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Book review: "Numismatica Mexicana: Una Guia de su Literatura"
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BOOK REVIEW: Numismatica Mexicana: Una Guia de su Literatura
Christopher Bolton’s Numismatica Mexicana: Una Guia de su Literatura (“Mexican Numismatics: A Guide to its Literature”; copyright 2008) is an impressive and very useful work of scholarship. Bolton opens the book with Aaron Feldman’s famous quote: “Compra el libro antes de la moneda”—good advice for anyone interested in Mexico’s nearly 500 years of coinage. A guide such as this one, which documents more than 900 resources, is valuable for both newcomer and seasoned numismatist.
Bolton admits in his introduction that, Feldman notwithstanding, his passion for books started some 10 years after he bought his first Mexican coins. Guide books and catalogs expanded his outlook beyond coinage of the 20th century, to earlier eras, as well as to paper money, tokens, and medals. After being bitten by the bibliophile bug, Bolton’s passion was “incurable”—his rule became to buy at least one book for every five coins. He writes, “The 915 references cited in this bibliography represent, in my opinion, a good start to organizing the available written material [on Mexican numismatics].”
Numismatica Mexicana is perfectbound with an attractive faux-leather softcover, with the title and author’s name stamped in gold foil—reminiscent of Whitman’s line of “black books” from the 1960s. Two versions are available: octavo (7-1/2 x 9-1/8 inches) and quarto (8-3/8 x 10-3/4 inches). The former is printed on both sides of each leaf, the latter on recto only (“to allow collectors to make notes or add any additional references I may have omitted,” says the author).
What Bolton has compiled is more than just an alphabetical listing of books and articles. He categorizes the 900-plus works by numismatic epoch from pre-Conquest to the modern day, each book according to its main focus (or to the first epoch it covers). Dictionaries, auction catalogs, political histories, and similar references are categorized in their own sections, by content. Bolton does not simply list authors, titles, and places and dates of publication—for many of the works, he provides a summary and analysis of their substance. This kind of annotated bibliography offers valuable information for the researcher. For example, recently in The E-Sylum editor Wayne Homren posed the question, “So what are ‘Arras Tokens’?” In Numismatica Mexicana Bolton lists several articles on arras, and synopsizes their contents (i.e., “A list of 12 arras, but without substantial information about their origins”; “Five more arras, but only one is illustrated”; “Interesting article about the ‘coins’ used in Mexican weddings, with a list of 13 arras”). Other helpful notes include whether the work is illustrated, if it has an English translation, and if it was republished elsewhere in whole or in part. Also, most sections conclude with an “Also see,” directing the reader to related works in other sections. (For example, researchers in the “Carlos y Juana, 1536–1556” section are also referred to the auction catalog section, No. 828, The Paul Karon Collection of 8 Escudos and Other Classic Latin American Coinage.) The book concludes with a five-page index of authors linked to their works within the bibliography.
Sections include: pre-Columbian to the Conquest; Charles and Joanna, 1536–1556; cob coinage, 1556–1732; Pillar and Bust coinage, 1732–1810; insurgency, independence, and countermarks, 1810–1822; First Empire (Iturbide), 1822–1833; Republic, 1823–1864 and 1867–1897; Second Empire (Maximilian), 1864–1867; modern money, 1905 to date; coins and bills of the Revolution, 1913–1917; paper money; proclamation and oath medals; fichas, tlacos, pilones, and monedas de cobra; history of the Casas de Moneda and Banca Mexicana; dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works; economic, monetary, and political histories of Mexico; books and catalogs for the aficionado; catalogs of significant auctions; numismatic collections, expositions, and exhibitions; and general works.
I should note that Numismatica Mexicana is written in Spanish, and my citations in this review are translations of Bolton’s text. English-language books and articles are listed by their English titles, which in most cases offers sufficient guidance to monolingual readers. On top of that, if you have a few years of high-school or college Spanish, and a working knowledge of “coin Spanish,” you’ll find the prose easy to follow.
With careful organization, thoughtful analysis, and considerable scope, Christopher Bolton has done the numismatic community a great service in this highly recommended book.
