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The American Accomptant; Being A Plain, Practical and Systematic Compendium of Federal Arithmetic; In Three Parts Designed for the Use of Schools, and Specially Calculated for the Commercial Meridian of The United States of America. By Chauncey Lee, A.M., Lansingburgh: Printed by William W. Wands, 1797, first edition, 297 pp, 6.75 x 4.25", 18mo. In poor condition. As is. Front board detached from binding. Rear board attached by cording only - fragile. Boards are scuffed at edges & worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine lacking - binding exposed. Title label heavily soiled & chipped - title illegible. Front end-page & fly-leaf attached to front board, but detached from binding. Marginalia found on front end-page, including a previous ownership signature. Front fly-leaf exhibits a chip in the upper corner - assumedly where a previous signature was removed. An intact previous ownership signature remains on front fly as well: James Buck, 75 Cts. Title page chipped at bottom edge. Frontispiece is detached from binding & lacking top half of page - only four coins are shown in their entirety. Moderate to heavy toning throughout text-block, with some instances of age-staining and finger-soiling. Binding is fragile. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Chauncey Lee (1718-1842) was an American clergyman born in Connecticut. He graduated from Yale in 1784, and, after practicing law for a short time, studied theology and was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Sunderland, Vermont, in 1790. Lee's "The American Accomptant," is known for early printed appearances of a dollar symbol and of the United States coin. The Grand Committee of the Continental Congress adopted the dollar as a unit of American money in 1785, and the United States Mint struck its first coins in 1793. Lee's frontispiece depicts several important international coins of the day, including a 1795 American Eagle (which is only party shown in chipped frontispiece). The Eagle, whose value was ten dollars, was the largest coin of the United States at the time. Lee listed symbols for the cent, dime, dollar, and eagle on p. 56, however, the symbol he uses for the dollar is not the type "S" with two lines through it. His monetary symbols were conceived by adding one line or stroke for each larger decimal unit so that the dollar symbol was composed of four separate strokes. Lee's dollar symbol seems to have had no relationship to the handwritten conventional "$". Lee's system was thus conceptually obsolete, impractical and very difficult to transcribe. Interesting & scarce piece of American history. A reading copy - perfect candidate for restoration. Seller Inventory # RAREA1797BIKR
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