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CHATS ON
POSTAGE STAMPS




BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS


_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations
Large Crown 8vo, cloth._

    CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
      (How to collect and value Old Engravings.)
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON COSTUME.
      By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.

    CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
      By E. L. Lowes.

    CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
      By J. F. Blacker.

    CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
      By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.

    CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
      By A. M. Broadley.

    CHATS ON PEWTER.
      By H. J. L. J. Massé, M.A.

    CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
      By Fred. J. Melville.

    CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
      By MacIver Percival.

    CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON OLD COINS.
      By Fred. W. Burgess.

    CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
      By Fred. W. Burgess.

    CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
      By Fred. W. Burgess.

    CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
      By Arthur Davison Ficke.

    CHATS ON MILITARY CURIOS.
      By Stanley C. Johnson.

    CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
      By Arthur Hayden.

    CHATS ON ROYAL COPENHAGEN PORCELAIN.
      By Arthur Hayden.

       *       *       *       *       *

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD.
NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY

       *       *       *       *       *

[Illustration: SIR ROWLAND HILL.

(_From the painting by J. A. Vinter, R.A., in the National Portrait
Gallery._)

Frontispiece.]




CHATS ON
POSTAGE STAMPS

BY

FRED J. MELVILLE

PRESIDENT OF THE JUNIOR PHILATELIC SOCIETY

WITH SEVENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS


(_All rights reserved._)




PREFACE


Come and chat in my stamp-den, that I may encircle you with fine-spun
webs of curious and rare interest, and bind you for ever to Philately,
by which name we designate the love of stamps. The "den" presents
no features which would at first sight differentiate it from a snug
well-filled library, but a close inspection will reveal that many of
the books are not the products of Paternoster Row or of Grub Street.
Yet in these stamp-albums we shall read, if you will have the kindness
to be patient, many things which are writ upon the postage-stamps of
all nations, as in a world of books.

It is not given to all collectors to know their postage-stamps. There
is the collector who merely accumulates specimens without studying
them. He has eyes, but he does not see more than that this stamp is
red and that one is blue. He has ears, but they only hear that this
stamp cost £1,000, and that this other can be purchased wholesale at
sixpence the dozen. What shall it profit him if he collect many stamps,
but never discover their significance as factors in the rapid spread
of civilisation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? The true
student of stamps will extract from them all that they have to teach;
he will read from them the development of arts and manufactures,
social, commercial and political progress, and the rise and fall of
nations.

To the young student our pleasant pastime of stamp-collecting has to
offer an encouragement to habits of method and order, for without these
collecting can be productive of but little pleasure or satisfaction.
It will train him to be ever observant of the _minutiæ_ that matter,
and it will broaden his outlook as he surveys his stamps "from China to
Peru."

The present volume is not intended as a complete guide to the
postage-stamps of the world; it is rather a companion volume to the
standard catalogues and numerous primers already available to the
collector. It has been my endeavour to indicate what counts in modern
collecting, and to emphasise those features of the higher Philately
of to-day which have not yet been fully comprehended by the average
collector. Some of my readers may consider that I have unduly appraised
the value in a stamp collection of pairs and blocks, proofs and essays,
of documental matter, and also that too much has been demanded in the
matter of condition. But all these things are of greater importance
than is realised by even the majority of members of the philatelic
societies. Condition in particular is a factor which, if disregarded,
will not only result in the formation of an unsatisfactory collection,
but will lessen, if not ruin, the collection as an investment. It
has been thought that as time passed on the exacting requirements of
condition would have to be relaxed through the gradual absorption
of fine copies of old stamps in great collections. The effect has,
however, been simply to raise the prices of old stamps in perfect
condition. It may be taken as a general precept that a stamp in fine
condition at a high price is a far better investment than a stamp in
poor condition at any price.

In preparing the illustrations for this volume I am indebted to several
collectors and dealers, chiefly to Mr. W. H. Peckitt, who has lent me
some of the fine items from the "Avery" collection, to Messrs. Stanley
Gibbons, Ltd., whose name is as a household word to stamp-collectors
all over the world, and to Messrs. Charles Nissen, D. Field, and
Herbert F. Johnson.

I should also be omitting a very important duty if I failed to
acknowledge the general readiness of collectors, and especially of my
colleagues the members of the Junior Philatelic Society both at home
and abroad, in keeping me constantly _au courant_ with new information
connected with the pursuit of Philately. Without such assistance in
the past, this work, and the score of others which have come from my
pen, could never have been undertaken; and perhaps the best token of
my appreciation of so many kindnesses will be to beg (as I now do) the
favour of their continuance in the future.

    FRED J. MELVILLE.




CONTENTS


                                                                    PAGE

PREFACE                                                                7

PHILATELIC TERMS                                                      21


CHAPTER I

THE GENESIS OF THE POST                                               55

    The earliest letter-carriers--The Roman _posita_--Princely
    Postmasters of Thurn and Taxis--Sir Brian Tuke--Hobson
    of "Hobson's Choice"--The General Letter Office of
    England--Dockwra's Penny Post of 1680--Povey's "Halfpenny
    Carriage"--The Edinburgh and other Penny Posts--Postal rates
    before 1840--Uniform Penny Postage--The Postage Stamp regarded
    as the royal _diplomata_--The growth of the postal business.


CHAPTER II

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA                                            77

    Early instances of contrivances to denote prepayment
    of postage--The "Two-_Sous_" Post--_Billets de port
    payé_--A passage of wit between the French Sappho and M.
    Pellisson--Dockwra's letter-marks--Some fabulous stamped
    wrappers of the Dutch Indies--Letter-sheets used in
    Sardinia--Lieut. Treffenberg's proposals for "Postage Charts"
    in Sweden--The postage-stamp idea "in the air"--Early British
    reformers and their proposals--The Lords of the Treasury start
    a competition--Mr. Cheverton's prize plan--A find of papers
    relating to the contest--A square inch of gummed paper--The
    Sydney embossed envelopes--The Mulready envelope--The
    Parliamentary envelopes--The adhesive stamp popularly preferred
    to the Mulready envelope.


CHAPTER III

SOME EARLY PIONEERS OF PHILATELY                                     113

    "Hobbyhorsical" collections--The application of the term
    "Foreign Stamp Collecting"--The Stamp Exchange in Birchin
    Lane--A celebrated lady stamp-dealer--The Saturday rendezvous
    at the All Hallows Staining Rectory--Prominent collectors
    of the first period--The first stamp catalogues--The words
    _Philately_ and _Timbrologie_--Philatelic periodicals--Justin
    Lallier's albums--The Philatelic Society, London.


CHAPTER IV

ON FORMING A COLLECTION                                              133

    The cost of packet collections--The beginner's
    album--Accessories--Preparation of stamps for mounting--The
    requirements of "condition"--The use of the stamp-hinge--A
    suggestion for the ideal mount--A handy gauge for use in
    arranging stamps--"Writing-up."


CHAPTER V

THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION                                     151

    The historical collection: literary and philatelic--The quest
    for _rariora_--The "grangerising" of philatelic monographs: its
    advantages and possibilities--Historic documents--Proposals and
    essays--Original drawings--Sources of stamp-engravings--Proofs
    and trials--Comparative rarity of some stamps in pairs, &c., or
    on original envelopes--Coloured postmarks--Portraits, maps, and
    contemporary records--A lost opportunity.


CHAPTER VI

ON LIMITING A COLLECTION                                             197

    The difficulties of a general collection--The unconscious
    trend to specialism--Technical limitations: Modes of
    production; Printers--Geographical groupings: Europe and
    divisions--Suggested groupings of British Colonies--United
    States, Protectorates and Spheres of Influence--Islands of the
    Pacific--The financial side of the "great" philatelic countries.


CHAPTER VII

STAMP-COLLECTING AS AN INVESTMENT                                    209

    The collector, the dealer, and the combination--The factor
    of expense--Natural rise of cost--Past possibilities in
    British "Collector's Consols," in Barbados, in British
    Guiana, in Canada, in "Capes"--Modern speculations: Cayman
    Islands--Further investments: Ceylon, Cyprus, _Fiji Times_
    Express, Gambia, India, Labuan, West Indies--The "Post
    Office" Mauritius--The early Nevis, British North America,
    Sydney Views, New Zealand--Provisionals: _bonâ fide_ and
    speculative--Some notable appreciations--"Booms."


CHAPTER VIII

FORGERIES, FAKES, AND FANCIES                                        237

    Early counterfeits and their exposers--The "honest"
    facsimile--"Album Weeds"--Forgeries classified--Frauds on
    the British Post Office--Forgeries "paying" postage--The One
    Rupee, India--Fraudulent alteration of values--The British 10s.
    and £1 "Anchor"--A too-clever "fake"--Joined pairs--Drastic
    tests--New South Wales "Views" and "Registered"--The Swiss
    Cantonals--Government "imitations"--"Bogus" stamps.


CHAPTER IX

FAMOUS COLLECTIONS                                                   261

    The "mania" in the 'sixties--Some wonderful early
    collections--The first auction sale--Judge Philbrick and his
    collection--The Image collection--Lord Crawford's "United
    States" and "Great Britain"--Other great modern collections--M.
    la Rénotière's "legions of stamps"--Synopsis of sales of
    collections.


CHAPTER X

ROYAL AND NATIONAL COLLECTIONS                                       303

    The late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a collector--King
    George's stamps: Great Britain, Mauritius, British Guiana,
    Barbados, Nevis--The "King of Spain Reprints"--The late Grand
    Duke Alexis Michaelovitch--Prince Doria Pamphilj--The "Tapling"
    Collection--The Berlin Postal Museum--The late Duke of
    Leinster's bequest to Ireland--Mr. Worthington's promised gift
    to the United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                         333

INDEX                                                                351




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

                                                                    PAGE

Perforation Gauge                                                     43

The Commemorative Letter Balance designed by Mr. S. King, of Bath
  (1840). A monument "which may be possessed by every family in the
  United Kingdom"                                                     72

Mr. King's Letter Balance had a tripod base, as in the uppermost
  figure, thus affording three tablets on which the associations of
  J. Palmer, Rowland Hill, and Queen Victoria with postal reform
  are recorded                                                        73

A Facsimile of the Address Side of a Penny Post Letter in 1686,
  showing the "Peny Post Payd" mark instituted by Dockwra and
  continued by the Government authorities                             83

Facsimile of the Contents of the Penny Post Letter of 1686            84

The Official Notification of December 3, 1818, relating to the use
  of the Sardinian Letter Sheets. Described in the records of the
  Schroeder collection as "the oldest official notification of any
  country in the world relating to postage-stamps"                    86

(_Continuation from previous page._) The models show the
  devices for the three denominations: 15, 25, and 50 centesimi
  respectively                                                        87

Proof of the Mulready Envelope, signed by Rowland Hill. (From the
  "Peacock" Papers)                                                  111

Gauge for Arranging Stamps in a Blank Album                          144

Autograph Letter from Rowland Hill to John Dickinson, the
  paper-maker, asking for six or eight sheets of the silk-thread
  paper for trial impressions of the adhesive stamps                 164

Original Sketch for the "Canoe" Type of Fiji Stamps                  169

A Postal Memento of New Zealand's "Universal Penny Postage,"
  January 1, 1901                                                    190

The First Postage Stamp of the present reign, together with the
  Post Office notice concerning its issue on November 4, 1910        193

The Official Notice of the Issue of the New Stamps of Great Britain
  for the reign of King George V.                                    195


LIST OF PLATES

Sir Rowland Hill. (From the painting by J. A. Vinter, R.A., in the
  National Portrait Gallery)                              _Frontispiece_

Examples of some Philatelic Terms:--A _Pair_ of Great Britain
  embossed Sixpence.--A _Pair_ of Cape of Good Hope Triangular
  Shilling.--A _Block_ of four Great Britain Penny Red.--A _Strip_
  of three Grenada "4d." on Two Shillings                             25

Examples of some Philatelic Terms:--The figures "201" indicate
  the _Plate Number_, and "238" the _Current Number_. The
  _Plate Number_ is also on each of these stamps in microscopic
  numerals.--Corner pair showing _Current Number_ "575" in
  margin.--Corner pair showing _Plate Number_ "15" in margin. The
  _Plate Number_ is also seen in small figures on each stamp.--The
  above stamps are those of Great Britain _overprinted_ for use in
  Cyprus                                                              29

Examples of some Philatelic Terms:--A sheet of stamps of Gambia,
  composed of two _Panes_ of sixty stamps each.--The single "Crown
  and CA" watermark, as it appears looking from the back of the
  Gambia sheet illustrated above. The watermark is arranged in
  panes to coincide with the impressions from the plate               33

Examples of some Philatelic Terms:--A "Bisect," or "Bisected
  Provisional." The One Penny stamp of Jamaica was in 1861
  permitted to be cut in halves diagonally, and each half used as a
  halfpenny stamp                                                     37

Examples of some Philatelic Terms:--Photograph of a flat steel
  _die_ engraved in _taille douce_ (_i.e._, with the lines of
  the design cut into the plate). The stamp is the 50 lepta of
  Greece, issue of 1901, showing Hermes adapted from the Mercury of
  Giovanni da Bologna                                                 51

Scarce Pamphlet (first page) in which William Dockwra announces the
  Penny Post of 1680                                                  65

A Post Office in 1790                                                 69

Sardinian Letter Sheet of 1818: 15 centesimi.--The 25 centesimi
  Letter Sheet of Sardinia. Issued in Sardinia, 1818; the earliest
  use of Letter Sheets with embossed stamps                           89

The highest denomination, 50 centesimi, of the Sardinian Letter
  Sheets.--One of the temporary envelopes issued for the use of
  members of the House of Lords, prior to the issue of stamps and
  covers to the public, 1840                                          93

The "James Chalmers" Essay.--Rough sketches in water-colours
  submitted by Rowland Hill to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for
  the first postage stamps                                            99

Hitherto unpublished examples of the proposals submitted to the
  Lords of the Treasury in 1839 in competition for prizes offered
  in connection with the Penny Postage plan. (From the Author's
  Collection)                                                        103

The address side of the model letter which has the stamp (shown
  below) affixed to the back as a seal.--Another of the unpublished
  essays submitted in the competition of 1839 for the Penny Postage
  plan. (From the Author's Collection)                               107

A Postage Stamp "Chart"--one of the early forms of stamp-collecting  119

The small "experimental" plate from which impressions of the Two
  Pence, Great Britain, were made on "Dickinson" paper. Only two
  rows of four stamps were impressed on each piece of the paper.
  (_Cf._ next plate)                                                 157

The Two Pence, Great Britain, on "Dickinson" paper. The upper block
  is in red (24 stamps printed in all, of which nine copies are
  known), and the lower block in blue (16 stamps printed, of which
  twelve copies are known). The above blocks of six each are in the
  possession of Mr. Lewis Evans; the pairs cut from the left side
  of each block were in the collection of the late Mrs. John Evans   161

One of the rough pencil sketches by W. Mulready, R.A., for the
  envelope. The "flying" figures are not shown in this sketch        165

Engraver's proof of the Queen's head die for the first adhesive
  postage stamps, with note in the handwriting of Edward Henry
  Corbould attributing the engraving to Frederick Heath              173

An exceptional block of twenty unused One Penny black stamps,
  lettered "V R" in the upper corners for official use. (From the
  collection of the late Sir William Avery, Bart.)                   177

An envelope bearing the rare stamp issued in 1846 by the Postmaster
  of Millbury, Massachusetts.--One of the stamps issued by the
  Postmaster of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the Civil War, 1861   181

Another of the Confederate States rarities issued by the Postmaster
  of Goliad, Texas.--The stamp issued by the Postmaster of
  Livingston, Alabama. (From the "Avery" Collection)                 183

The One Penny "Post Office" Mauritius on the original letter-cover.
  (From the "Duveen" Collection)                                     187

A roughly printed card showing the designs and colours for the
  Unified "Postage and Revenue" stamps of Great Britain, 1884        191

The King's copy of the Two Pence "Post Office" Mauritius
  stamp.--The magnificent unused copies of the One Penny and Two
  Pence "Post Office" Mauritius stamps acquired by Henry J. Duveen,
  Esq., out of the collection formed by the late Sir William Avery,
  Bart.                                                              225

The famous "Stock Exchange" Forgery of the One Shilling green stamp
  of Great Britain.--A Genuine "Plate 6."--One specimen was used on
  October 31, 1872, and the other on June 13 of the next year. The
  enlargements betray trifling differences in the details of the
  design, as compared with the genuine stamp above                   245

The unique envelope of Annapolis (Maryland, U.S.A.) in Lord
  Crawford's collection of stamps of the United States               279

Part sheet (175 stamps) of the ordinary One Penny black stamp
  of Great Britain, 1840. (From the collection of the Earl of
  Crawford, K.T.)                                                    283

Nearly a complete sheet (219 stamps out of 240) of the highly
  valued One Penny black "V R" stamp, intended for official use.
  (From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T.)                285

Part sheet (lacking but six horizontal rows) of the scarce Two
  Pence blue stamp "without white lines" issued in Great Britain,
  1840. (From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T.)          287

The unique block of the "double Geneva" stamp, the rarest of the
  Swiss "Cantonals." (Formerly in the "Avery" Collection, now in
  the possession of Henry J. Duveen, Esq.)                           291

Part sheet of the scarce 5c. "Large Eagle" stamp of Geneva, showing
  the marginal inscription at the top. (From the collection of
  Henry J. Duveen, Esq.)                                             293

A Page of the 5 cents. and 13 cents. Hawaiian "Missionary" stamps.
  (From the "Crocker" Collection)                                    297

Hawaiian Islands, 1851. The 5 cents "Missionary" stamp on original
  envelope. (From the "Crocker" Collection)                          299

A Page from the King's historic collection of the stamps of Great
  Britain, showing the method of "writing up"                        307

The three copies of the unissued 2d. "Tyrian-plum" stamp of Great
  Britain, in the collection of H.M. the King. The one on the
  envelope is the only specimen known to have passed through the
  post                                                               309

Design for the King Edward One Penny stamp, approved and initialled
  by His late Majesty. (From the collection of H.M. King George V.)  313

The companion design to that on page 313, and showing the correct
  pose of the head, but in a different frame which was not adopted.
  (From the collection of H.M. the King)                             315

A Page of the One Penny "Post Paid" stamps of Mauritius. (In the
  collection of H.M. the King)                                       319

The Two Pence "Post Paid" stamp of Mauritius. Unique block showing
  the error (the first stamp in the illustration), lettered "PENOE"
  for "PENCE". (In the collection of H.M. the King)                  323

A specimen page from the "Tapling" Collection at the British
  Museum. Probably the most valuable page, showing the Hawaiian
  "Missionaries." The two stamps at the top have been removed from
  the cases and are now kept in a safe in the "Cracherode" Room      327




PHILATELIC
TERMS




PHILATELIC TERMS


ALBINO.--An impression made either from an uninked embossing die,
    or from a similar inked die, under which two pieces of paper
    have been simultaneously placed, only the upper one receiving
    the colour.

ANILINE.--A term strictly applicable to coal-tar colours, but
    commonly used for brilliant tones very soluble in water.

BÂTONNÉ.--_See_ PAPER.

BISECT.--A term applied to a moiety of a stamp, used as of half the
    value of the entire label.

BLEUTÉ.--This word implies that the blueness of the paper has been
    acquired since the stamp was printed, as the result of chemical
    action.

BLOCK.--An unsevered group of stamps, consisting of at least two
    horizontal rows of two each.

BOGUS.--An expression applied to any stamp not designed for use.

BURELÉ.--A fine network forming part of design of stamp, or
    covering the front or back of entire sheet.

CANCELLED TO ORDER.--Stamps which, though postmarked or otherwise
    obliterated, have not done postal or fiscal duty.

CENTIMETRE (CM.).--The one-hundredth part of a metre = .3937 inch.

CHALKY, OR CHALK-SURFACED.--Before being used for printing, paper
    sometimes has its surface coated with a preparation largely
    composed of chalk or similar substance: this renders the
    print liable to rub off if wetted; and, in combination with a
    doubly-fugitive ink, renders fraudulent cleaning practically
    impossible.

CLICHÉ.--The ultimate production from the DIE, and of a number of
    which the printing PLATE is composed.

COLOUR TRIALS.--Impressions taken in various colours from a plate,
    so that a selection may be made.

COMB MACHINE.--A variety of perforating machine, which produces, at
    each descent of the needles, a line of holes along a horizontal
    (or vertical) row of stamps, and a short line of holes down the
    two sides (or top and bottom) of each stamp in that horizontal
    (or vertical) row. And _see_ PERFORATION.