+ + +
Having come to praise Numismatica Mexicana and not to bury it, I would offer several professional opinions on how to improve the book for its next edition. One minor complaint concerns the binding: the spine has no copy! When the book is sitting spine-out on a shelf, you don’t know its title or author’s name. It should be possible to fit at least the title on both formats (definitely on the thicker-spined quarto). Another observation: there are occasional stray marks, about the size and shape of a hyphen, scattered about two or three on every other page, sometimes within the text. This “chatter” can be distracting. It’s hard to tell if the marks are from the printing process (not likely, since the books were published digitally), or perhaps artifacts from the Quark (or other) software used for layout; either way, the glitches are probably easily fixed. On a nitpicky note, what Bolton calls an “introduction” is technically a preface—its purpose is not to introduce the subject matter of the book, but to explain the book’s mechanics (why and how it was written), which it does engagingly and very well. From a typographical perspective, the book exhibits the occasional technical errors and inconsistencies often seen in self-published (and sometimes in commercially published!) works; in this case, they’re minor and don’t affect the reader’s experience. More serious (but not major flaws at all) are some navigation-related weaknesses in the design: the layout would benefit from navigational aids such as running heads or feet that indicate the section (and possibly the book numbers covered on that page); and the verso folios (page numbers on left-hand pages) should be set flush outside, not flush inside, so they’re easier to read while flipping through the book. (The latter applies only to the octavo format; in the quarto, the folios are centered at page bottom.) Again, these comments are meant to improve the first edition, not condemn it. This is a book that deserves to be published again and again in future editions, as its talented author continues to add to it, to the benefit of numismatists everywhere.
(This review originally published in The E-Sylum.)
Christopher Bolton’s Numismatica Mexicana: Una Guia de su Literatura (“Mexican Numismatics: A Guide to its Literature”; copyright 2008) is an impressive and very useful work of scholarship. Bolton opens the book with Aaron Feldman’s famous quote: “Compra el libro antes de la moneda”—good advice for anyone interested in Mexico’s nearly 500 years of coinage. A guide such as this one, which documents more than 900 resources, is valuable for both newcomer and seasoned numismatist.
Bolton admits in his introduction that, Feldman notwithstanding, his passion for books started some 10 years after he bought his first Mexican coins. Guide books and catalogs expanded his outlook beyond coinage of the 20th century, to earlier eras, as well as to paper money, tokens, and medals. After being bitten by the bibliophile bug, Bolton’s passion was “incurable”—his rule became to buy at least one book for every five coins. He writes, “The 915 references cited in this bibliography represent, in my opinion, a good start to organizing the available written material [on Mexican numismatics].”
Numismatica Mexicana is perfectbound with an attractive faux-leather softcover, with the title and author’s name stamped in gold foil—reminiscent of Whitman’s line of “black books” from the 1960s. Two versions are available: octavo (7-1/2 x 9-1/8 inches) and quarto (8-3/8 x 10-3/4 inches). The former is printed on both sides of each leaf, the latter on recto only (“to allow collectors to make notes or add any additional references I may have omitted,” says the author).
What Bolton has compiled is more than just an alphabetical listing of books and articles. He categorizes the 900-plus works by numismatic epoch from pre-Conquest to the modern day, each book according to its main focus (or to the first epoch it covers). Dictionaries, auction catalogs, political histories, and similar references are categorized in their own sections, by content. Bolton does not simply list authors, titles, and places and dates of publication—for many of the works, he provides a summary and analysis of their substance. This kind of annotated bibliography offers valuable information for the researcher. For example, recently in The E-Sylum editor Wayne Homren posed the question, “So what are ‘Arras Tokens’?” In Numismatica Mexicana Bolton lists several articles on arras, and synopsizes their contents (i.e., “A list of 12 arras, but without substantial information about their origins”; “Five more arras, but only one is illustrated”; “Interesting article about the ‘coins’ used in Mexican weddings, with a list of 13 arras”). Other helpful notes include whether the work is illustrated, if it has an English translation, and if it was republished elsewhere in whole or in part. Also, most sections conclude with an “Also see,” directing the reader to related works in other sections. (For example, researchers in the “Carlos y Juana, 1536–1556” section are also referred to the auction catalog section, No. 828, The Paul Karon Collection of 8 Escudos and Other Classic Latin American Coinage.) The book concludes with a five-page index of authors linked to their works within the bibliography.
