194

"The hyphen of the Old and of the New World"

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1,400.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 USD
 The hyphen of the Old and of the New World
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(Vattemare, Alexandre). A REMARKABLE ASSEMBLAGE OF PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE'S CELEBRATED SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND NUMISMATIC EXCHANGES. Nine publications in all, dated from 1840 to 1861. A remarkable group of publications, many quite rare, providing great insight into Alexandre Vattemare's indefatigable efforts to advance cultural exchange between his native France and the United States and Europe. Numismatics was an integral component, as exemplified by the final publication present here. "Alexandre Vattemare is recognized among American numismatists as one of the fathers of the discipline in the New World, having assembled the first comprehensive collections of American coins, medals, and paper currency, and produced the first comprehensive catalog of American numismatics." -- Alan Stahl, in The Extravagant Ambassador: The True Story of Alexandre Vattemare, the French Ventriloquist Who Changed the World, Boston Public Library, 2007. Nicholas Marie Alexandre Vattemare, founder of the System of International Exchanges, was born in Paris in 1796 and died there in 1864. A man of many talents, he was a surgeon early in his career and later became a well-known ventriloquist and magician who traveled throughout Europe and America. He subsequently gave up this occupation to promote adoption of his Système d'Échange International, initially aimed at the exchange of duplicate books between libraries, especially government publications. Later it was extended to include works of art, maps, natural history specimens, coins, medals and other similar objects. He came to America in 1839 and again in 1847, and was granted funds by Congress and by several state legislatures to further his scheme, which met with greater success here than in Europe. [online description truncated: see PDF or printed catalogue for full description]