COMMEMORATIVES.--A term applied to labels issued chiefly for sale
    to collectors, and commemorating the contemporaneous happening,
    or the anniversary, centenary, &c, of some often unimportant or
    almost forgotten event.

COMPOUND.--_See_ PERFORATION.

CONTROL.--An arbitrary letter or number, or both, printed on the
    margin of a sheet of stamps, for facilitating a check on the
    supply. Also used to denote a design overprinted on a stamp
    (_e.g._ Persia, 1899) as a protection against forgery.

[Illustration: EXAMPLES OF SOME PHILATELIC TERMS.

A _Pair_ of Great Britain embossed Six Pence.

A _Pair_ of Cape of Good Hope Triangular Shilling.

A _Block_ of four Great Britain Penny Red.

A _Strip_ of three Grenada "4d." on Two Shillings.]

CURRENT NUMBER.--The consecutive number of a PLATE, irrespective of
    the denomination of the stamp.

CUT-OUTS.--A term used to denote the impressions, originally part
    of envelopes, postcards, &c., but cut off for use as ordinary
    stamps.

CUT-SQUARES.--Stamps cut from envelopes, &c., with a rectangular
    margin of paper attached, are known as "CUT-SQUARES."

DICKINSON PAPER.--_See_ PAPER.

DIE.--The original engraving from which the printing plates are
    produced; or, sometimes, from which the stamps are printed
    direct. _See_ PLATE and EMBOSSED.

DOUBLY-FUGITIVE.--_See_ FUGITIVE.

DOUBLE-PRINT.--Strictly applicable to two similar impressions,
    more or less coincident, on the same piece of paper; though
    often, but erroneously, applied to instances where the paper,
    not being firmly held, has touched the plate, so receiving a
    partial impression, and then, resuming its correct position,
    has been properly printed.

DUTY-PLATE.--Many modern stamps are printed from two plates, one
    being the same (KEY-PLATE, which see) for all the values, but
    the other differing for each denomination: this latter is the
    DUTY-PLATE.

ELECTRO.--A reproduction of the original die, made by means of a
    galvanic battery from a secondary die. _See_ MATRIX.

EMBOSSED.--Stamps produced from a die, or reproductions thereof, on
    which the design is cut to varying depths, are necessarily in
    relief, _i.e._, embossed. And _see_ PRINTING.

ENGRAVED.--The term is often used to denote stamps printed direct
    from a plate, on which the lines of the design are cut _into_
    the metal. And _see_ PRINTING.

ENTIRES.--This expression includes not only POSTAL STATIONERY
    (which see), but when used in describing an adhesive stamp, as
    being "on entire," implies that the stamp is on the envelope or
    letter as when posted.

ENVELOPE STAMP.--A stamp belonging to, and printed on, an envelope.

ERROR.--An incorrect stamp--either in design, colour, paper,
    &c.--which has been issued for use.

ESSAY.--A rejected design for a stamp; in the French sense also
    applied to proofs of accepted designs.

FACSIMILE.--A euphemism for a forgery.

FAKE.--A genuine stamp, which has been manipulated in order to
    increase its philatelic or postal value.

FISCAL.--A stamp intended for payment of a duty or tax, as
    distinguished from postage.

FLAP ORNAMENT.--This refers to the ornament (usually) embossed on
    the tip of the upper flap of envelopes, and variously termed
    ROSACE or TRESSE, or (incorrectly) PATTE, which see.

FUGITIVE.--Colours printed in "singly-fugitive" ink suffer on an
    attempt to remove an ordinary ink cancellation; but if in
    "doubly-fugitive" ink it _was_ thought that the removal of
    _writing_-ink would injure the appearance of the stamp. And
    _see_ CHALKY.

[Illustration: EXAMPLES OF SOME PHILATELIC TERMS.

The figures "201" indicate the _Plate Number_, and "238" the _Current
Number_. The _Plate Number_ is also on each of these stamps in
microscopic numerals.

Corner pair showing _Current Number_ "575" in margin.

Corner pair showing _Plate Number_ "15" in margin. The _Plate Number_
is also seen in small figures on each stamp.

The above stamps are those of Great Britain _overprinted_ for use in
Cyprus.]

GENERALISING.--The collecting of all the postage-stamps of the
    world.

GOVERNMENT IMITATION.--Sometimes, when it is desired to reprint
    an obsolete issue, the original dies or plates are not
    forthcoming. New dies have, in these circumstances, been
    officially made, and the resulting labels are euphemistically
    called "Government imitations." "Forgeries" would be more
    candid.

GRANITE.--_See_ PAPER.

GRILLE.--Small plain dots, generally arranged in a small rectangle,
    but sometimes covering the entire stamp, embossed on certain
    issues of Peru and the United States. The idea of this was to
    so break up the fibre of the paper, as to allow the ink of the
    postmark to penetrate it and render cleaning impossible.

GUILLOTINE.--The term used to define a perforating-machine which
    punches a single straight line of holes at each descent of the
    needles.

GUMPAP.--A fancy term of opprobrium applied to a stamp issued
    purely for sale to collectors and not to meet a postal
    requirement.

HAIR-LINE.--Originally used to indicate the fine line crossing
    the outer angles of the corner blocks of some British stamps,
    inserted to distinguish impressions from certain plates, this
    term is now often employed to denote any fine line, in white or
    in colour, and whether intentional or accidental, which may be
    found on a stamp.

HAND-MADE.--_See_ PAPER.

HARROW.--The form of perforating-machine which is capable of
    operating on an entire sheet of stamps at each descent of the
    needles. And _see_ PERFORATION.

HEAD-PLATE.--_See_ KEY-PLATE.

IMPERFORATE.--Stamps which have not been PERFORATED or ROULETTED
    (both of which see) are thus described.

IMPRIMATUR.--A word usually found in conjunction with "sheet," when
    it indicates the first impression from a plate endorsed with an
    official certificate to that effect, and a direction that the
    plate be used for printing stamps.

IMPRINT.--The name of the printer, whether below each stamp, or
    only on the margin of the sheet, is called the "imprint."

INVERTED.--Simply upside-down. And _see_ REVERSED.

IRREGULAR.--_See_ PERFORATION.

"JUBILEE" LINE.--Since 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's first
    Jubilee--whence the name--a line of "printer's rule" has been
    added round each pane, or plate, of most surface-printed
    British and British Colonial stamps, in order to protect the
    edges of the outer rows of CLICHÉS from undue wear and tear.
    The "rule" shows as a coloured line on the sheets of stamps.

KEY-PLATE.--Stamps of the same design, when printed in two
    colours, require two plates for each value; that which prints
    the design (apart from the value, and sometimes the name of the
    country), and is common to and used for two or more stamps, is
    termed the HEAD-PLATE or KEY-PLATE. And _see_ DUTY-PLATE.

[Illustration: EXAMPLES OF SOME PHILATELIC TERMS.

A sheet of stamps of Gambia, composed of two _Panes_ of sixty stamps
each.

The single "Crown and CA" watermark as it appears looking from the
back of the Gambia sheet illustrated above. The watermark is arranged
in panes to coincide with the impressions from the plate.]

KNIFE.--This is a technical term for the cutter of the machine
    which cuts out the (unfolded) envelope blank, and is
    principally used in connection with the numerous varieties of
    _shape_ in the United States envelopes, amongst which the same
    size may show several variations in the flap.

LAID.--_See_ PAPER.

LAID BÂTONNÉ.--_See_ PAPER.

LINE-ENGRAVED.--Is properly applied to a print from a plate
    engraved in TAILLE DOUCE (which see) but is often applied to
    the plate itself.

LITHOGRAPHED.--Stamps printed from a design laid down on a stone
    and neither raised nor depressed in the printing lines are
    denoted by this term. And _see_ PRINTING.

LOCALS.--Stamps having a franking power within a definitely
    restricted area.

MANILA.--_See_ PAPER.

MATRIX.--A counterpart impression in metal or other material from
    an original die, and which in its turn is used to produce
    copies exactly similar to the original die.

MILLIMETRE (MM.).--The one-thousandth part of a metre = .03937 inch.

MILL-SHEET.--_See_ SHEET.

MINT.--A term used to denote that a stamp or envelope, &c.,
    is in exactly the same condition as when issued by the
    post-office--unused, clean, unmutilated in the slightest degree
    and with all the original gum undisturbed.

MIXED (PERFORATIONS).--In some of the 1901-7 stamps of New Zealand,
    the original perforation was to some extent defective: such
    portions of the sheet were patched with strips of paper on the
    back and re-perforated, usually in a different gauge.

MOUNTED.--Usually applied to indicate that a stamp, which has been
    trimmed close to the design, has had new margins added. And
    _see_ FAKE.

NATIVE-MADE PAPER.--_See_ PAPER.

OBLITERATION.--A general term used for any mark employed to cancel
    a stamp and so render it incapable of further use.

OBSOLETE.--Strictly, an obsolete stamp is one which has been
    withdrawn from circulation and is no longer available for
    postal use; but the term is often applied simply to old issues,
    no longer on sale at the post-office.

ORIGINAL DIE.--The first engraved piece of metal, from which the
    printing plates are directly or indirectly produced.

ORIGINAL GUM.--Practically all stamps were, before issue, gummed on
    the back, and the actual gum so applied is known as "original":
    the usual abbreviation is "o.g.": it is also implied in the
    expression "MINT", which see.

OVERPRINT.--An inscription or device printed upon a stamp
    additional to its original design. _Cf._ SURCHARGE.

PAIR.--Two stamps joined together as when originally printed.
    Without qualification, a PAIR is generally accepted as being of
    two stamps side by side: if a pair of two stamps joined top to
    bottom is intended, it is spoken of as a _vertical_ pair.

[Illustration: EXAMPLES OF SOME PHILATELIC TERMS.

A "Bisect," or "Bisected Provisional." The One Penny stamp of Jamaica
was in 1861 permitted to be cut in halves diagonally, and each half
used as a halfpenny stamp.]

PANE.--Entire sheets of stamps are frequently divided into sections
    by means of one or more spaces running horizontally or (and)
    vertically between similarly sized groups of stamps: each of
    these sections or groups is termed a PANE.

PAPER.--The two main divisions of PAPER are HAND-MADE and
    MACHINE-MADE: the former is manufactured, as its name
    indicates, by hand, sheet by sheet, by means of a special
    apparatus; the latter is made entirely by the aid of machinery
    and generally in long continuous rolls, which are afterwards
    cut up as required.

Each of these, apart from its substance, which may vary from the
    thinnest of tissue papers to almost thin card, is divisible
    according to its texture, distinguishable on being held up to
    the light, into--

    WOVE, of perfectly plain even texture, such as is generally
        used for books.

    LAID: this shows lines close together, usually with other
        lines, an inch or so apart, crossing them--"cream laid"
        notepaper is an example.

    BÂTONNÉ is wove paper, with very distinct lines as wide apart
        as those on ordinary ruled paper.

    LAID BÂTONNÉ: similar to BÂTONNÉ, but the spaces between the
        distinct lines are filled in with laid lines close together.

    QUADRILLÉ paper is marked with small squares or oblongs.

    REP is the term applied to WOVE paper which has been passed
        between ridged rollers, so that it becomes, to use a
        somewhat exaggerated description, corrugated: the small
        elevation or ridge on one side of the paper coincides with
        a depression or furrow on the other side--the thickness of
        the paper is the same throughout.

    RIBBED paper, on the other hand, is different from REP, in that
        one side is smooth and the other is in alternate furrows
        and ridges--the paper is thinner in the furrows than it is
        on the ridges.

    NATIVE paper, so called, is yellowish or greyish, often with
        the feel and appearance of parchment; generally laid
        somewhat irregularly, but often wove. The early issues of
        Cashmere and some of the stamps and cards of Nepal are
        printed on native paper: it is always hand-made.

    PELURE is a very thin, hard, tough paper, usually greyish in
        colour.

    MANILA is a strong, light, but coarse paper, and is used for
        wrappers, large envelopes, &c.; usually it is smooth on one
        side and rough on the other.

    SAFETY paper contains ingredients which would make it very
        difficult, if not impossible, to remove an obliteration
        in writing-ink without at the same time destroying the
        impression of the stamp: usually this paper is more or less
        blued, owing to the use of prussiate of potash, and its
        combination with impurities arising in the manufacture.

    GRANITE paper is almost white, with short coloured fibres in
        it, sometimes very visible, but at others necessitating the
        use of a magnifying glass.

    DICKINSON paper, so called from its inventor, has a continuous
        thread, or parallel threads, of silk in the centre of its
        substance, embedded there in the pulp at an early stage of
        the manufacture.

PARAPHE is the flourish which is sometimes added at the end of a
    signature: examples on stamps are found in the 1873-6 issues of
    Porto Rico.

PATTE.--French for the loose flap of an envelope; it is sometimes
    (but incorrectly) used for ROSACE or TRESSE, the ornament on
    the flap.

PELURE.--_See_ PAPER.

PEN-CANCELLED denotes cancellation by pen-and-ink, as opposed to
    the more customary postmark; it usually implies fiscal use.

PERCÉ is a French term denoting slits or pricks, no part of the
    paper being removed, in contradistinction to PERFORATED, in
    which small discs of paper are punched out. There are several
    kinds of PERÇAGE, or, in English, ROULETTING:--

    PERCÉ EN ARC, the cuts being curved, so that, on severing a
        pair of stamps, the edge of one shows small arches, whilst
        the other has a series of small scallops, something like,
        but more curved than, the perforations on the edges of an
        ordinary perforated stamp.

    PERCÉ EN LIGNE: the cuts or slits are straight, as if a
        continuous line had been broken up into small sections.
        This variety usually goes by the English term ROULETTED.

    PERCÉ EN POINTE denotes that the slits are comparatively large
        and cut evenly in zigzag, so that the edges of a stamp show
        a series of equal-sided triangular projections.

    PERCÉ EN POINTS, usually expressed as PIN-PERFORATED, implies a
        pricking of holes with a sharp point, but without removal
        of paper, which is merely pushed aside.

    PERCÉ EN SCIE is somewhat similar to PERCÉ EN POINTE, except
        that the slits are smaller and are cut in uneven zigzag
        (alternately long and short), so that the edge of a severed
        stamp is like that of a fine saw.

    PERCÉ EN SERPENTIN occurs when the paper is cut in
        comparatively large wavy curves of varying depth, with
        little breaks in the cutting which serve to hold the stamps
        together.

    And _see_ PERFORATED and PERFORATION.

PERFORATED--in French PIQUÉ. This word implies removal of small
    discs of paper, not simply slits or cuts. And _see_ PERCÉ.

PERFORATION is either "regular," where the number of holes within
    a similar space is constant along the entire row; or, where
    the number varies more or less, "irregular." The gauge of
    the perforations (or roulettes) of a stamp is measured by a
    PERFORATION-GAUGE, a piece of metal, card, or celluloid, on
    which is engraved or printed a long series of rows of dots,
    each row being two centimetres in length and containing a
    varying number of dots from, say, 6 to 17 or 18.

    A stamp, the edge of which shows holes (perforated)
    corresponding in spacing and number to the row on the gauge
    marked, say "12," is said to be "perforated 12." If the stamp
    gauges the same on all four sides, it is simply "perforated
    ..."; if the top and bottom are of one gauge, say 12, and
    the sides, say, 14, the stamp would be perforated "12 × 14."
    If the gauge varies on each of the four sides--an unlikely
    combination--then the order of noting same is, top (say 12),
    right (say 11), bottom (say 13), and left (say 15)--"perforated
    12 × 11 × 13 × 15." In the above the gauges are supposed to be
    regular.

[Illustration: PERFORATION GAUGE.]

    Should, however, the gauge be irregular, the extremes are noted
    even if not showing on the stamp: for instance, a stamp may
    be perforated with a machine, which, in its entire length,
    gradually varies from 12 to 16 holes in the two centimetres,
    though the stamp itself does not show all those gauges. Such a
    stamp would be "perforated 12 to 16."

    On the other hand, a row of perforations, instead of gradually
    altering in gauge, may do so abruptly; for instance, along a
    row of holes, part may gauge 14, the next part 16, and then
    16½, all quite distinct over a particular space. This would
    be termed "perforated 14, 16, 16½," implying that the
    intermediate gauges did not exist.

    The use of a regular machine, in conjunction with one
    of irregular gauge, might produce, say, "perforated 14"
    (horizontally) "× 12 to 15" (vertically); and so on.

    Stamps perforated, horizontally and vertically, by differently
    gauged machines are sometimes said to be "perforated, compound
    of ... and ...". There are many difficulties in the way of
    obtaining a full knowledge of the combinations and vagaries of
    perforating-machines.

PERFORATION-GAUGE.--A means of measuring PERFORATION or ROULETTE,
    which see.

PHILATELIC.--The adjective of PHILATELY.

PHILATELIST.--One who studies stamps.

PHILATELY--from two Greek words, "φίλος" (= fond of) and "ἀτέλεια"
    (= exemption from tax)--signifies a fondness for things (_viz._,
    stamps) which denote an exemption from tax, _i.e._, that the tax,
    or postage, has been paid. The word is a little far-fetched to
    imply the _study_ of stamps, but as "Philately" has been the
    accepted term for over forty years, "Philately" it will doubtless
    remain, even if some one succeeds in finding a word which more
    accurately expresses the popular and scientific hobby.

PIN-PERFORATED.--_See_ PERCÉ.

PLATE is the term used, not always quite correctly, to describe
    the ultimate reproductions from the die which constitute the
    printing surface in the manufacture of stamps: the word covers
    not only a sheet of metal with stamps engraved on it, but also
    a group of CLICHÉS or a _forme_ of _printer's type_ and even a
    _lithographic_ stone.

PLATE NUMBER is the consecutive number of each plate of a
    particular value, appearing on the margin of the plates and (in
    some of the British series) on the stamps themselves.

POSTAL-FISCAL is a fiscal stamp the use of which for postal
    purposes has been duly authorised, in contradistinction to a
    "fiscal postally used," a use which has been tacitly permitted
    in many countries.

POSTAL STATIONERY, _i.e._, envelopes, postcards, letter-cards,
    wrappers, telegram forms, &c.: frequently termed ENTIRES.

POSTMARK.--The official obliteration applied to a stamp to prevent
    its further postal use.

PRE-CANCELLED.--Two or three countries have adopted the system, to
    save time in the post-office, of supplying sheets of stamps
    cancelled prior to use. This may be a convenience, but the
    practice undoubtedly opens the door to possible fraud.

PRINT is an impression taken from any die, plate, forme, or stone.

PRINTING, in its fullest sense, is reproducing from a DIE, PLATE,
    STEREOTYPE, &c. (all of which see). There are, on this
    definition, four kinds of production: "Embossing," where
    the paper is impressed with a raised design, by pressure
    from a cut-out die (_see_ EMBOSSED); "Surface-printing" or
    "typography," where the portions of the plate which receive
    the ink and print the design are raised: this process causes
    a slight indentation on the surface of the paper and a
    corresponding elevation at the back; "Printing direct from
    plate" (so-called LINE-ENGRAVED, which see), in which the
    portions to be inked are recessed: in this process, the printed
    design on the stamps is in very slight relief, due to the ink
    being taken from the recessed engraving. "Lithography" is
    printing from a stone, on which the design has been drawn or
    otherwise laid down: impressions from a stone are flat.

PROOF.--An impression, properly in black, from the die, plate,
    or stone, taken in order to see if the design, &c., has been
    properly engraved or reproduced.

PROVISIONAL.--A make-shift intended to supply a temporary want of
    the proper stamp, which may have been unexpectedly sold out, or
    may not have been supplied owing to lack of time.

QUADRILLÉ.--_See_ PAPER.

RE-ISSUE denotes the bringing again into use of a stamp which has
    become obsolete, or at any rate has been long out of use at the
    post-office; it sometimes implies a new printing.

REMAINDERS.--Stamps printed during the period of issue and left on
    hand when that issue has gone out of use.

REPRINT.--Strictly a REPRINT is an impression taken from the
    identical original die, plate, stone, or block, after the
    stamps printed therefrom have gone out of use. The term is used
    to include printings from new plates or stones, made from the
    original die. And _see_ GOVERNMENT IMITATIONS.

REP.--_See_ PAPER.

