As announced earlier in The E-Sylum, Arthur Tobias has written a new book relating to W.L. Ormsby, author of one of the rarest books in U.S. numismatic Literature, Bank Note Engraving. He kindly provided me with a review copy and furnished some excerpts from the text. Here they are, along with my comments.

From the Introduction:

Books like Arthur's are among the favorites in my numismatic library - the ones that are interesting and relevant to numismatics, yet not directly about numismatics. It's books like these that cross over into other areas that illuminate the whole of someone's life work - not just the numismatic parts, but all of it.

Through this little volume I learned a great deal about Waterman Lilly Ormsby, his life's work, his talents and his business projects as well as learning something more about his numismatic (and bibliophilic) projects.

From Chapter One: W. L. Ormsby, His Process:

Hopefully this book, with its crossover niche, will entice new collectors to the obsolete paper money field. Or encourage numismatists to take up arms and collect Colt revolvers!

The book illustrates one of Ormsby's bank notes and as a paper money collector these would be interesting items to have, now knowing more about their maker.

The book is primarily a study of its title subject, the Colt cylinder scenes. I enjoyed reading the historical and artistic background of the scenes Ormsby and Colt choose to use. Arthur's book reminded me of another favorite series of small but incredibly useful books in the obsolete paper money field - Roger Durand's "Interesting Notes..." series, where he provides background information on the images used to adorn many obsolete U.S. bank notes.

Although Arthur provided me with a good deal of text from his book, I'll stop with the above excerpts lest I give away all the best parts (and there are plenty). In short, I recommend it for any E-Sylum reader interested in numismatic literature, obsolete paper money, engraving, art (or Colt revolvers).

To order:In the U.S. send check or money order for $24.95 ($19.95 + $5 S&H) to:Arthur Tobias, P.O. Box 19981, Los Angeles, CA 90019.

For more information (or to order online) see:www.coltcylinderscenes.com.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:NEW BOOK: COLT CYLINDER SCENES, 1847-1851(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n34a09.html)