American Numismatic Association Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library Receives Copy of First Printed Numismatic Book

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) Dwight N. Manley Library contains many rare and old books covering a variety of numismatic topics. Numismatic bibliophile and coin dealer Dr. Bruce D. Wonder recently added to this collection by donating a copy of the first edition of Guillaume Budé’s De Asse et Partibus Eius Libri Quinq, which is recognized as the first printed numismatic book. The book covers ancient Greek and Roman coins, includes definitions for early numismatic terminology, as well as early references to coin measurements. Budé was one of the great French scholars and philosophers of the 16th century and his works include treatises on law and politics, analyses of ancient European cultures, and treatises on the arts.

The volume was purchased by Dr. Wonder in 2012 from Kolbe & Fanning’s “The 2012 New York Book Sale” and featured in his article in the March 2014 issue of The Numismatist entitled “A Very Special Anniversary,” written to commemorate the 500th anniversary of its publication on March 15, 1514. Also bound in this volume are two legal treatises by Budé, one a later edition of and one an addenda to his earlier work Annotationes in XXIV Pandectarum libros. The provenance of this copy can be traced to John Drury’s Catalogue XXXII (1978) of numismatic literature where it appeared as item #28.

Dr. Wonder is an Emeritus Professor of Management, having spent most of his 41-year teaching and administrative career at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. His love of numismatics and of the literature thereon has spanned a longer period, beginning at the age of 12 in 1954. By donating this copy of Budé to the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, he hopes that some of the joy he has experienced as its temporary custodian these past 11 years may be experienced by many current and future numismatists who will have access to it.