RETOUCH, RE-SET, RE-ENGRAVED, RE-DRAWN, RE-CUT.--All these terms
    have a somewhat similar meaning, and imply repairs to, or
    alterations of, the die, plates, stones, or blocks: instances
    of most drastic re-engraving are known, _e.g._, that of the
    1848 Two Pence ("Post Paid") of Mauritius, the plate of which
    was so altered as to produce a practically new stamp, the Two
    Pence, "large fillet," of 1859; and the Half Tornese "Arms"
    of Naples, which had the entire centre removed from each of
    the two hundred impressions on the plate and replaced by the
    Cross of Savoy. To differentiate--_retouching_ is generally
    undertaken to remedy minor defects caused by wear and tear:
    _re-setting_ suggests slight re-arrangement of stamps made
    up, wholly or partly, of printer's type; _re-engraving_, the
    replacing of parts of a design worn away by use or intention:
    _re-drawing_ rather leads one to infer that the original design
    has been reproduced in an improved form; and _re-cutting_
    implies going over the original die, &c., and strengthening the
    engraving, with, perhaps, slight accidental variations of the
    design.

REVENUE.--This word indicates availability for fiscal use, as
    distinguished from postal use. A stamp may be available for
    either purpose, or for one only; the use is almost invariably
    indicated by the inscription.

REVERSED.--Backwards-way; "as in a looking-glass." The term
    is often, but quite erroneously, used for INVERTED--which
    see--implying upside-down.

RIBBED.--_See_ PAPER.

ROSACE.--The small ornament frequently found on the upper flap of
    old envelopes; known also as TRESSE.

ROUGH PERFORATION.--When the holes in the lower plate of the
    perforating-machine get damaged or partly clogged up, or the
    punches are very worn, the perforation becomes very defective,
    the little discs of paper not being punched out, but (though
    generally distinct) left only partly cut through: this state is
    termed "rough," but must not be confused with PERCÉ EN POINTS
    (pin-perforated), which see.

ROULETTED.--_See_ PERCÉ.

ROULETTED IN COLOURED LINES is a variety of rouletting, and always
    so termed, in which the slits or cuts are made by means of type
    ("printer's rule") a little higher than the CLICHÉS or STEREOS
    composing the plate, and which cut into the paper under the
    pressure of the printing-press.

SAFETY PAPER.--_See_ PAPER.

"SEEBECKS."--The late Mr. N. F. Seebeck, the contractor to various
    South American Republics had an arrangement under which there
    was a new issue of stamps every year, he to retain for his
    own benefit any demonetised remainders of the previous set:
    stamps provided under such conditions are called after their
    originator.

SE TENANT.--A French expression signifying that the stamps
    referred to have not been separated: usually employed in
    reference to an error, or variety, when still forming a pair
    with a normal stamp.

SERPENTINE ROULETTE.--_See_ PERCÉ EN SERPENTIN.

SHEET (OF PAPER).--There are three "sheets": a mill-sheet, as
    manufactured; a sheet as printed, which may be, and often is,
    less than a mill-sheet; and a "post-office" sheet, either the
    whole or an arbitrary part of a printed sheet, so divided for
    convenience of reckoning.

SILK-THREAD PAPER.--_See_ PAPER (DICKINSON).

SINGLE-LINE PERFORATION.--_See_ GUILLOTINE.

SPANDREL is the term for the triangular space between a circle,
    oval, or curve, and the rectangular frame enclosing it.

SPECIALISING.--To develop in a collection a complete record of
    the inception, history, and use of the stamps of a particular
    country, or group of countries, in the fullest and most
    detailed manner. In contradistinction to GENERALISING (which
    see).

STATIONERY.--_See_ ENTIRES.

STEREOTYPE OR STEREO.--A reproduction of the original design, made
    by means of a _papier-maché_ or other mould, in type-metal. And
    see MATRIX.

STRIP is the philatelic term for three or more stamps unsevered and
    in the same row, horizontal or vertical.

SURCHARGE.--An overprint (which see) which alters the face value
    of a stamp, or confirms it in the same or a new currency. The
    term is loosely used to mean any overprint, but it is desirable
    that its application be confined to inscriptions affecting the
    denomination of face-value.

SURFACE-PRINTED, that is, printed by a process in which the parts
    of the plate, &c., which produce the coloured portions of the
    stamp are raised up. _See_ PRINTING.

TAILLE DOUCE.--When a design is cut into the substance of the plate
    it is said to be engraved in TAILLE DOUCE. A familiar example
    is a visiting-card plate.

TÊTE-BÊCHE is a French expression signifying the inversion of one
    stamp of a pair (or more) in relation to the other stamp (or
    stamps): naturally, the peculiarity disappears on severance,
    and such varieties must necessarily be in a pair or more.

TONED, as applied to paper, implies a very slight buff tint.

TRESSE.--_See_ ROSACE.

TRIALS.--These are impressions from die, plate, stone, &c., taken
    to ascertain if the design be correct, or to assist in the
    selection of a suitable colour.

[Illustration: EXAMPLES OF SOME PHILATELIC TERMS.

Photograph of a flat steel _die_ engraved in _taille douce_ (_i.e._,
with the lines of the design cut into the plate). The stamp is the 50
lepta of Greece, issue of 1901, showing Hermes adapted from the Mercury
of Giovanni da Bologna.]

TYPE.--A representative common design, as distinguished from
    "VARIETY," which indicates slight deviations therefrom.

TYPE-SET.--Stamps--_e.g._, the 1862 issue of British Guiana--have
    sometimes been set up with ordinary _printer's type_, as used
    for books, and the ornamental type-metal designs to be found in
    a printing establishment.

TYPOGRAPHED.--_See_ SURFACE-PRINTED.

USED ABROAD.--Prior to certain countries and colonies having their
    own stamps, British post-offices were established in them,
    at which British stamps were to be purchased; such stamps,
    identified by their postmarks as having been so used, are
    termed "British _used abroad_." The stamps of other countries
    have been similarly "used abroad."

VARIETY.--A slight variation from the normal design, or TYPE, which
    see.

WATERMARKS.--A thinning of the substance of the paper, in the form
    of letters, words, or designs, &c., during the manufacture.
    On the paper being held up to the light, or placed on a dark
    surface, the designs become more or less visible.

    So-called "watermarks" are sometimes produced by impressing a
    design on the paper _after_ manufacture; this has a somewhat
    similar effect, though the paper is only pressed, not thinned.

WOVE.--_See_ PAPER.

WOVE BÂTONNÉ.--_See_ PAPER.




I

THE
GENESIS
OF THE
POST




CHAPTER I

THE GENESIS OF THE POST

    The earliest letter carriers--The Roman _posita_--Princely
    Postmasters of Thurn and Taxis--Sir Brian Tuke--Hobson
    of "Hobson's Choice"--The General Letter Office of
    England--Dockwra's Penny Post of 1680--Povey's "Halfpenny
    Carriage"--The Edinburgh and other Penny Posts--Postal Rates
    before 1840--Uniform Penny Postage--The Postage Stamp regarded
    as the royal _diplomata_--The growth of the postal business.


Postage is so cheap and so easy to-day that we are apt to forget
how, not very many years ago, it was a privilege of the rich. To-day
the Post Office is no respecter of persons, and the "all swallowing
orifice of the pillar-box" receives without favour or distinction the
correspondence of the humble with the messages of the mighty. The Post
Office treats everything confided to its charge with the same organised
routine. In the palatial new edifice, King Edward the Seventh Building,
a few days before Christmas, a letter was handed to me for inspection
in the "Blind Division," where they deal with insufficiently addressed
letters. The missive bore in the handwriting of a little child, "To
Santa Claus, No. 1, Aerial Building, London." That letter, I was
informed, had to be passed through the Blind Division, thence to the
Returned Letter Office, where it would be opened to discover if the
enclosure contained any indication of the identity and whereabouts of
the writer. If not returnable, the letter would be preserved for a
period lest it should be claimed. The Department is as careful of the
precocious petitions of a child as it is of the papers of State which
it carries throughout the length and breadth of the land.

By all who would know the true love of stamps it must needs be
understood how postal matters were before the birth of the Penny Black.
Else we shall not fitly appreciate all the benefices that the "label
with the glutinous wash" has brought to our present civilisation.
Without this comparison of the old order with the new, we should be in
peril of passing over the true significance of the postage-stamp in the
surfeit of blessings it confers upon the world to-day. Postage to-day
is as fecund of bounties as a fruitful garden, yet do we accept all as
our rightful heritage, without giving much consideration to the little
postage-stamp which was the seed which, planted in every civilised
country of the earth, has yielded blessings in abundance.

So in our first chat, we would open up the book in which is told
the history of things that are written from one to another. The
first letter of which we have any particular knowledge was that by
which David achieved his evil purpose of sending Uriah the Hittite
to the forefront of the battle, that he might be smitten and die.
The unfortunate Uriah was himself the messenger, bearing the fatal
letter to Joab with his own hand. The brazen-faced Jezebel forged her
royal husband's name to letters, so our first meeting with letters in
scriptural history shows that they could be used to evil as well as to
good purpose.

As the Scythians made contracts one with another by mingling the warm
blood of their bodies in a cup and drinking thereof, so the Persians
used living letters in their early correspondence. Herodotus tells us
how they shaved the heads of their messengers and impressed or branded
the "writing" upon their scalps. Then they were shut up until the hair
had grown again and concealed the message, when the runners were sent
off upon their divers journeys. A messenger on reaching his destination
was again shaved and the epistle was made plain to the eyes of the
beholder.

This was a primitive method, one of many which had vogue amongst the
ancients. Under Darius I. the Persians had a service of Government
couriers, for whom were provided horses ready saddled at specified
distances on their route, so that the Government could send and receive
communications with the provinces. "Nothing in the world is borne so
swiftly as messages by the Persian couriers," says Herodotus.

The word "post" descends to us from the Roman _posita_ (_positus_ =
placed), and is a link between our posts of to-day and the _cursus
publicus_ of the time of Augustus. In those days of arms the
roads were laid for armies to traverse, not for traffic, and the
organisation of the _posita_ was military. Stations were established
at intervals on the chief routes, where couriers and magistrates could
be furnished with changes of horses (_mutationes_.) For the benefit of
the travellers _mansiones_ or night quarters were erected. These State
posts were only for the use of the Government, and they were ridden by
couriers who had, besides their own mount, a spare horse for carrying
the letters. Individuals were at times permitted to use the posts, for
which privilege they had to have the permits or _diplomata_ of the
Emperor. The Romans also had what may be compared with sea-posts, from
Ostia and other ports.

Foot-runners and messengers on horseback have been organised for
Government communications in most lands where civilisation has dawned,
even in remote times. In the West the Incas and the Aztecs had runners
from earliest times, and in the Orient carrier-pigeons provided an
additional means of communication.

It is not until the fifteenth century that we find posts in operation
on a more public scale, the first being a horse-post plying between
the Tyrol and Italy, set up by Roger of Thurn and Taxis in 1460.
From that modest beginning sprang the vast monopoly of the Counts of
Thurn and Taxis, which dominated the posts of the Continent during
five centuries, remaining into the early period of the postage-stamp
system. By 1500, Franz von Taxis was Postmaster-General of Austria,
the Low Countries, Spain, Burgundy, and Italy. In 1516 he connected
up Brussels and Vienna, and his successor Leonard provided a link
between Vienna and Nuremberg. In 1595, Leonard von Taxis was the
Grand Postmaster of the Holy Roman Empire, and he established a post
from the Netherlands to Italy by way of Trèves, Spire, Wurtemburg,
Augsburg, and Tyrol. In the next century, Eugenius Alexander subscribes
himself in a postal document as "Count of Thurn, Valsassina, Tassis
and the Holy Empire, Chamberlain of His Majesty the Roman Emperor,
_Hereditary Postmaster-General of the Realm_." The postal dominion
of this princely house flourished until the wars of the French
Revolution, from which period the power of the Counts began to
dwindle. Some of the German States withdrew from their arrangements
with the house of Thurn and Taxis, and others purchased their freedom
and set up postal establishments of their own. By the middle of
the nineteenth century Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover, Baden,
Brunswick, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Holstein, Oldenburg, Lauenburg,
Luxemburg and Saxony had independent posts, but the Thurn and Taxis
administration still controlled an area of 25,000 square miles (with
3,750,000 inhabitants), under the direction of a head office at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine. In 1851, however, Wurtemburg, at a cost of
over £100,000, bought its freedom from the monopolists; and sixteen
years later (1867) Prussia paved the way for the completion of the
consolidation of the German Empire by purchasing for three million
thalers (approximately £450,000) the last remaining rights of the
house of Thurn and Taxis in the postal affairs of Germany.

In England the royal _Nuncii et Cursores_ were the forerunners of the
King's Messengers of to-day, and were exclusively employed upon State
affairs and for the correspondence of the Sovereign and of the Court.
At what period the people were admitted to the privilege of the posts
is obscure. The first Master of the Posts of whom we know was one
Brian Tuke, Esq., afterwards Sir Brian Tuke, who is best remembered in
Holbein's several portraits of him, and as the author of the preface to
Thynne's "Chaucer." He was at one period secretary to Cardinal Wolsey,
and it is in a letter (1533) to his successor in that office, Thomas
Cromwell, that we find the one clue to the state of the posts at that
time:

"By your letters of the twelfth of this moneth, I perceyve that
there is grete defaulte in conveyance of letters, and of special men
ordeyned to be sent in post; and that the Kinges pleasure is, that
postes be better appointed, and laide in al places most expedient; with
commaundement to al townshippes in al places, on payn of lyfe, to be in
suche redynes, and to make suche provision of horses, at al tymes, as
no tract or losse of tyme be had in that behalf."

In the sixteenth century, there were regular carriers licensed to
take passengers, goods, and letters, and of these the most remarkable
was Tobias Hobson, who was an innkeeper at Cambridge. His memory
is perpetuated in the common expression of "Hobson's choice." The
innkeeper kept a stable of forty good cattle, but made it a rule that
any who came to hire a horse was obliged to take the one nearest the
stable door, "so that every customer was alike well served, according
to his chance, and every horse ridden with the same justice." Milton,
in one of his two punning epitaphs on Hobson, refers to his position as
letter-carrier:--

    "His letters are deliver'd all and gone;
    Only remains this superscription."

From 1609, the Posts of Great Britain have been under the monopoly
of the Crown, and at that time they were carried on at a loss. As
the posts did not carry the correspondence of the public, there
was no likelihood of their being made self-supporting until the
facilities they offered were of utility to the people. The general
admission of the public to these facilities dates from 1635, under the
Postmastership of Thomas Witherings, and two years later was set up
the "Letter Office of England." The cheapest rate under Withering's
management was 2d. for a "single letter" (that is, one sheet of paper)
conveyed a distance not exceeding 80 miles. If the letter weighed an
ounce, the charge was 6d. A single letter to Scotland cost 8d. and to
Ireland 9d.

For a number of years prior to 1667, the posts were farmed to various
individuals, and during the Commonwealth, Parliament passed an Act
settling the postage of the three kingdoms, which "pretended Act" was
practically re-enacted at the Restoration. The profits on the Post
Office were settled by Charles II. upon his son, the Duke of York,
afterwards James II., and the latter took care upon his accession to
the throne to secure the continuance of his enjoyment of its revenues.

Private enterprise was responsible for putting a good deal of pressure
on the Post Office in the early days. In 1659, a penny post was first
proposed by one John Hill and certain other "Undertakers," but the most
notable instance was the success that attended the efforts of William
Dockwra in establishing the London Penny Post in 1680. By this penny
post, Londoners had for three years an excellent and frequent service
of postal collections and deliveries of their letters and parcels
within the City and suburbs. The Government post had one office in
London--the General Letter Office--up to 1680. Consequently, persons
who had letters to send by post had either to take them, or procure
messengers to take them, to the office in Lombard Street. Dockwra
established between four and five hundred receiving offices for
letters, and a good part of the business he did was in transmitting
letters to and from the General Letter Office in Lombard Street.

The penny post made many friends, but also a few enemies. Of the few
there was one of powerful influence, the Duke of York, who envied
the prospective income to be derived from a popular post; there were
others who were unscrupulous in their attacks, led by the notorious
Titus Oates, who pretended to expose the whole of Dockwra's plan as "a
farther branch of the Popish plot," and the porters of London, who,
fearing to lose many of their chances of employment, vented their
spleen in the manner of vulgar rioters.

[Illustration: SCARCE PAMPHLET (FIRST PAGE) IN WHICH WILLIAM DOCKWRA
ANNOUNCES THE PENNY POST OF 1680.]

Proceedings were taken against Dockwra for infringement of the Crown's
monopoly, and the case being carried, the London Penny Post was shortly
afterwards re-established and carried on under authority for nearly a
hundred and twenty years, until 1801, when the penny rate was doubled
and the Penny Post became the Twopenny Post.

Charles Povey's "halfpenny carriage" (1708) was a poor copy of
Dockwra's post, covering a smaller area at the lower fee of one
halfpenny. Its originator was fined £100 in 1760, and the incident
of this post is only remarkable in postal history for its having
originated the use of the "bellman" for collecting letters in the
streets.

The Edinburgh Penny Post, set up by the keeper of a coffee-shop in the
hall of Parliament House, Peter Williamson, in 1768, was also stopped
by the authorities as a private enterprise; but its promoter was given
a pension of £25 a year and the post was carried on by the General
Post Office. Just three years previously, local Penny Posts had been
legalised by the Act of 5 George III., c. 25, provided they were set up
where adjudged to be necessary by the Postmaster-General. Such penny
posts increased rapidly towards the end of the eighteenth century, and
just before Uniform Penny Postage was introduced there were more than
two thousand of them in operation in different parts of the country.
In spite of the increase in these local posts, however, the general
postage was high, the tendency of the later changes in the rates being
to increase rather than to lessen them.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, the rates were such that
few but the rich could make frequent use of the luxury of postage, and
these rates, coming close up to the period of the new _régime_ of 1840,
form an extraordinary series of contrasts. Here is an old post-office
rate-book kept by the postmaster (or mistress) at Southampton in the
'thirties, which I like to show my friends when they sigh for the good
old times. It is a printed list of the chief places to which letters
could be sent, with columns to be filled in by the postal official
after calculating distances and exercising simple arithmetic. In Great
Britain the rates were for single letters:--

  From any post office in England or Wales to any place
  not exceeding 15 miles from such office                           4d.

  Between 15 and 20 miles                                           5d.
     "    20  "  30   "                                             6d.
     "    30  "  50   "                                             7d.
     "    50  "  80   "                                             8d.
     "    80  " 120   "                                             9d.
     "   120  " 170   "                                            10d.
     "   170  " 230   "                                            11d.
     "   230  " 300   "                                            12d.

and one penny in addition on each single letter for every 100 miles
beyond 300. These rates did not include "1d. in addition to be taken
for penny postage" and in certain cases toll-fees.

[Illustration: A POST-OFFICE IN 1790.

By permission of the Proprietors of the _City Press_.]

Under these rates, a single letter to Kirkwall from Southampton cost
1s. 7d.; to London 9d., plus the penny postage; Cork 1s. 3d., &c.
These rates were for a single-sheet letter, the charge being multiplied
by two for a double letter, by four for an ounce, which is one-quarter
of the weight at present allowed on a letter which costs us a modest
penny.

Letters for overseas were correspondingly high as the following
comparisons will show:--

                      Single-sheet Letter.      1 oz. Letter.
                            1830.                  1911.

  Austria                  2s. 3d.                  2½d.
  Brazil          }
  Buenos Aires    }        3s. 5d.                  2½d.
  Chili, Peru, &c.}
  Canary Islands           2s. 6d.                  2½d.
  Germany                  1s. 9d.                  2½d.
  Hayti                    2s. 11d.                 2½d.
  Honduras                 2s. 11d.                 2½d.
  Portugal                 2s. 2d.                  2½d.
  Russia                   2s. 3d.                  2½d.
  Spain                    2s. 2d.                  2½d.
  Sweden                   1s. 8d.                  2½d.
  Turkey                   2s. 2d.                  2½d.
  United States            2s. 1d.                  1d.
  British West Indies and}
  British North America  } 2s. 1d.                  1d.
  Malta, Gibraltar         2s. 2d.                  1d.
  St. Helena               1s. 8½d.                 1d.

The registration fee on foreign letters was, in the early nineteenth
century, one guinea per letter; to-day it is twopence.

[Illustration: THE COMMEMORATIVE LETTER BALANCE DESIGNED BY MR. S.
KING, OF BATH (1840).

A monument "which may be possessed by every family in the United
Kingdom."]