Sections include: pre-Columbian to the Conquest; Charles and Joanna, 1536–1556; cob coinage, 1556–1732; Pillar and Bust coinage, 1732–1810; insurgency, independence, and countermarks, 1810–1822; First Empire (Iturbide), 1822–1833; Republic, 1823–1864 and 1867–1897; Second Empire (Maximilian), 1864–1867; modern money, 1905 to date; coins and bills of the Revolution, 1913–1917; paper money; proclamation and oath medals; fichas, tlacos, pilones, and monedas de cobra; history of the Casas de Moneda and Banca Mexicana; dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works; economic, monetary, and political histories of Mexico; books and catalogs for the aficionado; catalogs of significant auctions; numismatic collections, expositions, and exhibitions; and general works.
I should note that Numismatica Mexicana is written in Spanish, and my citations in this review are translations of Bolton’s text. English-language books and articles are listed by their English titles, which in most cases offers sufficient guidance to monolingual readers. On top of that, if you have a few years of high-school or college Spanish, and a working knowledge of “coin Spanish,” you’ll find the prose easy to follow.
With careful organization, thoughtful analysis, and considerable scope, Christopher Bolton has done the numismatic community a great service in this highly recommended book.
+ + +
Having come to praise Numismatica Mexicana and not to bury it, I would offer several professional opinions on how to improve the book for its next edition. One minor complaint concerns the binding: the spine has no copy! When the book is sitting spine-out on a shelf, you don’t know its title or author’s name. It should be possible to fit at least the title on both formats (definitely on the thicker-spined quarto). Another observation: there are occasional stray marks, about the size and shape of a hyphen, scattered about two or three on every other page, sometimes within the text. This “chatter” can be distracting. It’s hard to tell if the marks are from the printing process (not likely, since the books were published digitally), or perhaps artifacts from the Quark (or other) software used for layout; either way, the glitches are probably easily fixed. On a nitpicky note, what Bolton calls an “introduction” is technically a preface—its purpose is not to introduce the subject matter of the book, but to explain the book’s mechanics (why and how it was written), which it does engagingly and very well. From a typographical perspective, the book exhibits the occasional technical errors and inconsistencies often seen in self-published (and sometimes in commercially published!) works; in this case, they’re minor and don’t affect the reader’s experience. More serious (but not major flaws at all) are some navigation-related weaknesses in the design: the layout would benefit from navigational aids such as running heads or feet that indicate the section (and possibly the book numbers covered on that page); and the verso folios (page numbers on left-hand pages) should be set flush outside, not flush inside, so they’re easier to read while flipping through the book. (The latter applies only to the octavo format; in the quarto, the folios are centered at page bottom.) Again, these comments are meant to improve the first edition, not condemn it. This is a book that deserves to be published again and again in future editions, as its talented author continues to add to it, to the benefit of numismatists everywhere.
(This review originally published in The E-Sylum.)
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Comments
Most numismatic researchers can do the background work, and present the story well enough. The problems start in the editing process, and go downhill from there (so it seems).
Having just finished self publishing a rather lengthy book about John J. Ford, Jr., I ran into several unexpected problems, including the fact it was done in Microsoft Publisher and not in InDesign (or another acceptale program used today by commercial printers).
The color has gone to 4 color separation from 3 color which was used a few years ago. Be sure to check the grayscale and imbed the fonts...etc.
My advice is to check with the printer and binders before you finish the text, and see what they say as to what timeframe is needed to do a quality job.
Be sure to look at other books to see what sort of format and layout you wish to use.
PS - I almost went overseas because of the large paper count (924 pgs) but did a lot of serious checking and finally found a company in the U.S. who was comparable to the quotes received from the overseas brokers stationed here in the U.S.
Best of luck to all numismatic authors.