WHITE, Trumbull "Silver and Gold: or, Both Sides of the Shield" [Publishers Union, 1895]

"Silver and Gold; or, Both Sides of the Shield: A Symposium of the Views of All Parties on the Currency Question as Expressed by Their Leading Advocates, Thoroughly Expounding the Doctrines of Free Silver, Mono-Metallism, and Bi-Metallism, With all the Arguments Pro. and Con." edited by Trumbull White [Publishers Union, 1895]. 556pp. Navy blue cloth with gilt and silver cover and spine designs. Spine sunned, rear hinge starting, but otherwise clean and tight. Very Good.

Published a year before the pivotal 1896 election, this is the true first edition of Hines’s compilation of arguments both for and against the gold standard and the free coinage of silver—a central issue in American political and economic life at the close of the 19th century. Issued for popular use by a mass-market publisher, the work was intended to inform voters and public speakers alike, and stands as a valuable document of the bimetallism debate that divided the nation along class and regional lines.