These are but a few examples showing what a mighty change was wrought
with the introduction of the Uniform Penny Postage plan of Rowland
Hill. The circumstances under which the new plan was introduced
included several factors to which may be attributed a share in the
success of Hill's plan. First, the uniform and low minimum rate of
one penny on inland letters, dispensing with tedious calculations of
distance. By some it was feared that the necessity for calculating the
weight would be more troublesome than examining the letter against a
lighted candle to see if it were "single" or "double," and scores of
"penny post letter balances" were placed upon the market at the outset.
Next was the increased facility of transit provided by the then growing
system of railways, and the subsequent development of steam-power at
sea.

[Illustration: MR. KING'S LETTER BALANCE HAD A TRIPOD BASE, AS IN
THE UPPERMOST FIGURE, THUS AFFORDING THREE TABLETS, ON WHICH THE
ASSOCIATIONS OF J. PALMER, ROWLAND HILL, AND QUEEN VICTORIA WITH POSTAL
REFORM ARE RECORDED.]

But the one factor which to us is the most notable contribution to the
success of the Penny Postage plan, was the square inch of paper with
its backing of glutinous wash. This enabled the authorities to effect
the introduction of prepayment, and save the long delays formerly
occasioned by the postman having to await payment for each letter on
delivery. It saved the complicated system by which the Post Office had
to ensure that the postman did get paid, and in his turn accounted for
the money to his office. It was to this simple contrivance of a small
label, issued by authority, to indicate the prepayment of postage that
the practical success of Hill's plan was greatly due. The little stamps
are the royal _diplomata_ which enable us all, at a modest fee, to use
His Majesty's mails, a privilege enjoyed by great and small, by rich
and poor. So stamp-collectors deem the objects of their interest to
have achieved a vast reform in internal and universal communications,
giving a powerful impetus to social progress, international commerce,
and the world's peace.

The year before the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage there were
75,907,572 letters dealt with by the Post Office. The number was more
than doubled in the first year of the new system, and the subsequent
growth of correspondence is outlined in the figures (letters only) for
the following years:--

  1840          168,768,344
  1850          347,069,071
  1860          564,002,000
  1870          862,722,000
  1880        1,176,423,600
  1890        1,705,800,000
  1900        2,323,600,000
  1910        2,947,100,000




II

THE
DEVELOPMENT
OF AN
IDEA




CHAPTER II

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA

    Early instances of contrivances to denote prepayment
    of postage--The "Two _Sous_" Post--_Billets de port
    payé_--A passage of wit between the French Sappho and M.
    Pellisson--Dockwra's letter-marks--Some fabulous stamped
    wrappers of the Dutch Indies--Letter-sheets used in
    Sardinia--Lieut. Treffenberg's proposals for "Postage Charts"
    in Sweden--The postage-stamp idea "in the air"--Early British
    reformers and their proposals--The Lords of the Treasury start
    a competition--Mr. Cheverton's prize plan--A find of papers
    relating to the contest--A square inch of gummed paper--The
    Sydney embossed envelopes--The Mulready envelope--The
    Parliamentary envelopes--The adhesive stamp popularly preferred
    to the Mulready envelope.


The simplest inventions are usually apt adaptations. The postage-stamp,
as we know it to-day, can scarcely be said to have been invented,
though much wild controversy has raged about the identity of its
"inventor." The historian must prefer to regard the postage-stamp of
to-day as the development of an idea.

It would not serve any purpose useful to the present subject to trace
to its beginnings the use of stamped paper for the collection of
Government revenues; but it is highly interesting to disentangle
from the web of history the facts which show this system to have
been recognised as applicable to the collection of postages by the
prototypes of the reformers of 1840.

The first known instance of special printed wrappers being sold for
the convenience of users of a postal organisation occurred in Paris
in 1653. At this time France had its General Post, just as England
about the same time had set up a General Letter Office in the City of
London; but in neither case did the General Post handle local letters.
To despatch a letter to the country from Paris, or from London, there
was no choice but to deliver it personally, or send it by private
messenger, to the one solitary repository in either city for the
conveyance of correspondence by the Government post.

The porters of London found no small part of the exercise of their
trade in carrying letters to the General Letter Office, and in Paris,
no doubt, a similar class of men enjoyed the benefit of catering at
individual rates for what is now done on the vast co-operative plan of
the State monopoly.

In 1653, a Frenchman, M. de Villayer, afterwards Comte de Villayer,
set up as a private enterprise (but with royal authority) the _petite
poste_ in Paris, which had for its _raison d'être_ the carrying of
letters to the General Post, and also the delivery of local letters
within the city. He distributed letter-boxes at prominent positions
in the chief thoroughfares in Paris, into which his customers could
drop their letters and from whence his _laquais_ could collect them at
regular intervals. At certain appointed places M. de Villayer placed
on sale letter-covers, or wrappers, which bore a _marque particulier_,
and which, being sold at the rate of a penny each (two _sous_), were
permitted to frank any letter deposited in the numerous letter-boxes
of the Villayer post to any point within the city. The post is the one
afterwards referred to by Voltaire as the "two-_sous_ post."

These wrappers, then, were the first printed franks for the collection
of postage from the public. The exact nature of the matter imprinted
upon them is uncertain; but it probably included M. de Villayer's
coat of arms, and it was on this hypothesis that the late M. Maury,
the French philatelist, reconstructed an approximate imitation of the
original form of cover. The covers, it should be stated, were wrapped
around the letters by the senders, and were then dropped in the boxes.
In the process of sorting for delivery, the servants of M. de Villayer
removed the special cover, which removal was practically the equivalent
of the cancellation of the stamps of to-day.

These covers undoubtedly represent the first known form of printed
postage-stamps, being the forerunners of the impressed non-adhesive
stamps of to-day. The Maury reconstruction is fanciful, but the
inscriptions thereon are literally correct. Owing to the removal of the
covers (which were probably broken in the process) during the postal
operations no originals of these covers are now known to exist. Indeed,
the only true relics of the _billets de port payé_ of M. de Villayer
are in the two fragments of correspondence between M. Pellisson and
the French Sappho, Mlle. Scudéri. Pellisson, who was not noted for
his good looks, addressed "Mademoiselle SAPHO, demeurant en la rue,
au pays des _Nouveaux Sansomates_, à Paris, par billet de port payé."
Signing himself "Pisandre," he inquired if the lady could give him
a remedy for love. Her reply, sent by the same means, was, "My dear
Pisandre, you have only to look at yourself in a mirror." It was of
this correspondent that the lady once declared, "It is permissible to
be ugly, but Pellisson has really abused the permission."

The London Penny Post of 1680, while it did not use special covers
for the prepayment of letters, introduced the system of marking on
letters, by means of hand-stamps, the time and place of posting and
the intimation "Penny Post Payd." Dockwra, instead of setting up boxes
in the public streets, organised a great circle of receiving houses to
which the senders took their letters and paid their pennies over the
counter. So the principle of the postage-stamp, as we know it to-day,
was not represented in the triangular hand-stamps of Dockwra, or of his
successors in the official Penny Post.

A device representing the arms of Castile and Leon was used in the
eighteenth century as a kind of frank or stamp which passed official
correspondence through the posts, and in the last quarter of that
century the Chevalier Paris de l'Epinard proposed in Brussels the
erection of a local post with a mark or stamp of some kind to denote
postage prepaid--a plan which, however, was not adopted.

[Illustration: A FACSIMILE OF THE ADDRESS SIDE OF A PENNY POST LETTER
IN 1686, SHOWING THE "PENY POST PAYD" MARK INSTITUTED BY DOCKWRA AND
CONTINUED BY THE GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES.]

[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE CONTENTS OF THE PENNY POST LETTER OF
1686.]

There is a curious account given by a correspondent in _The Philatelic
Record_ [xii. 138] of some so-called stamps said to have been used
in the Dutch Indies. The writer, whose account has never so far as I am
aware received any definite confirmation, says:--

"At the beginning of this year [1890] were discovered amongst some old
Government documents at Batavia some curious and hitherto--whether here
or in Europe--unknown postally used envelopes, with value indicated....
In the time of Louis XIV. it is believed that postage-stamps existed;
but nobody has been able to bring them to light, consequently we have
in these hand-stamped envelopes of the Dutch East Indian Company
absolutely the oldest documents of philatelic lore.

"The letter-sheets are all made from the same paper, and are all of the
same size--namely, about 23 × 19 centimetres; whilst the side which is
most interesting to us--the 'address' or 'stamp' side--is folded to a
size of 103 × 88 mm. Up to the present the following values have been
found:--

  3 stivers             black
  5    "                  "
  5    "                red
  6    "                black
  6    "                  "  {_double_; that is to say, two stamps
                             {of 6 stivers side by side.
  10   "                  "
  10   "                red
  15   "                  "

"On the address-side is no date stamp, and no indication of the office
of departure; also the figures denoting the year are only discernible
on the seal of each letter. On the specimens hitherto found are the
dates from 1794 to 1809; but it is quite possible that other values
may be unearthed. So far, of all the above values together, only about
thirty specimens are known.... These envelopes came from various places
in the Dutch Indian Archipelago."

[Illustration: THE OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF DECEMBER 3, 1818, RELATING
TO THE USE OF THE SARDINIAN LETTER SHEETS.

Described in the records of the Schroeder collection as "the oldest
official notification of any country in the world relating to postage
stamps."


MANIFESTO CAMERALE

  Portante notificanza che la Carta Postale-bollata, stabilita
    colle Regie Patenti delli 7 dello scorso novembre, sarà
    provvisionalmente posta in corso non filagranata; della
    dimensione ordinaria della Carta cosi detta da Lettere, e
    munita dei bolli relativi alle tre qualità della medesima
    pienamente conformi agli impronti lvi delineati.

_In data delli 3 dicembre 1818._

TORINO,

DALLA STAMPERIA REALE.]

[Illustration: (_Continuation from previous page._)

THE MODELS SHOW THE DEVICES FOR THE THREE DENOMINATIONS: 15, 25, AND 50
_CENTESIMI_ RESPECTIVELY.

  3. Che all'epoca in cui comincierà la distribuzione della nuova
    carta filagranata cesserà l'uso della carta bollata non
    filagranata; e che i foglj rimanenti della medesima potranno
    essere cangiati contro altrettanti della nuova con filagrana.

  I diversi bolli che verranno apposti sovra la carta provvisionale
    non filagranata, saranno pienamente conformi agl'impronti
    infra delineati, i quali unitamente ai loro modelli, ed agli
    esemplari della carta suddetta sono stati depositati negli
    Archivj nostri giusta il disposto dall'articolo 2' delle
    mentovate Regie Patenti delli 7 dello scorso novembre.

_Modelli de' Bolli._

  Mandiamo il presente pubblicarsi ai luoghi, e modi soliti, ed
    alle copie che ne verranno stampate nella Stamperia Reale
    prestarsi la stessa fede che all'originale.

  Dat. in Torino li tre dicembre mille ottocento diciotto.

  _Per detta Eccellentissima Regia_
      _CAMERA_

                              FAVA.]

The foregoing statement is open to much question, in view of the lapse
of twenty years since the matter was first aired in _The Philatelic
Record_. If authentic, these would be the earliest denominated
stamps for the prepayment of postage, the Dutch _stuiver_ in use in
the colonies being a copper coin equal to about one penny. Perhaps
the introduction of the matter in these Chats will, in the light of
increased modern facilities for research, bring the subject before the
notice of our Dutch philatelic _confrères_.

The Sardinian letter sheets of the early nineteenth century are now
tolerably well known to stamp-collectors. They, however, represented
a Government tax on the privilege of letter-carrying, rather than a
direct prepayment of postage. These were the product of a curious
anomaly in the exercise of the postal monopoly by the Government of
Sardinia. It was forbidden to send letters and packets otherwise than
through the Government post; but as this latter was very inefficient,
and in many parts of the country was practically non-existent, the
authorities established by decree, in 1818, a system whereby the people
for whom the Government post was inconvenient, if not absolutely
useless, could send their letters by other means. To effect this the
senders had to supply themselves from a post-office with a stock of
special letter sheets, stamped with a device of a mounted post-boy,
within a circular, oval, or octagonal frame, at a cost of 15, 25, or
50 _centesimi_ apiece. The use of these stamped letter sheets, bought
from the post-office, was an authority for their conveyance by private
means, but not through the ordinary channels of the Sardinian postal
organisation. Thus, while the Post Office took its full charges for the
conveyance of such letters, it did not perform the work of collecting,
transmitting, and delivering them. The three denominations, 15, 25,
and 50 _centesimi_ were used for letters conveyed varying distances
according to the Government postal tariff, from which, however, the
actual messenger derived no benefit, his remuneration being over and
above these official charges.

[Illustration: SARDINIAN LETTER SHEET OF 1818: 15 CENTESIMI.

THE 25 CENTESIMI LETTER SHEET OF SARDINIA.

Issued in Sardinia, 1818: the earliest use of Letter Sheets with
embossed stamps.]

The next proposal of stamped covers the historian has to note, is that
embodied in a Bill introduced in the Swedish Riksdag, March 3, 1823, by
Lieutenant Curry Gabriel Treffenberg. His proposals included: "Stamped
paper of varying values, to be used as wrappers for letters, should
be introduced and kept for sale in the cities by the Chartæ Sigillatæ
deputies, or by other persons appointed for that purpose by the General
Chartæ Sigillatæ Office at Stockholm, and in the rural districts, by
the sheriffs and other private persons." Private persons were to be
granted the privilege of selling these "Postage Charts" by the local
officials representing the Crown authorities on obtaining proper
security.

The actual proposals for the distinguishing character of the stamped
covers were:--

"The Postage Charts should be made of the size of an ordinary letter
sheet, but without being folded lengthwise as these are. The paper
should be strong but not coarse, and in order to make forgery more
difficult, should contain a circular design, easy to discover. It
should also be of some light colour.

"In the centre of the paper two stamps should be impressed side by
side, occupying together a space of six square inches. One of the
stamps should be impressed into the paper and the other should be
printed with black ink. Both should contain, besides the value of the
Chart, some suitable emblem which would be difficult to imitate. The
assortment of values should be made to meet all requirements."

The letters were to be folded so that the stamps would be outside, and
so easily cancelled or otherwise marked if required; and in the case of
the despatch of packets too large to enclose within a chart, the latter
could be cut down, preserving the stamped portion, which was to be sent
along with the packet, both packet and chart bearing marks by which the
two could be identified and associated in the course of the post.

The Bill did not pass the Riksdag, and so Sweden was deprived of the
national credit of giving a lead to the nations of the world in a
postage-stamp system, not very different in principle from that of
Great Britain in 1840.

[Illustration: THE HIGHEST DENOMINATION, 50 CENTESIMI, OF THE SARDINIAN
LETTER SHEETS.]

[Illustration: ONE OF THE TEMPORARY ENVELOPES ISSUED FOR THE USE OF
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, PRIOR TO THE ISSUE OF STAMPS AND COVERS
TO THE PUBLIC, 1840.]

I now come to the period of the active development of the idea,
and so far from the stamp being a particular invention of the fourth
decade of the nineteenth century, we must recognise that, beyond all
controversy, the notion--whether for an impressed or an adhesive
stamp is of little matter--was "in the air." It was stated before the
Select Committee on Postage, on February 23, 1838, by a Mr. Louis,
formerly Superintendent of Mails, that a plan for stamped covers was
communicated to him "by Mr. Stead of Yarmouth, a gentleman who has
interested himself a good deal about the Post Office."[1] The sheets
of paper were to be stamped and sold to persons who would then be at
liberty "to send their letters by conveyances not suitable to Post
Office hours."

The scheme had been proposed to the Post Office according to Mr. Louis
in his evidence "many years ago," and it is attributed by some writers
to 1829, though I can trace no source for their information as to this
date.

The plan, from the rather vague remembrance of the witness before the
Committee, may have been simply one to introduce the Sardinian method
of 1818 into this country, and in any case there are no concrete relics
of Mr. Stead's ideas in the shape of essays. Mr. Charles Whiting, of
the Beaufort House Press, entered the arena of postal reform some
time prior to March, 1830, but we have no definite knowledge of his
proposals previous to that date. In that year Mr. Whiting suggested
the use of stamped bands for the prepayment of postage on printed
matter.[2]

Mr. Whiting called his stamped wrappers "Go frees," and he is
understood to have intended the plan to extend to written matter, if
it proved successful in an experimental trial with printed matter. The
plan did not get a trial, and no greater success attended the efforts
of Mr. Charles Knight, the celebrated publisher, who suggested stamped
wrappers as a means of collecting postage on newspapers, subject to
the abolition of the "Taxes on Knowledge," which were the occasion
of a vigorous campaign set on foot in 1834. According to _Hansard_,
a resolution was moved by Mr. Edward Lytton Bulwer, May 22, 1834,
"that it is expedient to repeal the Stamp Duty on newspapers at the
earliest possible period," and in the course of the debate the member
for Hull, Mr. Matthew Davenport Hill, advocating the payment of a penny
upon an unstamped newspaper sent by post, said: "To put an end to any
objections that might be made as to the difficulty of collecting the
money, he would adopt the suggestion of a person well qualified to give
an opinion on the subject--he alluded to Mr. Knight, the publisher.
That gentleman recommended that a stamped wrapper should be prepared
for such newspapers as it was desired to send by post; and that each
wrapper should be sold at the rate of a penny by the distributors of
stamps in the same way as receipt stamps."[3]

Mr. Knight had made the proposal referred to in a private letter to
Lord Althorp, Chancellor of the Exchequer.[4]

The ultimate result of the campaign was the reduction, not the
abolition, of the Newspaper Tax, and, as the reduced tax of one penny
for an ordinary newspaper included free transmission in the post, there
was no need for the adoption of Mr. Knight's proposal at that time.
It is to be noted, however, that Mr. Knight was an active supporter
of Rowland Hill's plan a few years later, and that Hill was not
unaware of the suggestion, for he wrote of it in his pamphlet that:
"Availing myself of this excellent suggestion, I propose the following
arrangement:--Let stamped covers and sheets of paper be supplied to the
public from the Stamp Office or Post Office, as may be most convenient,
and sold at such a price as to include the postage: letters so stamped
might be put into the letter-box, as at present."

Dr. Gray, the eminent zoologist of the British Museum and one of the
earliest scientific collectors of postage-stamps, made a somewhat
ambiguous claim to the authorship of the proposal for the prepayment
of postage by means of stamps. When challenged by Rowland Hill in _The
Athenæum_,[5] he stated in that journal that "I have simply said I
believe I was the first who proposed the system of a small uniform
rate of postage to be prepaid by stamps." When Mr. Knight entered upon
the _Athenæum_ correspondence, Dr. Gray reminded him of an incident:

"In the spring of 1834 we [Knight and Gray] were fellow-passengers
in the basket of a Blackheath coach, when the subject was
discussed. I then stated, as I had frequently done before to other
fellow-travellers, my views in relation to the prepayment of postage
by stamps. These views Mr. Knight combated, and so little was he then
prepared to adopt them that he exclaimed, as he quitted the coach at
the corner of Fleet Street, 'Gray, you are more fit for Bedlam than for
the British Museum.'" Knight, whose case has the advantage of attaining
substantial record in _Hansard_ and _The Mirror of Parliament_,
disclaimed any connection with the incident, and left his friends to
decide "whether the language, stated to have been used by me to a
gentleman of scientific eminence, would not have been better suited to
a costermonger returning from Greenwich fair than to mine."

[Illustration: THE "JAMES CHALMERS" ESSAY.]

Mr. Wallace, the member for Greenock, was perhaps the first to turn
Rowland Hill's attention in the direction of a serious campaign for
postal reform, and Wallace succeeded in 1837 in getting a Committee
"to inquire into the present rates and modes of charging postage,
with a view to such a reduction thereof as may be made without injury
to the revenue; and for this purpose, to examine especially into the
mode recommended for charging and collecting postage in a pamphlet
published by Mr. Rowland Hill." The Committee started its sessions
in February, 1838, and it had the advantage of the reports of the
Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry, and the collection of much
valuable material by a Mercantile Committee, of which Mr. (afterwards
Sir) Henry Cole was secretary.

[Illustration: ROUGH SKETCHES IN WATER-COLOURS SUBMITTED BY ROWLAND
HILL TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER FOR THE FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS.]

