Loubat, Joseph Florimond (1878)
Book Summary
Loubat?s investigation into American medals awarded by Congress, eighty-six in all (with a small number of exceptions), is yet another proof that our numismatic ancestors took their work very seriously. Loubat painstakingly uncovered the original documents associated with each of these medals, and more than that, produced a magnificent two volume set of the highest technical quality with splendid engravings. So admired was the work that a separate book (The Magnum Opus of Joseph Florimond Loubat) detailing Loubat?s efforts was produced by John Adams, et al, a beautiful leaf edition of which Loubat himself would be proud. A necessary warning must be conveyed regarding the 1967 Flayderman reprint, the alleged quality of which Charles Davis called ?the greatest bibliophilic lie in numismatics.? While the text has been faithfully reproduced, the reprint preserves not the slightest hint of the grandeur of the original presentation. Thankfully, Adams? 2007 tribute resurrects the legacy of Loubat to its rightful position in the bibliophilic pantheon. Voted #23 in the top one hundred items of numismatic literature in a survey by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.