arts/music/chopin-waltz-discovery.html)

A recent look at used book site AbeBooks.com turned up not one, but dozens of books attributed to Eric P. Newman, who passed in 2017 at the age of 106.

These likely don't exist physically, but would be printed on demand from online sources. This practice is nothing new, but now the "stock image" book covers seem to have AI-generated images. I suspect the number of available new and "used" copies of each are made up too, and that the various sellers like "californiabooks.com" don't exist either.

They don't seem to list the number of pages, physical size or other standard bibliographic details. It's deceptive marketing, although I'm curious about the quality of the product. At under $20 apiece for most softcovers, I've spent more on lunch, and there may be some value for some buyers who want a physical copy to mark up or put bookmarks in.

This latest batch-o-books stems from the ongoing effort by the Newman Numismatic Portal to digitize Eric's files. But it's not just Eric's work being "published" - these digital-to-physical books have been available for some time from countless authors dead and alive. Only the crappy AI-generated covers are new.

Newman Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger writes:

To read the complete listings, see:
Coinage for Colonial Virginia: Memoranda; 1954(https://www.abebooks.com/Coinage-Colonial-Virginia-Memoranda-1954-Hassell/32022081164/bd)
Personal Memoranda Related to Virginia Colonial Coinage; 1955(https://www.abebooks.com/Personal-Memoranda-Related-Virginia-Colonial-Coinage/32022070785/bd)
Virginia Colonial Coins: Paste-ups and Photographs; 1960(https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31835326861)
Eric Newman, Hassell Street Press (37 results)(https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?
an=Eric%20Newman&bi=0&bx=off&cm_sp=SearchF-_-Advs-_-Result&ds=
30&pn=Hassell%20Street%20Press&prc=USD&recentlyadded
=all&rgn=ww&rollup=on&sortby=17&xdesc=off&xpod=off)