The proposals from this time on, till the issue of the stamps, were
numerous. The Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry had printed samples
of several suggested letter-sheets for use by the London District post,
in their "Ninth Report, 1837." Mr. J. W. Parker, of the Cambridge
Bible Warehouse, West Strand, London, printed a somewhat similar
letter-sheet, with advertisement on the reverse, which was circulated
with W. H. Ashurst's "Facts and Reasons in support of Mr. Rowland
Hill's plan for a Universal Penny Postage,"[6] and Mr. James Chalmers
of Dundee first communicated to the Mercantile Committee a proposal
that stamped slips should be printed at the Stamp Office on prepared
paper, furnished with adhesive matter on the back. These slips were to
be sold to the public, and affixed by senders to their letters; and
postmasters were to deface the stamps in the course of the post. He
included two specimens; similar specimens were submitted by Chalmers to
the Treasury in the same year.

In 1839, the first uniform postage Act (2 and 3 Vict. c. 52) was
passed, and the Lords of the Treasury, in preparing to give effect to
the plan of Rowland Hill, extended an invitation to "artists, men of
science and the public in general" to submit proposals in competition
for prizes of £200 and £100, for the best and next best proposals. My
Lords stated that in the course of the inquiries and discussions on the
subject, several plans were suggested, _viz._, stamped covers, stamped
paper, and stamps to be used separately, and "the points which the
Board consider of the greatest importance are:--

  "1. The convenience as regards the public use.

  "2. The security against forgery.

  "3. The facility of being checked and distinguished at the Post
    Office, which must of necessity be rapid.

  "4. The expense of the production and circulation of the stamps."

The contest brought in about 2,700 suggestions, and although none was
actually adopted, the suggestions contained in some were deemed of
value. The Treasury increased the amount of prizes to £400, dividing
that sum equally between Mr. Benjamin Cheverton, Mr. Charles Whiting,
Mr. Henry Cole, and Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. Mr. Stead of Norwich,
Mr. John Dickinson, the paper-maker, Mr. R. W. Sievier, the sculptor,
Mr. S. Henderson of Dalkeith and others were included amongst the
competitors. Until recently, however, little or nothing has been known
as to the nature of these suggestions, except that the majority were
impracticable; but it is on record that Mr. Charles Whiting sent in
at least one hundred samples, embodying his ideas or illustrative of
designs and methods of duplication in use at his printing establishment.

[Illustration: HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED EXAMPLES OF THE PROPOSALS SUBMITTED
TO THE LORDS OF THE TREASURY IN 1839 IN COMPETITION FOR PRIZES OFFERED
IN CONNECTION WITH THE PENNY POSTAGE PLAN.

(_From the Author's Collection._)]

However, in May, 1910, an article which I contributed to _The Daily
Mail_ brought from the daughter of Mr. Cheverton a letter in which she
made the interesting statement that her late father's papers relating
to the proposals made by him in 1839 were still in her possession. She
very kindly promised me a sight of them.

Enthusiasts know how difficult it is, when on the verge of an
anticipated discovery, to possess their souls in patience, hoping
for at least a sight of the find; but my patience in this case was
unavailing, for the next I heard of the treasured papers and the dies
was--and this is some consolation--that they were in the capable hands
of the Earl of Crawford, who prepared and subsequently read before the
Royal Philatelic Society a scholarly reconstruction of Cheverton's plan.

Fortune, however, made me some compensation shortly afterwards. The
upheaval and dispersal of an old store of rubbish and unconsidered
trifles brought into my possession a considerable parcel of papers
accumulated by the Lords of the Treasury in response to their
invitation of 1839, and which, after lying hidden for nearly
three-quarters of a century, have fortunately escaped total destruction
in the year of grace 1911.

The suggestions are mostly crude designs in the form of pencil or
crayon work on envelopes, pen and ink drawings for adhesive labels,
and in one case the latter were made up in such form as to suggest how
the labels would be printed in sheets. The unravelling of the plans
for which these various suggestions were made is not yet complete,
but they will, I trust, yield to further investigation and admit of
extensive description in a forthcoming work in which Mr. Charles Nissen
is collaborating with me on the subject of British essays and proofs
for postage-stamps.

It was towards the end of 1839 that Mr. Henry Cole visited Messrs.
Perkins, Bacon & Co., then at Fleet Street, and told them that the idea
of the authorities was that the adhesive labels should be about one
square inch in size, and on December 3, 1839, that firm submitted their
first estimate of not exceeding eightpence per thousand, nor less than
sixpence per thousand, the price being exclusive of paper. The process
by which they were to be produced is the now well-known system known as
the "Perkins mill and die" process, a method of production which was
adopted in due course, and has never been superseded for the production
of artistic stamps.

The history of the making of the stamp, the combination of the art of
Wyon, Corbould, and Heath, I have dealt with elsewhere, so I turn to
the envelope plan. Stamped covers, as we have seen, had been used in
Sardinia in 1818 and, in a different fashion, in Paris as early as
1653. In 1838, while Britain was in the throes of the postal agitation,
New South Wales actually issued and used embossed envelopes, which
were sold in Sydney at 1s. 3d. per dozen sheets. The embossed design
consisted of the royal coat of arms of William IV. enclosed in a
circular frame, bearing the words "General Post Office--New South
Wales."

[Illustration: THE ADDRESS SIDE OF THE MODEL LETTER WHICH HAS THE STAMP
(SHOWN BELOW) AFFIXED TO THE BACK AS A SEAL.]

[Illustration: ANOTHER OF THE UNPUBLISHED ESSAYS SUBMITTED IN THE
COMPETITION OF 1839 FOR THE PENNY POSTAGE PLAN.

(_From the Author's Collection._)]

The envelope proposals that were before the Treasury in 1839 consisted
mainly of rough sketches, but in a few cases of elaborate printed
designs (_e.g._, Harwood's envelope), and the patterns made up of
intricate geometrical work like the specimens in Ashurst's "Facts
and Reasons" and the "Ninth Report." Cole called upon Mr. William
Mulready and invited him to draw a design for the envelope, and it was
decided that this design should be printed on the paper with the silk
threads embedded in its substance, a paper which has since been known
to philatelists as "Dickinson" paper, after the name of its inventor.
Mr. Dickinson had all along been keenly interested in the proposals
for postage reform, and was a witness before the Select Committee in
1837, providing paper with threads in it for the essays in the Report.
Many of the chief officials and the agitators were convinced of the
protection that this paper offered against forgery, and it is not
generally known--I mention it as specimens of the paper are by no means
commonly met with--that Mr. Dilke was so convinced of the importance
of the use of this paper that he printed the entire issue of _The
Athenæum_ for April 28, 1838, on the thread paper.[7] Mr. Dickinson's
firm was at that time supplying the regular _Athenæum_ paper.

Among the rarities for which collectors, even general collectors, will
pay high prices are the temporary letter-covers prepared in January,
1840, to give members of Parliament the first privilege of using the
penny "post-frees." There are several kinds with inscriptions reading
"Houses of Parliament," "House of Lords," and "House of Commons." These
were in use from January 16th, but their great rarity suggests that the
use of them was not extensive. That, no doubt, was attributable to the
injunction, "To be posted at the House of ... only."

The public in London first saw the stamps on May 1, 1840, when Sir
Rowland Hill reports, "Great bustle at the Stamp Office"--£2,500 worth
were sold on the first day. They did not come into use, however, until
May 6th, when Sir Henry Cole went to the Post Office and reported that
"about half the letters were stamped."

The envelopes, covers and labels were issued simultaneously. Within
six days the "labels" won the race for popular favour. "I fear,"
wrote Hill on May 12th, "we shall be obliged to substitute some other
stamp for that designed by Mulready, which is abused and ridiculed on
all sides.... I am already turning my attention to the substitution
of another stamp, combining with it, as the public have shown their
disregard and even distaste for beauty, some further economy in the
production."

[Illustration: PROOF OF THE MULREADY ENVELOPE ON INDIA PAPER, SIGNED BY
ROWLAND HILL.

(_From the Peacock Papers._)]

Sir Rowland Hill was perhaps pardonably piqued at the success which
the label won from the start, at the expense of the elaborate envelope
design on which the artistic ideals of both Cole and Hill had set
their hopes.[8] It was not the public lack of appreciation of
beauty or art, but their ready selection of the convenient and the
practical, instead of the imaginative and sentimental, and, it must
be admitted, very impracticable, design for the envelopes and covers.
More than two decades later--May, 1863--Sir Rowland Hill, writing to
Signor Perazzi, who was making inquiries on behalf of the Italian
authorities, said, "I do consider them [stamped envelopes] as of real
use to the public, although the small proportion used (not more than 1
per cent., I believe), shows that the demand for them is comparatively
insignificant."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Select Committee on Postage, First Report, 1838," p. 122,
questions 1829, 1830.

[2] It should be remembered that newspapers had for many years (since
1712) been the subject of a tax, and until 1855, when the newspaper tax
was abolished, such papers passed through the post free.

[3] _Hansard_, xxxiii., p. 1214.

[4] _Athenæum_, No. 1836, January 3, 1863, p. 18.

[5] Nos. 1834 (December 20, 1862) and 1835 (December 27, 1862).

[6] Second edition 1838.

[7] Mr. John Collins Francis refers to this issue in his two volumes,
"John Francis and _The Athenæum_," published by Bentley in 1888.

[8] It is said to have cost £1,000; the art of the label cost, to Mr.
Corbould £12 12s., to Mr. Heath £52 10s.




III

SOME
EARLY
PIONEERS
OF
PHILATELY




CHAPTER III

SOME EARLY PIONEERS OF PHILATELY

    "Hobbyhorsical" collections--The application of the term
    "Foreign Stamp Collecting"--The Stamp Exchange in Birchin
    Lane--A celebrated lady stamp-dealer--The Saturday rendezvous
    at the All Hallows Staining Rectory--Prominent collectors
    of the first period--The first stamp catalogues--The words
    _Philately_ and _Timbrologie_--Philatelic periodicals--Justin
    Lallier's albums--The Philatelic Society, London.


We have already seen something of the growth of the postage-stamp
idea among the nations of the world. It will now be convenient for us
to discuss the manner in which these postage-stamps first came to be
regarded in the light of _objets de curiosité_. From the beginning of
the postage-stamp system there is no doubt many people of advanced
ideas took a very keen interest in the success of the new institution.
The accumulating of the stamps by individuals began almost immediately
after their issue in 1840, as is clear from the advertisement in _The
Times_ of 1841 in which "A young lady being desirous of covering her
dressing room with cancelled postage-stamps" invited the assistance
of strangers in her fanciful project. This is probably typical of
the character and _motif_ of the collecting until _circa_ 1850, and
_Punch's_ quip (1842) that the ladies of England betrayed more anxiety
to treasure up Queen's heads than King Henry VIII. did to get rid of
them, has served to perpetuate the popular early definition of the
stamps of the Victorian reign as "Queen's heads."

This form of collecting was "hobbyhorsical" in the extreme; it
recognised no other objects than the attainment of numbers, or the
production of a new form of wall-paper, using the old stamps as
the _tesseræ_ of a mosaic. At these times collecting was probably
considered a test of the _bona fides_ of philanthropic appellants, for
we trace to the earliest decade of stamp issuing the popular notion
that the accumulated treasure of a million of old stamps will provide
an "open sesame" for an orphan into a home, or that in old age one may
find a haven of rest in an asylum. There is the grain of truth in the
latter prospect which is sufficient to perpetuate a great error. To
take a million stamps collected from old letters to any asylum might
well ensure a ready admittance and hospitable retention.

It was during the middle 'fifties that schoolboys began to give their
attention to the "foreign stamp collecting." I say "foreign" advisedly,
for the early interest was almost entirely centred in the stamp issues
of other countries, and it pleased the youthful mind to receive
specimens from Brazil or the United States. The stamps which passed in
the post before his own eyes every day were treated with the contempt
that is bred of familiarity. In later years the old designation of
"foreign stamp collecting" is by no means correct as applied to the
scope of modern Philately. Patriotism had led the fashion of the time
to the cult of the stamps of our own nation and its possessions.

There are several claims to priority of interest in collecting stamps
which have been put forward in recent years. Mr. E. S. Gibbons is said
to have collected when at school in 1854. He was then fourteen, having
been born in the year of the introduction of postage stamps. He is said
to have been dealing in stamps about 1856. Mr. W. S. Lincoln tells of
an album still in his possession inscribed "Collection of stamps made
by W. Lincoln 1854." The memoranda in that book are:

  "1854, 210 varieties.
   1855, 310 varieties."

In the following year (1856) he was exchanging stamps with another
collector.

The late editor of _Le Timbre-Poste_ (Brussels), M. J. B. Moëns,
started collecting about 1855, and produced the earliest of the
continental periodicals devoted exclusively to philately from
1863-1900. His earliest English rival of any pretensions, _The Stamp
Collector's Magazine_, was edited by Dr. C. W. Viner, whose interest
in the subject began about 1855 by assisting a lady friend to form a
chart representative of the postage-stamps of the world. This simple
form of collecting was evidently much in vogue in the later 'fifties
and remained during the next decade, and a photograph of one of these
taken in the 'sixties will be found among the illustrations. It was
not until 1860 that Dr. Viner took up the pursuit on his own behalf.
And with 1860 and the next few years we have evidences of the spread
of the newer form of stamp-collecting, which was to give the pursuit
the scientific interest and value which were to ensure its permanence
and to make it in the present year of grace the most widely popular of
all collecting hobbies. In those days collections were limited by the
comparatively small number of stamps that had been issued, but even
then the phantom of completeness was not within reach. "I remember
counting my stamps with much glee when they reached a hundred,"
wrote Dr. Viner in 1889. "I _saw_ some collections with two or three
hundred, and _heard_ of one with five hundred. Cancelled specimens
were principally seen; but I can recall one collection rich in unused
Naples, Sicily, Tuscany, and other Italian States purchased at their
several post-offices by a young traveller."

[Illustration: A POSTAGE STAMP "CHART"--ONE OF THE EARLY FORMS OF
STAMP-COLLECTING.]

It is very significant that the collectors of this early period of whom
any records are preserved were mostly men of culture and of position.
The boy was still the main influence and in a majority, but he was in
stamp-collecting the father to the man. The historic and scientific
possibilities of the pursuit were still but dimly recognised by the
mass of collectors. An active exchange of stamps had been carried on
from about 1860 in Birchin Lane, London, where crowds of youngsters
used to meet and exchange stamps. They were frequently joined by
their elders. Fifty to a hundred barterers of all ages and ranks and of
both sexes were there in the evenings of the spring of 1862. "We have
seen one of Her Majesty's Ministry there," says _The Stamp Collector's
Magazine_ of 1863. Characteristic examples of the conversation at
these gatherings were given in the same magazine: "Have you a yellow
Saxon?"--"I want a Russian"--"I'll give a red Prussian for a blue
Brunswicker"--"Will you exchange a Russian for a black English?"--"I
wouldn't give a Russian for twenty English." The date attributed to
these overheard remarks is 1861. The police intervened later and the
exchanging had to be done more or less surreptitiously. But still
the group formed in the neighbouring alleys, and still included the
Cabinet Minister and "ladies, album in hand," and it is recorded that
one of the ladies "contrived to effect a highly advantageous exchange
of a very so-so specimen for a rarity, with a young friend of ours,
who salvoed his greenness with the apologetic remark that he could not
drive a hard bargain with a lady."

Similar scenes went on in the gardens of the Tuilleries at Paris,
and in other cities they centred around establishments set up by the
earliest dealers in postage stamps. Birchin Lane contained the business
premises of at least one dealer--a lady--and there was in Paris,
in the rue Taitbout, Mme. Nicholas, a little person, "rather lean,
very active, lively and intelligent," of whom M. Mahé tells in his
reminiscences. For a long period she held "le sceptre dans le royaume
des timbres, royaume où la loi salique n'exerce pas ses injustes
rigueurs." A woman with considerable talent for business, she and her
husband kept a modest little reading-room in a small shop in the rue
Taitbout. To this business she added, possibly at the suggestion of
one of the Paris amateurs of the period, the business in stamps. Her
shop became the regular meeting-place of the _dilettanti_, and these
were men of substance and intelligence who were not to be charged with
following "fancies too weak for boys, too green and idle for girls of
nine."

In London, too, there was a coterie of amateurs among whom were men of
distinction. We might trace the birth of the higher ideals in stamp
collecting in London to the rectory adjoining All Hallows Staining.
Charles Dickens described the church, all of which save the tower is
now demolished, as "a stuffy little place." The perpetual curate in
charge of this old City living at the time of which I write was the
Rev. F. J. Stainforth, one of the most zealous promoters of the hobby,
"assisting the movement by his well-known readiness to bid high for
any real or supposed rarity." Mr. Stainforth gathered around him the
chief of the serious collectors of the period, and his influence on the
beginnings of the study is probably greater than most collectors of the
present day are aware. Cultured, amiable, and generous, his rectory
was a rendezvous for all seeking information on the subject of stamps
and for those who had information to impart. Perhaps a too abundant
good-nature occasionally resulted in the host being imposed upon, for
it is said that, "utterly devoid of guile himself, he frequently became
the prey of much younger, but more worldly-wise, heads."

But if there were those who abused the welcome of the rectory, there
were others who imparted a lustre to the little gatherings in the upper
room. Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., the first Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly of New South Wales, was one of these. He returned from
Australia about 1860-61, and formed an important collection of stamps.
He was elected first President of the Philatelic Society when that body
was formed in 1869. The legal profession was frequently represented at
the rectory by Mr. Philbrick, afterwards his Honour Judge Philbrick,
K.C., and Mr. Hughes-Hughes, who had been called to the Bar in 1842.
There was also a physician in Dr. Viner, a young merchant in Mr. Mount
Brown, and a youngster in his 'teens, who occasionally travelled to
town to attend the Saturday afternoon gatherings and who quickly
displayed an intuition for the scientific in philately which few
have surpassed, and made the name of E. L. Pemberton one of the most
distinguished in the annals of philately.

The cult was not confined to the metropolis. Most of the early dealers
began operations in the country. The first published list of stamps for
collectors came from a young artist residing in Brighton. Mr. Frederick
Booty was aged twenty when he issued his "Aids to Stamp Collectors"
in April, 1862. Mr. Mount Brown was twenty-five when his "Catalogue
of British, Colonial, and Foreign Stamps" appeared in May of the same
year. The wide difference of years among the enthusiasts of this time
is notable in the third of the early English chroniclers, Dr. Gray, the
eminent naturalist and all-round scientist of the British Museum, who
published his first "Hand Catalogue of Postage Stamps" towards the end
of 1862, the author being then sixty-two years of age.

The first three catalogues represent three distinct independent
aspects of the collecting of the time. Booty, of Brighton, coming of
an artistic stock, an artist himself, discusses in his preface the
"great variety in execution, colour, and engraving of the design," the
"tasteful arrangement," the whole of a collection, in Mr. Booty's view,
arranged with the embellishments suggested by the artist, forming "a
handsome appendage to the drawing-room table."

Mr. Mount Brown's catalogue was more practical, if less imaginative in
view.

Dr. Gray brought the profundity of his scientific training into his
classification of stamps in his "Hand Catalogue." So far as we know, he
worked within the precincts of the British Museum, where he resided,
and had little association, if any, with the rectory reunions. Mr.
Overy Taylor (another of the early and able writers on philately and
the editor of the later editions of "Gray") tells us that the venerable
scientist regarded stamps as "the visible signs of the complete
realisation of a system of communication which in his early maturity
was scarcely more than a generous dream, and by treating them as such
in the preface to his catalogue he at once lifted them above the level
of mere meaningless curiosities." The same writer points out that Dr.
Gray, "bringing to the task the habits and predilections acquired in
the classification of zoological specimens, attached no importance to
colour; to him the design was everything; and whether printed in black
on coloured paper or in coloured ink on white was to him of very little
importance. The intricacies of design he described with the utmost
minuteness, and some of the terms he introduced into his description
have been generally adopted."

The early continental catalogues showed a similar diversity of
treatment of the subject. The first lists of M. François George Oscar
Berger-Levrault (1861) were mere twelve-page indices to the stamps
known to the compiler, and were printed by autographic lithography at
Strasbourg.

The first edition of the catalogue of Alfred Potiquet was the first
regularly published guide for the amateur. Its first edition, the
rarest of the items in the collections of the philatelic bibliophiles,
was dated from Paris, 1862, but was actually issued at the end of 1861.
The author, who was an employé of the French Ministry, essayed to
present his catalogue in a geographical classification, but abandoned
it in favour of the alphabetical arrangement as "le plus commode."
His descriptions, though in many cases now known to be inaccurate,
were for the most part very minute, and he notes variations in shade,
the method of production (_lithographiés_, _gravés en taille-douce_,
_typographie_), and, more remarkable still, he states when the
specimens are perforated (_piqués_).

The catalogue of François Valette--"Père Valette," as the juniors of
the time used to call him--is the most remarkable of all the early
works of this kind. It was more ambitious in its scientific treatment
of the subject. Valette, already an elderly man in 1862, was "un
érudit, un demi-savant," perhaps even a "savant tout entier." He was a
contributor to the journal _La Science_ and acting-proprietor of the
_Bazar Parizer_. His list was arranged on a synoptic basis, and his
introductory essays are the most ambitious of any of the philatelic
writings of 1862, the chapter on frauds and counterfeits providing a
most conclusive indication of the extent to which stamp collecting was
rapidly becoming a popular cult. "Old stamps having become rare, there
are those who have sought methods of counterfeiting them." Valette's
"tableaux synoptiques" are typical of the remarkable character of this
work, and may be briefly summarised here as representing three styles
of classification: (1) Genealogical; (2) heraldic; (3) systematic,
the latter being a scheme for arranging the stamps according to their
colours for comparison.

It was in Paris that the serious collectors first began to
systematically note the watermarks and to measure the perforations. The
collectors there were divided into two camps over the designation of
the new study. Dr. Legrand, a veteran collector happily still with us,
and still having a warm regard for the objects of his early studies,
led the group who preferred the style of "timbrophile," while M. G.
Herpin produced by a combination of the Greek words φίλος
("philos" = fond of), ἀτέλεια ("ateleia" = exemption from tax)
the word _Philatèle_, which was accepted by many as indicating their
interest in the little labels which denoted that the tax or postage had
been paid. For a long time there was war between the rival camps, and
to this day while Philately (ugly word as it is) is generally accepted
in English-speaking countries and in many other places, _Timbrologie_
is still preferred by many of the French collectors, and is used in
the title of the chief Parisian institution, the Société Française de
Timbrologie.

Although several of the English dealers claim to have been engaged in
the business prior to 1862, the study of stamps has been reduced to
so exact a science that students are sceptical of mere reminiscence
and require documental evidence to support claims of this kind. These
should be forthcoming in advertisements in periodicals of the time,
most of which have been thoroughly searched by the historian, and
in early dated lists. In the order of their first known appearances
in print as dealers Mr. P. J. Anderson, of the Aberdeen University
Library, records from _The Boys' Own Magazine_, 1862, Mount Brown,
J. J. Woods, Henry R. Victor, of Belfast, H. Stafford Smith, of Bath
(September, 1862, founder of Stafford Smith and Smith, now Alfred Smith
& Son), Edward L. Pemberton (October), and "Wm. Lincoln, jr., at W. S.
Lincoln & Sons" (December, 1862). Of these the veteran Mr. Lincoln is
still engaged in the business of stamp-dealing, as also are a son of
Alfred Smith and a son of Edward L. Pemberton.

In 1862 the special periodical literature of the new cult began
with _The Monthly Advertiser_ (December 15th), though _The Monthly
Intelligencer and Controversialist_, published a few months
earlier (September), had been chiefly, but not wholly, devoted to
stamp-collecting. In 1863 _The Stamp Collector's Magazine_ was
founded, and this publication achieved a splendid record during the
twelve years of its existence and laid the basis of much of what is
accurate and precise in our knowledge of the early issues of stamps.
_Le Timbre-Poste_, of Brussels (1863-1900), shared with its British
contemporary a high place in the records of the period and enjoyed
a much longer life of thirty-eight years, the publication having
only ceased upon the retirement of its founder, M. J. B. Moëns. The
beginning having been made, it must soon have become apparent that
there was something in stamp-collecting which called for an extensive
periodical literature; the output practically ever since has been
extremely prolific. These and almost countless monographs have swelled
the libraries of the philatelic bibliophiles to an extent which must
impress, if not necessarily convince, the unbeliever in the fact
of there being some real basis of interest and value to not merely
stimulate the _cacoëthes scribendi_, but also to justify so vast a
number of printers' bills.

The albums of Justin Lallier date back to 1862, and the name is one
with which to conjure in these days. To describe an old collection for
sale as in a "Lallier" so piques the curiosity of many buyers that
I wot there are many such old collections made up in these days upon
the basis of an old discarded album of the 'sixties or 'seventies,
and offered as tempting baits at the auctions. Lallier is said to
have been no philatelist, and probably that is correct enough, for
those early albums had their spaces so arranged that the collectors
of long ago were led to trim their fine "octagonals" to shape, and to
otherwise vandalise choice items by removing integral portions of them
to beautify the purely commercially issued works which were intended to
be "elegant appendages to the drawing-room table," a character which,
if it did not imply deep study, certainly gave the stamp album of those
days a place second only in veneration and respect to the Family Bible.

Arising out of the gatherings at Mr. Stainforth's rectory there
grew up in 1869 the Philatelic Society of London, which started its
auspicious career under the presidency of Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., and
has a roll of Presidents and Vice-Presidents more distinguished than
almost any other learned society can claim. It may fittingly close my
third chapter if I give an outline of this notable succession, adding
only that in November, 1906, His Majesty King Edward VII. graciously
allowed the Society the style and dignity of the prefix "Royal," and
that throughout its long career of usefulness the work of the Society
has been strengthened by numerous other bodies of enthusiasts who
have formed societies in the metropolis, in the provinces and abroad,
extending the popularity of the stamp collector's hobby in every
country which has seen the dawn of civilisation, and moreover creating
a bond of universal brotherhood which makes Philately a world-wide
Freemasonry, and an "open sesame" to the fellowship and hospitality of
collectors everywhere.


ROLL OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY,
LONDON.


PRESIDENTS.

Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., F.R.G.S., April 10, 1869.

His Honour Judge F. A. Philbrick, K.C. (elected when Mr. Philbrick),
July 20, 1878.

H.R.H. the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, K.G. (Hon. President), (elected
when Duke of Edinburgh), December 19, 1890.

The Earl of Kingston, May 20, 1892.

His Majesty King George V. (elected when Duke of York), May 29, 1896.

The Earl of Crawford, K.T., June 16, 1910.


VICE-PRESIDENTS.

His Honour Judge F. A. Philbrick, K.C. (elected when Mr. Philbrick),
April 10, 1869.

V. G. de Ysasi, Esq., May 20, 1880.

T. K. Tapling, Esq., M.P., November 5, 1881.

M. P. Castle, Esq., J.P., May 29, 1891.

His Majesty King George V. (Hon. Vice-President), (elected when Duke of
York), March 10, 1893.

The Earl of Crawford, K.T., June 13, 1902.

M. P. Castle, Esq., J.P. (Hon. Vice-President, June 13, 1902), June 16,
1910.




IV

ON
FORMING A
COLLECTION




CHAPTER IV

ON FORMING A COLLECTION

    The cost of packet collections--The beginner's
    album--Accessories--Preparation of stamps for mounting--The
    requirements of "condition"--The use of the stamp-hinge--A
    suggestion for the ideal mount--A handy gauge for use in
    arranging stamps--"Writing-up."


It may be reasonable to judge a philatelist by the stamps he has,
rather than by the way in which he puts them together in his
collection. Yet none can have justice in the process unless he
has given due attention to order and method. Postage-stamps, more
perhaps than any other _objets de collectionner_, are well suited
to neat, orderly arrangement and effective display, with a minimum
of house-room. This very suitability and convenience make some
collectors careless of the arrangement of their specimens, especially
the commoner issues, but I would have everyone treat stamps rare or
common with the same tenderness, and with a keen eye to the beauty of
their arrangement. A rare stamp in itself has little significance;
it requires to be allocated to its fitting place in the mosaic of
stamp-issues comprising a collection, and there can be no beauty
in a few rare stamps if there has been no proper care exercised in
the selection and arrangement of the accompanying issues which go to
complete the picture.

It is scarcely necessary for me to more than briefly discuss the
methods of starting to collect stamps, but it may serve some useful
purpose to indicate a sound method of establishing a good start. The
prime necessity to the collector is stamps--if he be an enthusiast he
can never have too many. But at the outset, if he have none, the best
start is in one of the numerous packet collections, the stamps in which
are all different. These are sold by all dealers, and a fair price for
such packets is indicated in the following scale:--

    500 varieties from  3s. 6d. to  4s.     per packet
  1,000    "       "   12s.     to 15s.         "
  1,500    "       "   30s.     to 35s.         "
  2,000    "       "   45s.     to £3           "
  3,000    "       "   £8       to £8 10s.      "
  4,000    "       "   £13 10s. to £14          "

Such packets contain the commoner stamps, as a matter of course, but
they are a necessity to the general collection, which is made up of all
grades of common to rare specimens.

The album for the beginner should be a small inexpensive one, the
importance of keeping the small collection compact being that it
is more readily comprehensible than if scattered meagrely through
a wilderness of blank, or nearly blank, pages. If the stamps are
carefully arranged in a small album, a rare delight will be found
later on, when the collection is bulging the first album covers, in
transferring it to a more commodious home. But at the outset too
many beginners waste their substance in an elaborate album instead
of on the all-important stamps. They buy cumbersome volumes in which
the collection in embryo is lost. They should realise from the start
that the purpose of the album is to assist in the formation of the
collection, by keeping the stamps easy of access for reference and
study.

A supply of stamp-hinges or "mounts" should be acquired at the outset
(their use is explained hereafter), and a pair of tweezers--the kinds
sold by stamp-dealers are the most suitable--the points of which should
not be too sharp or pointed, lest they penetrate into the delicate
substance of a stamp. The collector should cultivate the habit of
holding stamps always by means of the tweezers.

A good catalogue arranged on a chronological basis is indispensable;
the beginner will find the illustrations in it of great assistance in
allocating his specimens to their proper places in the album.

So much for the primary needs of the beginner. The general collector,
who is advancing towards the large collection, will probably use one
of the large printed and spaced-out albums provided for his needs by
the enterprise of philatelic publishers. He has his work made easy for
him, so far as the identification of specimens is concerned, and the
allocation and symmetrical distribution of them upon the pages. Being
saved all this, and nearly all necessity for individual annotation, he
should give his best attention to the excellence of condition in his
stamps and the perfection of mounting.

The stamps should be clean before they are mounted, that is to say,
they should have any superfluous envelope-paper removed by careful
floating on warm water, or by moistening between damp sheets of clean
white blotting-paper. If there be any extraneous marking or blemish, it
may be removed if it admits of removal without damage to the specimen.
The result of atmospheric action on some colours (such as vermilion and
ultramarine), which will frequently be found to have turned a red or
blue stamp into one that appears to be black, or at any rate black in
parts, is removed by treatment with peroxide of hydrogen applied with a
camel's-hair brush to the parts which have been affected by the action
of the atmosphere. The process is erroneously called "de-oxidising" by
many philatelists; it is really de-sulphurisation.

In the case of very stubborn specimens with this defect, they may be
steeped in the peroxide and allowed to soak, but should not be left
longer than is necessary to restore the original fresh colour.

A crease in an unused stamp may, if it has not cracked the paper, be
removed by following the crease on the back of the stamp with a fine
camel's-hair brush dipped in water. The slight soaking swells the gum
and enables one to gently press the paper into its normal position.
Pressure in the case of a big crease is best applied by ironing, the
stamp being protected between glazed cards. Where the gum is untidy on
the back of an unused stamp it will sometimes be useful to lay it,
after cleaning, upon the surface of smooth glass or the glazing-sheets
used for glossy prints by photographers, which will preserve what
remains of the original gum, and impart a gloss which compensates for a
partial loss of gum.

To preserve the tidy appearance of a collection in a printed album one
must sacrifice those portions of the margins adjoining stamps from the
outer edges of the printed sheets. In most cases it serves no purpose
to retain them, and they interfere with the symmetry of the pages.
The collector, too, must use his judgment as to the desirability of
trimming away unnecessary ragged protrusions of the perforation.

For all cleaning purposes benzine is an excellent medium, as its rapid
evaporation is a convenience, and it does not injure the stamp. Most
used stamps may be soaked in benzine and be much improved by the bath;
but where the colours of the stamp are such that immersion in liquid
is unsafe, treatment may be applied to the edges or to the back as
required by means of the camel's-hair brush.

The whole purpose of this care with individual stamps is to preserve
the specimens and to impart a composite beauty of condition to the
whole, without which no collection can be pleasing to its owner or
to any one else. Every unused stamp should be spotless so far as
extraneous blemishes are concerned; the colour should be fresh as when
it came from the printers' workshops; the perforations of each stamp
should be complete, and should have been neatly severed, and the gum on
the back, unless it is so thick and crackly that it is a danger to the
stamps, should be preserved intact.

A used stamp should be selected for its lightness of postmark, though
there are often times when a more heavily postmarked copy showing the
date of use will be valuable evidence in the pursuit of historical
researches. The colour of the used stamp should not be less good than
that of an unused one, and the perforations should be all there.

In the case of imperforate stamps it is desirable always to have as
large margins round the printed impression as possible; while in
all perforated stamps one should endeavour to secure well-centred
copies--that is to say, copies in which the printed impression falls
evenly between the perforations on all four sides.

These are the chief _desiderata_ for the general collector. They read
rather portentously; but the cult of condition comes by practice to all
who have the true love of stamps, for if stamps are worth collecting
at all they are worthy of our best endeavours to keep them in the pink
of condition. "It is part of the decency of scholars," says Richard de
Bury, "that whenever they return from meals to their study, washing
should invariably precede reading, and that no grease-stained finger
should unfasten the clasps or turn the leaves of a book"; it should
be no less a part of the decency of the philatelist, and in the case
of his treasures the true lover of stamps will not neglect the merest
trifles which will perpetuate the perfect preservation of his specimens.

The use of the stamp-hinge or mount is simple, and, with proper care,
perfectly effective. It is a small strip of paper gummed on the one
side for folding in the form of a hinge, the gummed surface being on
the outside of the hinge when folded. One arm of the hinge is lightly
affixed to the top back, or right side of the back of the stamp, the
other portion being fixed to the album. The slightest touch of moisture
is sufficient for the purpose. The best hinges are stamped with a die
out of a kind of onion-skin paper, are semi-transparent, and evenly
coated on the one side with a colourless mucilage. In folding for use,
the hinge should be formed of a long arm for the album--say, two-thirds
of the hinge--and a short one--one-third--for the stamp. The short arm
should be applied quite close to the top or side (top mounting is the
more general), so that in turning up a stamp for examination there
is no creasing of the upper part of the stamp. The process should be
manipulated with the tweezers, so that the stamp is never fingered, and
in smoothing down the page of mounted stamps a clean blotter should be
used.

There can be no doubt that repeatedly mounting a stamp, even if
carefully done by a practised hand, has a cumulative detrimental effect
on the specimens. The temptation to use the convenient digit is present
on every occasion, and even the cleanest finger must make some--perhaps
infinitesimal--mark on the face; multiply this by, say, seven times,
and the stamp, from being "mint," becomes merely "unused," and so
on until after the proverbial seventy times seven the stamp would
come within the category of "soiled." So, too, with each successive
remounting, unless the first mount be preserved intact (as is possible
with good "peelable" mounts handled with care), through a succession of
removals of the stamp there is a loss of the gum which is part of the
stamp, and in the various stages this becomes a skinned, or "thinned,"
copy.

A stamp is a tender, delicate thing--especially if "chalky"--and should
be handled as little as possible, whether common, scarce, or rare;
in fact, the old Latin proverb, _Maxima debetur pueris reverentia_,
might well be parodied, if one knew the Latin for stamps. Care,
coolness (physical), and cleanliness are necessary attributes of the
ideal collector, and even he would do well to use tweezers instead of
fingers; but if he must use a finger, let him interpose a piece of
tissue or blotting paper between it and the stamp.

The best peelable mounts are good; but the ideal mount which, once
affixed to the back of the stamp, need never be removed therefrom has
yet to be manufactured. I will hand on a suggestion for the ideal
mount, a little troublesome to adopt in the first instance, but which
well repays a little extra initial trouble in the preservation of the
stamps, and which even saves trouble in the event of "removals."

Imagine a mount, of standard size, and of very thin tough paper,
manufactured from linen rags to give it a long fibre, to be sold ready
folded, but gummed only on the upper part above the fold; this is fixed
in the usual way to the stamp.

Accompanying each mount are several narrow (say, ¹/₈ in.) slips of
similar paper, gummed at the extreme ends, and as long as the mount is
wide.

Cut into the mount are two vertical slits--thin pieces punched out,
not mere cuts--immediately below the fold, one about ³/₁₆ in. from
each edge of the mount. Insert one of the narrow slips, so that the
two gummed ends are at the back of, but away from, the mount; slightly
moisten each of these gummed tips--instead of, as usual, the back of
the mount--and fasten the stamp on the page of the album as if the
hinge were of the ordinary make; the stamp will be fixed just as firmly
as if the mount were fastened to the page by a square inch of gummed
back.

When it is desired to move the stamp, a snip with a pair of small
scissors will sever the narrow slip where it crossed the upper side of
the mount, which will then pull off from the two pieces. To remount use
a fresh narrow slip.

It sounds tedious, and the original mounting may take longer than
usual, but a removal takes considerably less time than the ordinary
remounting if the hinge has stuck firmly, and there is in any case
absolutely no wear and tear of the stamp, risk of "skinning,"
"cockling" from moisture, or possible loss of gum. In fact, a permanent
mount, secured by a movable slip, which can be renewed.

This ideal mount answers wonderfully well, and should be tried by all
who care for their stamps, and the slight extra cost and trouble should
be more than repaid by the preservation of the stamp, even if the
commonest "continental" ever printed: _it_ may, though it is no reason
for treating it properly, some day be rare.

In mounting on blank pages some kind of gauge is necessary, and I offer
this one as a very serviceable assistance to the specialist mounting
stamps on either blank or _quadrillé_ leaves or cards.

The gauge should be in the form of a letter H, the centre-bar being
equal in length to the width of the space available for mounting
stamps, and the uprights about the same height as the full page.

Suppose the available stamp space, after allowing for leaf-margins and
linen hinge, is 9½ in. high by 7 in. wide, then the gauge would be
thus, cut out of fairly stout white cardboard with a sharp knife:--

[Illustration]

The long sides being placed and kept parallel with the sides of the
ornamental border on the leaf are obviously to enable the centre-bar to
be kept perfectly horizontal, whether at the top or bottom of the page.

In the measurements about to be given "c" stands for centre, when the
number of stamps in a row is odd; and the figures represent inches, to
be measured from the centre of the page when the number of stamps is
even, or from "c", as the case may be.

One of two methods can be adopted--mark the lower edge of the
centre-bar in thirty-seconds of an inch, starting from the centre and
working in each direction horizontally; or use a separate gauge for
differently sized (_viz._, in width) stamps, in which case mark the
gauge to show the position of the centre of the middle stamp (if an
odd number), and of the inner corner of any other stamps to be placed
equidistant from the centre. The former is the preferable course; and
the following scale will, it is hoped, be useful, premising that it is
unnecessary to give measurements when there are only _two_ or _three_
stamps in a row.

  Width   No.
    of    in
  stamp. row.                                  Centre

  1¹/₂"  4                         1⁷/₈    ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈  1⁷/₈
  1⁷/₁₆" 4                         1¹³/₁₆  ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈  1¹³/₁₆
  1³/₈"  4                         1¹⁵/₁₆  ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1¹⁵/₁₆
  1⁵/₁₆" 4                         1⁷/₈    ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1⁷/₈
  1¹/₄"  4                         1¹³/₁₆  ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1¹³/₁₆
         5                         2¹/₈    ³/₄  c  ³/₄  2¹/₈
  1³/₁₆" 4                         1³/₄    ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1³/₄
         5                         2¹/₃₂  ²³/₃₂ c ²³/₃₂ 2¹/₃₂
  1¹/₈"  4                         1⁷/₈    ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1⁷/₈
         5                         1¹⁵/₁₆ ¹¹/₁₆ c ¹¹₁₆ 1¹⁵/₁₆
  1¹/₁₆" 4                         1¹³/₁₆  ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1¹³/₁₆
         5                         2³/₃₂  ²⁵/₃₂ c ²⁵/₃₂ 2³/₃₂
  1"     4                         1³/₄    ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1³/₄
         5                         2       ³/₄  c  ³/₄  2
         6                   2⁵/₁₆ 1³/₁₆   ¹/₁₆ .  ¹/₁₆ 1³/₁₆  2⁵/₁₆
  ¹⁵/₁₆" 4                         1¹¹/₁₆  ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1¹¹/₁₆
         5                         1²⁹/₃₂ ²³/₃₂ c ²³/₃₂ 1²⁹/₃₂
         6                 2¹¹/₃₂  1⁷/₃₂   ³/₃₂ .  ³/₃₂ 1⁷/₃₂  2¹¹/₃₂
  ⁷/₈"   4                         1⁵/₈    ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1⁵/₈
         5                         1¹³/₁₆ ¹¹/₁₆ c ¹¹/₁₆ 1¹³/₁₆
         6                 2⁷/₃₂   1⁵/₃₂   ³/₃₂ .  ³/₃₂ 1¹⁵/₃₂ 2⁷/₃₂
         7                 2⁹/₁₆   1⁹/₁₆   ⁹/₁₆ c  ⁹/₁₆ 1⁹/₁₆  2⁹/₁₆
  ¹³/₁₆" 4                         1⁹/₁₆   ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1⁹/₁₆
         5                         1²³/₃₂ ²¹/₃₂ c ²¹/₃₂ 1²³/₃₂
         6                 2³/₃₂   1³/₃₂   ³/₃₂ .  ³/₃₂ 1³/₃₂  2³/₃₂
         7                 2¹³/₃₂  1¹⁵/₃₂ ¹⁷/₃₂ c ¹⁷/₃₂ 1¹⁵/₃₂ 2¹³/₃₂
  ³/₄"   4                         1¹/₂    ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1¹/₂
         5                 2⁵/₈    1⁵/₈    ⁵/₈  c  ⁵/₈  1⁵/₈   2⁵/₈
         6                 2¹/₈    1¹/₈    ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈  1¹/₈   2¹/₈
         7                 2¹/₄    1³/₈    ¹/₂  c  ¹/₂  1³/₈   2¹/₄
         8         2¹¹/₁₆  1¹³/₁₆   ⁵/₁₆   ¹/₁₆ .  ¹/₁₆ ¹⁵/₁₆   1¹³/₁₆ 2¹¹/₁₆
  ¹¹/₁₆" 4                         1⁷/₁₆   ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1⁷/₁₆
         5                         1²¹/₃₂ ²¹/₃₂ c ²¹/₃₂ 1²¹/₃₂
         6                 2⁵/₁₆   1¹/₄    ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1¹/₄   2⁵/₁₆
         7                 2¹⁵/₃₂  1¹⁷/₃₂ ¹⁹/₃₂ c ¹⁹/₃₂ 1¹⁷/₃₂ 2¹⁵/₃₂
         8         2¹/₂    1¹¹/₁₆    ⁷/₈   ¹/₁₆ .  ¹/₁₆   ⁷/₈   1¹¹/₁₆ 2¹/₂
  ⁵/₈"   4                         1³/₈    ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1³/₈
         5                         1¹¹/₁₆ ¹¹/₁₆ c ¹¹/₁₆ 1¹¹/₁₆
         6                 2³/₁₆   1³/₁₆   ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1³/₁₆  2³/₁₆
         7                 2⁵/₁₆   1⁷/₁₆   ⁹/₁₆ c  ⁹/₁₆ 1⁷/₁₆  2⁵/₁₆
         8         2³/₄    1⁷/₈    1       ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈  1       1⁷/₈   2³/₄
         9         2¹¹/₁₆  1¹⁵/₁₆  1³/₁₆   ⁷/₁₆ c  ⁷/₁₆ 1³/₁₆  1¹⁵/₁₆ 2¹¹/₁₆
  ⁹/₁₆"  4                         1⁵/₁₆   ¹/₄  .  ¹/₄  1⁵/₁₆
         5                         1¹⁹/₃₂ 2¹/₃₂ c 2¹/₃₂ 1¹⁹/₃₂
         6                 2¹/₁₆   1¹/₈    ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1¹/₈   2¹/₁₆
         7                 2⁵/₃₂   1¹¹/₃₂ ¹⁷/₃₂ c ¹⁷/₃₂ 1¹¹/₃₂ 2⁵/₃₂
         8         2⁹/₁₆   1³/₄     ¹⁵/₁₆  ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈    ¹⁵/₁₆ 1³/₄   2⁹/₁₆
         9         2²³/₃₂  1³¹/₃₂  1⁷/₃₂  ¹⁵/₃₂ c ¹⁵/₃₂ 1⁷/₃₂  1³¹/₃₂ 2²³/₃₂
  ¹/₂"   4                         1¹/₄   ¹/₄   .  ¹/₄  1¹/₄
         5                         1¹/₂    ⁵/₈  c  ⁵/₈  1¹/₂
         6                 1¹⁵/₁₆  1¹/₁₆   ³/₁₆ .  ³/₁₆ 1¹/₁₆  1¹⁵/₁₆
         7                 2³/₈    1¹/₂    ⁵/₈  c  ⁵/₈  1¹/₂   2³/₈
         8         2³/₈    1⁵/₈     ⁷/₈    ¹/₈  .  ¹/₈    ⁷/₈   1⁵/₈   2³/₈
         9         2³/₄    2       1¹/₄    ¹/₂  c  ¹/₂  1¹/₄   2       2³/₄
        10 2²⁷/₃₂  2⁵/₃₂   1¹⁵/₃₂   ²⁵/₃₂  ³/₃₂ .  ³/₃₂   ²⁵/₃₂ 1¹⁵/₃₂ 2⁵/₃₂ 2²⁷/₃₂

With a gauge and scale as above suggested, it is extremely easy to
quickly mark out a page with pencilled dots, so soon as it is decided
how many stamps are to go in each row--_experto crede_.

Of course, allowance must be made if the stamps of a set are of uneven
size, but there is no difficulty if a little patience be exercised.

I have arranged many pages of stamps by the aid of a home-made scale
on this and similar plans, and have experienced no trouble in allowing
for the occasional inclusion of pairs and short strips--a little
mental calculation, and a side movement of the gauge to the extent of
the width of one stamp will compensate for, say, a pair instead of a
single; and so on.

The specialist can rarely have the advantage of a prepared printed
album, as his possessions include pairs, blocks, marginal pieces,
original covers, and evidential items of a variety of shapes. He works
therefore on albums that have blank pages, generally enclosed within
a form of semi-binding which allows the interchanging of the leaves.
Spring-back covers are now much used, though there are excellent peg
and clutch attachments in the British-made albums of the specialist
class. The leaves are either quite plain or with a faint _quadrillé_
ground which is an aid to symmetrical arrangement.

The early stamp collectors used to elaborate their albums with gay
colourings; some, following the early artistry of Mr. Booty in the
preface to his "Aids to Stamp Collectors" (1862), mounted their stamps
on squares of coloured paper, and emblazoned the country's arms and
painted its flags upon the pages of their albums. The stamps, being of
small size, suffered in the contrast with these gaudy trappings, and
in the latter-day philately such contrivances are left to the _nouveau
riche_, who will embellish each of his pages with his name, titles,
address, coat of arms, and would add his portrait were album-pages not
made so ridiculously small for such big men. To-day all extravagant
flourishes and gay trimmings are a vulgarity; simple elegance and nice
judgment in the arrangement make for beauty in our albums.

At the same time we must recognise for the specialist two schools of
collecting; one is concerned with the collecting of purely philatelic
items, the other devotes itself to the formation of an historical
as well as philatelic collection. The former does not require much
writing-up on the pages. The latter advocates a good deal of it,
and it is this form of collecting--the highest exponent of which is
the Earl of Crawford--that allows of the most free scope for the
individuality of the collector. It is in the collection which aims at
a complete history of the stamps of a country, with all the associated
circumstances leading up to their issuance and connected with their
use, that the highest summit of philatelic pleasure and culture is
attained.

In writing-up, there are several details about a stamp, some patent
and some latent. To complete the history of a particular stamp, every
collector ought to know and to inscribe in the proper place in the
album these points, so far as the information can be obtained from
reliable sources, and so far as it may be applicable:--

    Date of issue.
    Artist.
    Engraver.
    Printers.
    Mode of production.
    Paper, including watermark.
    Perforation.
    Date of supersession.

In a more elaborate form the writing-up will develop into a full
manuscript history--not too diffuse--of the postal issues of a country.
The record of each stamp or issue will extend over several pages,
interspersed with the collector's specimens, proofs, &c., appropriately
inserted at points where they will be explanatory to the text and
make a valuable, readable, and individualistic volume. To indicate
succinctly the range of the more comprehensive writing-up, it would be
the student's endeavour to show and explain the circumstances leading
up to the necessity for the stamp; its creation by act, decree, or
order; advertisements or requests for designs, tenders for manufacture,
&c., with results; a note as to some of the principal essays; the
chosen design, with name of artist and source of his inspiration; the
engraver; the maker of the plate and the process of printing adopted;
the number of stamps on the plate and their arrangement and marginal
inscriptions; the varieties (if any) on the plate; how such varieties
arose and how frequently they occurred; the paper used--mill-sheet,
printing-sheet and post-office sheet--and its watermarking; the
printers; the colour, gum, and perforation of the stamps; the
quantities printed; the notices to the Post Office and the public
of the impending issue; the date of issue; the duration of use; the
withdrawal, supersession, or demonetisation; the quantity of remainders
(if any), and what became of them.




V

THE
SCOPE OF
A MODERN
COLLECTION




CHAPTER V

THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION

    The historical collection: literary and philatelic--The quest
    for _rariora_--The "grangerising" of philatelic monographs: its
    advantages and possibilities--Historic documents--Proposals and
    essays--Original drawings--Sources of stamp engravings--Proofs
    and trials--Comparative rarity of some stamps in pairs, &c., or
    on original envelopes--Coloured postmarks--Portraits, maps, and
    contemporary records--A lost opportunity.


The scope of the modern collector extends beyond the collection of
actually issued stamps. He uses the stamps as a starting-point, but
in the historical collection he works--as it is said the writers of
detective stories used to do--backwards. He traces to its earliest
inception the service which ultimately gave us the postage stamp. The
collection is literary as well as philatelic: stamps are preceded
by documents, prints and postal records of all kinds. The essays,
as we term the suggestions for stamp designs submitted by artists,
inventors or printers to a Government or other issuing authority, are
of a high degree of interest and should be included in the historical
collection, which will also show, where possible, the engraver's proofs
taken in the course of his work, the finished die-proofs in black,
plate-proofs in black and in colours, and the stamps, generally of the
first printing, which are overprinted with the word "Specimen," or its
equivalent in other languages, and are sent out to show postal officers
what the newly-authorised stamps are like.

It is in this broad field that the collector in these days gets the
most enjoyment; here he may heighten the pleasures of the hunt for
philatelic and associated _rariora_. So many wonderful tales have
been told of the fabulous fortunes acquired in the finding of a few
old letters bearing stamps, that many a deal is frustrated by the
uninitiated owner having too fanciful an idea of the value of his
goods. It is rare in these days for such an incident to happen as I
witnessed about twelve years ago. A gentleman, who had been turning out
some old papers, came across an unsevered block of eight five-shilling
British stamps which had been sent to his father, presumably as a
remittance, somewhere in the early 'eighties. Here was £2 lying idle
for years, but having luckily noticed them in clearing out these
old papers, the gentleman thought he would see if they were still
exchangeable at a post-office. At the first post-office he visited, he
was told that the stamps were of an old issue, and that to get them
converted into cash he would have to take them to Somerset House. On
his way thither he noticed a stamp-dealer's show case, and apparently
the possible interest of his specimens in the stamp-market then first
occurred to him. He called in, and simply asked if the dealer would
give him the £2, to save him the trouble of going on to Somerset
House. The dealer, who had probably never seen an unsevered block of
eight of the five-shillings "anchor" of 1882, obliged him readily,
which he could well afford to do, as he passed on the stamps the same
week to a collector for £75.

These things do happen, but in the "legitimate" stamp-collecting
they are necessarily of rarer occurrence in these days of popular
newspapers, over-educating in certain directions, or at least pandering
to the common desire for a royal road to easy wealth. Many dealers
have told me that it is their experience that, if they make a fair
offer for valuable stamps submitted to them by the uninitiated, they
never succeed in effecting a purchase at all in these days. The hawker
of "finds" visits the stamp-shops to get an idea of the value of his
wares, and plays off one dealer against another, with the result that
it is necessary for the seller nowadays to state his price in the first
instance.

The modern collection is specialised, that is to say, it deals with the
postal history of a country or group of countries, instead of being a
mere accumulation of specimens of the postage-stamps of the world. The
advanced collector's albums of to-day are like the "association books"
of the autograph collector, and indeed there have been many successes
in "grangerising" the more important specialist monographs on stamps.
One of the most interesting of these latter was the late Mr. Thomas
Peacock's copy of "The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great Britain,"
written by the late Mr. (afterwards Judge) Philbrick and the late Mr.
W. A. S. Westoby, and published by the Philatelic Society, London, in
1881. This book was sold by auction after Mr. Peacock's death, and
realised only £19, its treasures not having been generally noticed
before the sale; and it had been denuded of some of its wealth before I
saw it, an act for which it is not easy to forgive the man of commerce.
Peacock, as Inspector of Stamping at Somerset House (1853-93), had had
intimate associations with the Hill family (of whom several members got
comfortable positions in the Government service), and his connection
with the mechanical side of the production of stamps enabled him to
enrich his "Philbrick and Westoby" with copious notes, photographs,
proofs, and stamps. Major Evans published most of the notes in _Gibbons
Stamp Weekly_, and I had the privilege of adding the notes and some
photographs from the original to my own copy of this book.

The collector "grangerising" a book on the British stamps to-day
would, of course, work on the later authority, "The Adhesive Stamps
of the British Isles," by the late Mr. Hastings E. Wright, and Mr. A.
B. Creeke, jun., or on the sectional works of mine, of which Mr. W.
H. Peckitt has issued large paper sets with special bindings for that
purpose.

[Illustration: THE SMALL "EXPERIMENTAL" PLATE FROM WHICH IMPRESSIONS OF
THE TWO PENCE, GREAT BRITAIN, WERE MADE ON "DICKINSON" PAPER.

Only two rows of four stamps were impressed on each piece of the paper.

(_Cf._ next plate.)]

Generally, however, it is the stamp collection itself that is enriched
by a variety of evidential matter and extensive notes by the owner.
I have traced with fair success in my Great Britain collection the
early history of the Post Office in this country, and have been
fortunate enough to secure several of those _raræ aves_ among
historic documents, the proclamations relating to the post. Lord
Crawford has the finest set of these in any private collection, and he
has given a list of them in the catalogue of the philatelic section
of the _Bibliotheca Lindesiana_, with details of the location of
all known copies. Acts of Parliament are not always convenient for
inclusion with the stamp collection, but those relating to the issuance
of stamps should be included where possible. The original of the
"pretended Act" of the Commonwealth, to which I have already alluded,
was a bookstall-bargain, costing a few shillings. The Uniform Penny
Postage Acts of 1839 and 1840 should be included in the "association
collection" of the stamps of Great Britain. My copy of the former is
an original, but the 1840 one is a reprint. The years 1837-39 are of
great importance in the history of postage-stamps; this was the first
period of the essays and proposals for the system, to the advocacy of
which Rowland Hill devoted himself with such tenacity of purpose. The
published proposals, samples of the printed envelopes and covers of
which were included in the "Ninth Report of the Commissioners appointed
to Inquire into the Management of the Post Office" (1837), and in Mr.
Ashurst's "Facts and Reasons in support of Mr. Rowland Hill's Plan,"
are accessible to the specialist, and are the natural _priores_ of the
Mulready envelopes and covers. Not so accessible are the proposals
of Forrester, Cheverton, Dickinson, and the minor lights who sought
to provide the Treasury with the key to success in the adoption of
prepayment. My "Forrester" is a perfect copy which came from the sale
of the Philbrick library, where it had been overlooked and classed
among some more ponderous but less treasured productions. The Cheverton
papers and the metal dies intended for striking the impressions of his
proposed labels remain in the possession of the inventor's relative,
Miss Eliza Cooper, though casts have been made of the die for the
collections of his Majesty the King, Lord Crawford, the British
Museum, and the Royal Society. Mr. Lewis Evans, the grandson of the
late Mr. John Dickinson, the great paper manufacturer--a contemporary
of Fourdrinier and no mean rival of that genius--has a family
treasure-store in the Dickinson correspondence with Rowland, Ormond,
and Edwin Hill, and Mr. Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer; and
particularly in a fine series of the patterns drawn up by Ormond Hill
for the envelopes printed on Dickinson "thread" paper. Samples of the
actual thread-papers (unprinted) as used for the Mulready and the
later embossed envelopes and for the first Ten Pence and One Shilling
embossed stamps are surprisingly rare--indeed, the authors of "Wright
and Creeke" had only seen three-quarters of a mill-sheet at the time
of writing their book. Mr. Lewis Evans has a number of the original
samples, and has been good enough to allow me to prepare a complete
transcript of the Dickinson papers, so far as they relate to postal
matters, and I have included _facsimiles_ of Ormond Hill's pattern
instructions for the paper for the Ten Pence and Shilling adhesives in
"Great Britain: Embossed Adhesive Stamps." These are items which
form part of the life-history of the stamps or impressed stationery to
which they relate, and are properly included with the stamp collection.
But, except in the _facsimile_ state, it will be obvious that but few
can enrich their collections with items of so unique a character as
Ormond Hill's carefully measured and ruled patterns and the autograph
letters with instructions from Rowland Hill. But it is open to each
specialist to introduce much individuality into a collection of Great
Britain, or some other country, on these and similar lines.

[Illustration: THE TWO PENCE, GREAT BRITAIN, ON "DICKINSON" PAPER.

The upper block is in red (24 stamps printed in all, of which nine
copies are known) and the lower block in blue (16 stamps printed, of
which twelve copies are known). The above blocks of six each are in the
possession of Mr. Lewis Evans; the pairs cut from the left side of each
block were in the collection of the late Mrs. John Evans.]

Mention has already been made of the "find" of a quantity of the
suggestions submitted to the Treasury in 1839 as a result of the
offer of prize-money. These, too, are within the scope of the stamp
collection carried out on the thorough historical basis, but then
nearly every item being unique designs in pen and ink, in crayon
and watercolour, and with manuscript matter, they are not to enrich
more than one collection at a time. Yet there may be others of a
different kind, each in itself unique, to be had at some future timely
frustration of a holocaust of waste-paper.

[Illustration: AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM ROWLAND HILL TO JOHN DICKINSON,
THE PAPER-MAKER, ASKING FOR SIX OR EIGHT SHEETS OF THE SILK-THREAD
PAPER FOR TRIAL IMPRESSIONS OF THE ADHESIVE STAMPS.]

The City Medal of William Wyon is closely associated with the history
of our stamps, and used to be represented in my collection by a silver
_cliché_, though it has now been replaced by the medal in silver. The
medal is accessible to the collector in bronze, silver, or gold, but
for most philatelic purposes a _cliché_ showing only the obverse with
the Queen's head is more convenient for mounting in the album, in a
heavily sunk card, and protected with "glass" paper.

[Illustration: ONE OF THE ROUGH PENCIL SKETCHES BY W. MULREADY, R.A.,
FOR THE ENVELOPE.

The "flying" figures are not shown in this sketch.]

Original drawings are in nearly every case unique in themselves.
Curiously enough, Mulready is supposed to have made two, possibly
three, original sketches for his envelope, though even here each must
be regarded as dissimilar from the others. One is a pencil design in
outline, and is in the possession of His Majesty the King; the sketch
was sold with other drawings and sketches by Christie, Manson & Woods
on April 28, 1864, when it was stated by the auctioneer that this was
the only sketch of the design made by the artist. It is practically
the whole of the design as printed, and shares the peculiarity of the
issued envelopes and covers that one of the flying angels is drawn
without a second leg. Another sketch, according to Sir Henry Cole,[9]
had this omission corrected before it was presented to Mr. Thomas
Baring, M.P. If Sir Henry Cole were not mistaken, I must consider the
sketch in the possession of Miss Jaffray to be yet a third "original,"
as it is lacking the winged four figures entirely.

Another pair of sketches of unequalled importance is in the possession
of His Majesty. These are the two rough sketches in water-colours
of the designs of the first (1840) One Penny and Two Pence stamps,
submitted by Mr. Rowland Hill for approval of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer: across the head of the one in black Rowland Hill has written
"1d." in pencil, and similarly "2d." across the one in blue.

Original drawings of issued stamps very rarely leave the Government
or printer's establishments, but in a few cases they have come on the
market. A few years ago, in a large collection of colour-proofs of
stamps printed by De La Rue, I saw the original drawing for the 1881
stamps of Cyprus, a unique item which went to embellish the specialised
collection of the stamps of that colony formed by Mr. J. C. North, of
Huddersfield. Shortly afterwards I myself secured two original colour
drawings for the 1897 issue of British Central Africa.[10] I found them
in the Strand, where, strange to say, many of these out-of-the-way
items are often moderately priced, quite out of proportion to their
interest and relative scarcity, for it is only in comparatively recent
times that specialism has admitted these historic side-issues into the
stamp album. Mr. Charles J. Phillips, one of those rare combinations of
student and dealer, has permitted me to reproduce an original sketch
of the canoe type of Fiji, from the fine collection of this colony
formed by him.[11] The drawing was by Mr. Leslie J. Walker, Postmaster
of Suva, and represents "a young colony (the canoe forging ahead
towards the rising sun shows the progress of the colony); the crown is
retained, indicating that it is a colony of England."

Other sources of stamp-engravings are of interest, and some are not
difficult of access. A familiar one is the source of the picture on
the "Omaha" $1 stamp which the United States Post Office literally
"cribbed" from the etching published by Dunthorne, of Vigo Street, of
the late Mr. MacWhirter's painting "The Vanguard." The American Post
Office altered the title to "Western Cattle in Storm," but the picture
is unmistakably the same. My statement of MacWhirter's authorship of
the picture having been challenged by an artist, who was probably
misled by the Scottish painter's devotion to landscape, led me to
submit the stamp to Mr. MacWhirter, whose reply admits of no doubt.

[Illustration: ORIGINAL SKETCH FOR THE "CANOE" TYPE OF FIJI STAMPS.]

    "_August 26 [1906]._

    "DEAR SIR,--Certainly the picture was painted by me. It was
    exhibited in the R.A. about 15 or 18 years since. It was named
    by me 'The Vanguard.' The picture belongs now, I believe, to
    Lord Blythswood, near Glasgow. It is published as an etching by
    Dunthorne, Vigo Street.

        "Truly,
            "J. MACWHIRTER.

    "F. J. Melville, Esq."

A more scarce engraving, which was the basis of some of the most
classic designs in the history of postage-stamps, is the mezzotint by
Samuel Cousins, A.R.A., of the portrait of Queen Victoria painted by
Alfred Edward Chalon, R.A., in 1837. The original picture was a present
from the Queen to her mother, the Duchess of Kent, as a souvenir of Her
Majesty's visit to the House of Lords to prorogue Parliament on July
17, 1837. According to _The Athenæum_, the original picture "may take
its place as _the_ portrait, whether in right of the likeness, which is
faithful and characteristic, or in right of its artistic treatment."
From the mezzotint Edward Henry Corbould, the son of the artist of the
"Penny Black" of Great Britain, made a drawing in water colours, from
which the engraver William Humphrys produced the fine miniature for the
first stamps of New Zealand.

In a number of cases photographs have provided the subject for stamp
vignettes, and here the collector is able, if he takes a little
trouble, to procure copies for extra-illustrating his collection. The
photograph of the Llandovery Falls in Jamaica, used on the picture
stamp of that colony in 1900, was an unauthorised copy of one of a
published series of local views; that of the Victoria Falls on the
1905 stamps of the British South Africa Company recently formed a
frontispiece to _The Stamp Lover_ (October, 1910). The subject of the
quaint vignette on the British New Guinea and Papua stamps was engraved
from a photograph taken by a naval officer, and I traced a copy to the
collection of a returned missionary.

Bank-note and other engravings of a like character have provided copies
for stamp pictures, and Lord Crawford has formed a truly magnificent
historical collection of the United States stamps, in which his
lordship, in the course of about forty volumes, traces each design
to its inception, in some cases to the first rough pencil sketch.
He endeavours to show every stage in the development of the stamp,
and, as every philatelist should do, he follows the stamp through its
period of currency, showing the different kinds of obliterations,
the varying shades of successive printings, and where they exist
re-issues, reprintings, and forgeries. His lordship's collections of
Great Britain and of the Italian States are equally comprehensive, but
that this manner of collecting is not entirely exclusive is evidenced
by the number of collectors who have formed really worthy individual
"association albums"--to borrow an expressive term--of the stamps of
these same countries.

Proofs are comparatively easy of access, which, considering their
relative scarcity, is surprising. The reason that they were neglected
in the middle period of stamp-collecting was probably that the
creation of a market for such items had led in some instances to an
illegitimate supply by the employés of printing firms entrusted with
the storage of Government dies. The misuse of stamp dies is rare now,
most self-respecting Governments taking ample precautions not to admit
of any improper use of their property. The opportunities for finds in
the way of rare proofs are still plentiful. Stamp-collecting, though
firmly established, is still young, and it is little over seventy
years since the first adhesive postage-stamp was issued. A number of
near descendants of the originators of the first postage-stamp are
alive, and no doubt there are still treasures in the way of proofs
among the little-valued waste of later stamp-engravers and designers.
Shortly after the death of the engraver Herbert Bourne (1825-1907), I
acquired practically the whole of his reliques in the way of proofs
of stamp dies; but during his long life the engraver had done so
many engravings that a little while prior to his death he had been
burning the proofs he had saved to clear them out of the way. His son
fortunately saved the thirty to forty items now in my collection, of
which one of the most curious, if least in dimensions, is the extremely
small head of King Carlos for the small opening in the frame of the
picture stamps of Portuguese Nyassa. He appears to have done the die
for the 1876 (June) issue of Spain, which stamps, printed in _taille
douce_ by Messrs. Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., are a flat contradiction
of the statements of both the Somerset House authorities and the
Crown Agents for the Colonies. Each of these departments has averred
that the recess-plate printing offers more scope to the forger than
our paltry surface-printing, yet Spain, prior to 1876, had to change
her stamp issues practically every year owing to the prevalence of
forgeries making heavy inroads on the Government revenues. Yet the
forgeries were of surface-printed issues, and this first Spanish issue
in _taille-douce_ engraving, printed in London from the die of a London
engraver, was never forged to defraud the Government, neither have
the stamps been successfully imitated to deceive the collector.

[Illustration: ENGRAVER'S PROOF OF THE QUEEN'S HEAD DIE FOR THE FIRST
ADHESIVE POSTAGE STAMPS, WITH NOTE IN THE HANDWRITING OF EDWARD HENRY
CORBOULD ATTRIBUTING THE ENGRAVING TO FREDERICK HEATH.]

As an instance of how little Mr. Bourne had regarded the proofs taken
of his work at various stages, a very fine proof in the set obtained
by me was the Queensland head die proved upon a large sheet of thick
porous paper, the whole of which proof had been used as a convenient
blotting-pad!

Proofs of the Mulready are not very difficult to obtain, even on India
paper. There was in the Peacock papers a proof on India paper to which
Rowland Hill had affixed his signature, the latter being added on a
separate piece of writing-paper pasted over the India paper, which does
not take writing.

There must be many engravers of stamp dies who have accumulated a
stock of proof specimens of their work, and these are well worth
looking out for. A particularly choice item--said to be one of three
copies originally taken--is the engraver's proof of the first adhesive
postage, head only, without "POSTAGE," and undenominated. Mrs. Haywood,
a grand-daughter of Henry Corbould and daughter of Edward Henry,
and who is still further associated with the stamp as the niece of
Frederick Heath, the engraver, has one of the three, which is in itself
a unique item, for it bears in the handwriting of Edward Henry Corbould
the note:

    "Engraver's Proof by Fredk. Heath after drawing by Henry
    Corbould, F.S.A."

To this undoubtedly important piece of evidence I give special
prominence, as it should establish the association of Frederick Heath,
rather than his father Charles, with the engraving of this stamp. To
Charles it was popularly attributed at the time of the issue of the
stamp, as the father's name had been generally associated with much
of the work done under his supervision, but not necessarily by his
own hand, by his many pupils and assistants.[12] Mrs. Haywood tells
me that there has never been any doubt among the older members of the
family--the Heaths and Corboulds having intermarried--that Frederick
was the engraver and not Charles, and Edward Henry Corbould was himself
a collaborator with Frederick Heath on the coin-shaped Five Shillings
stamp of New South Wales, of which Mrs. Haywood treasures also an
engraver's proof.

In the plate stage proofs are more common than die-proofs, but still in
many cases they are scarce compared with the stamps; yet, by a strange
inversion of scarcity value, one can obtain a magnificent proof of the
famous "twelve pence" black stamp of Canada for fewer shillings than
the stamp itself costs in pounds. The old-fashioned collector used
to say he only wanted "stamps," and turned up his nose at a "proof,"
but the modern advanced school is changing all that. The old idea
is the more ridiculous when one considers that the Connell essay of
New Brunswick (it was never issued for postal use), if perforated
and gummed, _though still not an issued stamp_, fetches £30,
while an imperforate proof costs 20s. More absurd still is it where
philatelists, in the desire to establish _rariora_, are inconsistent
enough to deem an undoubted "proof" of Cape Colony, the celebrated
1d. red-brown triangular stamp on paper watermarked Crown over CC,
as an issued stamp, and to pay a fabulous sum for the privilege of
possessing it. The price--if its rarity be the token by which price
may be gauged--was cheap enough; there are about ten copies known to
collectors, all the specimens being unused, but by that same token we
know that it was never used in the post nor issued to any post-office.

[Illustration: AN EXCEPTIONAL BLOCK OF TWENTY UNUSED ONE PENNY BLACK
STAMPS, LETTERED "V.R." IN THE UPPER CORNERS FOR OFFICIAL USE.

(_From the collection of the late Sir William Avery, Bart._)]

In regard to the actual stamps, there is much in the modern advanced
collection which has not yet been fully appreciated even by the
majority of collectors. Much less has it been grasped by the
uninitiated vendor of "finds" among old letters and papers. It is but
little known that a stamp in itself may be very common, but in a pair
it may be of a high degree of value. This is putting it by extremes;
but in the case of early imperforate stamps it is a fact that many of
the first issues of Great Britain, her colonies, Holland, Belgium,
German States, Uruguay, Chili, and other countries, the stamps are
readily accessible as single copies, but pairs, much less blocks of
four, are almost unheard-of rarities. Our own first stamp, the Penny
Black, may cost 6d. to 1s. for a single used specimen, but a pair
fetches 6s. to 7s. 6d., and a block of four would be worth 40s. to 50s.
Alas! that many a one even among collectors has never yet realised that
it is vandalism to take the scissors to a fine block of imperforates,
simply because he is a collector of the one-stamp-of-a-kind order and
has no use for a block.

Mr. Hugo Griebert of London, in a painstaking study of the
"Diligencias" of Uruguay, says: "If blocks and pairs had been available
it would have saved me years of work"; and again, "It is very
unfortunate that blocks of the 'Diligencia' stamps are practically
unknown. Not a single pair even of the 60 centavos or 1 real has come
to my knowledge." Of the 80 centavos, there are a priceless block of
fifteen and a block of four in a collection in the United States; there
may be others to be found, and they would well repay the finding!

A block of eight of the Penny Black stamp (used) has fetched £15, and a
block of sixteen would bring its owner at least £25--some thousands per
cent. over the catalogue quotation for single copies.

[Illustration: AN ENVELOPE BEARING THE RARE STAMP ISSUED IN 1846 BY THE
POSTMASTER OF MILLBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.]

[Illustration: ONE OF THE STAMPS ISSUED BY THE POSTMASTER OF BATON
ROUGE, LOUISIANA, DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 1861.]

Here, too, I may remark that with old used stamps, especially the
imperforates, really fine copies cannot always be got at the prices
indicated for them in the standard catalogues. The same applies to
some extent to the unused copies also; but the beginner would be well
advised to choose even his (apparently) common stamps with painstaking
regard to their perfection of condition, and not to break up pairs or
blocks of early imperforates, even though they may be inconvenient
for insertion in his album. Fine copies are often sold by the smaller
dealers and in the provinces and from private sources at prices based
on the catalogue rates, and it is in these directions that even
to-day, with many thousands of keen hunters, bargains are still to be
had by the collector possessing an appreciative eye for the rarity of
condition.

[Illustration: ANOTHER OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES RARITIES ISSUED BY THE
POSTMASTER OF GOLIAD, TEXAS.]

[Illustration: THE STAMP ISSUED BY THE POSTMASTER OF LIVINGSTON,
ALABAMA.

(_From the "Avery" Collection._)]

In the advanced collection of to-day there is no wavering over the
used and the unused question. A lot of ink has been spilt in the
controversies over the comparative interest, importance, or other claim
of these two general conditions of postage-stamps. To-day both unused
and used stamps are necessary to the study of stamps. A specialised
collection containing only unused specimens would indeed be an
"ill-roasted egg," and would fail to show the history of the stamps
during their currency. The unused stamps show the pristine condition of
the varying shades of successive printings; the used ones enable the
collector to place those successive shades in their correct sequence,
even to show for what purpose special printings were required. The
most evidential items in a stamp collection are often the used copies
which have been preserved on the entire original envelope, a fact which
gives to the stamp used on the envelope a special value not always
to be gauged by the catalogue quotation for an ordinary used copy. A
Penny Black stamp of Great Britain should be worth at least two to
three times "catalogue" if on the entire original; but if the original
had been used on May 6, 1840 (the first day authorised for its use),
the envelope with stamp would acquire an exceptional interest out of
all proportion to "catalogue." In a specialised price list before me
at this moment it is priced at £10, less 25 per cent., for the entire
letter; one used on the following Sunday, May 10th, is priced at
£15.[13] The Rev. G. C. B. Madden, of Armitage Bridge, had a copy on a
letter of May 5th, but the _stamp_ was not cancelled. The cover bears
the stamp and the indication--

    "_Paid Penny Postage_,
        "Miss Jones,
            "Addington Square,
                "Camberwell."

and the enclosure is as follows:--

    "BROMPTON PLACE,
        "_May 5, 1840_.

    "MY DEAR FLORAL FRIEND,--To make you stare I send you a Queen's
    Head, the day before it is in Penny Circulation. To-morrow it
    will be obliterated by a Post Office Stamp. What a pity that
    they should make Victoria Gummy like an old woman, without
    teeth as I am. I write this without spectacles, therefore will
    strain my ninety-and-one eyes no longer than in saying I hope
    you are All well at Home.

    "Yours
        "Gratefully,
            "JOHN ALEXANDER."

The cancellation may also be a factor in the relative scarcity of a
used specimen. Coloured postmarks often have some special significance
or may be merely accidental applications of the "chops" to the wrong
inking pad. In the price list already mentioned I find the Penny Black
quoted with the various coloured Maltese cross postmarks (ordinary used
copies, not on "entire") as follows:--red 8d., black 9d., blue 60s.,
violet 40s., marone 4s., brown 5s., orange 7s. 6d., yellow 15s.,
vermilion 4s., carmine 2s. 6d.

[Illustration: THE ONE PENNY "POST OFFICE" MAURITIUS ON THE ORIGINAL
LETTER-COVER.

(_From the "Duveen" Collection._)]

Beyond the items the character of which I have indicated as desirable
in the historical collection, there are others, which will readily
suggest themselves to the collector who develops a keen enthusiasm for
his _specialité_. Portraits of persons concerned in the production of
the stamps and in their use often lend an enhanced interest to the
collection as a whole, and sometimes maps are conveniently inserted
in the album to show the geographical disposition of the places where
stamps were issued or used. No one can expect those who have not
studied the particular _specialité_ to understand, without such a
guide, the use of the "zemstvo" stamps of Russia, the courier stamps of
Morocco, the Treaty-Port stamps of China, the provisionals of Mexico,
or the Chilian stamps used in the Peruvian campaign of 1881-3.

In concluding this chapter I would allude to the interest and value of
the collector's acquisition and preservation of modern documents. In
the present day there are few events of importance that are not duly
chronicled in the newspapers, and events of philatelic interest are
largely recorded in the newspapers specially devoted to Philately,
such as _The Postage Stamp_ (weekly) in Britain and _Mekeel's Weekly
Stamp News_ in the United States. But with the enormous increase in
bulk of newspaper records, they are becoming constantly more difficult
of ready access for information on many points of even considerable
importance. Further, the original Act, Decree, Postal Notice included
within the album containing the stamps referred to leaves no room for
any question of printer's errors, which may often crop up in newspaper
reproductions, telegraphed perhaps in cipher from a distant colony.
Among modern items added to my own collection I regard the card sent
out by the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, as Premier and Postmaster of New
Zealand, on the establishment of Universal Penny Postage from that
colony as of historic interest.

[Illustration:

    WITH THE HON. J. G. WARD'S COMPLIMENTS.

    In sending for your acceptance this, one of the first
    articles posted under the Universal Penny Postage scheme, and
    date-stamped as the bells are ringing in the new century, I
    offer you the season's greetings, and trust that the year which
    brings New Zealand within the circle of the penny post may be
    one of happiness and prosperity to you and yours.

    _GENERAL POST OFFICE.
        WELLINGTON, NZ_

    Sir Joseph Ward]

Another is a typewritten circular calling for designs from artists in
competition for the new stamps of the Australian Commonwealth, and I
was recently indebted to a correspondent in Pretoria for sending me the
following notice, the historic interest in which needs no enlarging
upon from me.

[Illustration: A ROUGHLY PRINTED CARD SHOWING THE DESIGNS AND COLOURS
FOR THE UNIFIED "POSTAGE AND REVENUE" STAMPS OF GREAT BRITAIN, 1884.

    DESIGNS AND COLOURS OF THE STAMPS
       THAT WILL BE IN USE AFTER
          APRIL THE 1ST 1884.]

[Illustration: THE FIRST POSTAGE STAMP OF THE PRESENT REIGN, TOGETHER
WITH THE POST OFFICE NOTICE CONCERNING ITS ISSUE ON NOVEMBER 4, 1910.

_Union of South Africa._

It is notified that a new postage stamp of the 2½d. denomination
will be on sale from the 4th November the day of the opening of
the Union Parliament and will be practically, therefore, a stamp
commemorative of the culminating fact of Union. The denomination
represents the Universal Postal Union unit of postage, and the stamp is
being issued in advance of, and apart from, any general issue for the
South African Union.

        By Order.

    Pretoria, 1st October, 1910.]

This class of document should be the more accessible to collectors from
the little interest attached to them by the officials to whom they are
generally sent. How little they appreciate their evidential value was
brought home to me in a painful disappointment a year or so ago. Having
been on the Continent for a few days, I returned to find among my
correspondence an offer from an elderly man who had kept a post-office
for a long period of years, and he had saved in a series of portfolios
all the printed notices sent out from the General Post Office to
postmasters from the 'fifties until the end of the nineteenth century.
I had had some curiosities from this individual before, which led him
to offer me these papers when he came upon them in a clearing-up mood.
I was then engaged on a section of my history of the English stamps,
and wrote off immediately upon my return home. To my utter dismay he
replied that, not having heard from me, after a few days of waiting he
had burnt the lot to get rid of them!

[Illustration: THE OFFICIAL NOTICE OF THE ISSUE OF THE NEW STAMPS OF
GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE REIGN OF KING GEORGE V.

                       INTRODUCTION OF
                  GEORGE V. POSTAGE STAMPS

          SALE OF LETTER CARDS, THIN POST-CARDS AND
               BOOKS OF STAMPS AT FACE VALUE.

    REDUCTION IN PRICES OF EMBOSSED ENVELOPES & WRAPPERS

Halfpenny and Penny adhesive Postage Stamps of new design bearing the
effigy of His Majesty King George, and registered letter envelopes
and thin post-cards bearing impressed stamps with the same effigy,
will be placed on sale on the 22nd of June, the day of His Majesty's
Coronation, at all Post Offices open on that day. At other Post Offices
they will first be sold on the 23rd of June, or, at Offices which are
closed on that day also on the 24th of June. New adhesive stamps of
other denominations and other articles of stationery bearing impressed
stamps of new design will be issued as soon as possible afterwards

Adhesive postage stamps and stamped stationery of the present issue
will also be on sale at Post Offices until the remaining stocks are
exhausted. All Edward VII postage stamps and all stamps of previous
issues which are at present available in payment of postage will still
be available

The following reductions in the prices of the principal articles of
stamped stationery WHICH WILL APPLY TO ARTICLES BOTH OF THE PRESENT AND
THE NEW ISSUES, will take effect on Coronation Day:

    POST-CARDS.--Thin post-cards bearing ½d. stamp--½d. each
    (Stout post-cards will continue to be sold at 6d a packet of
    11, or ¾d. for a single card)

    LETTER CARDS bearing 1d. stamp--1d. each.

    BOOKS OF STAMPS--Books containing eighteen 1d. and twelve
    ½d. stamps of George V design will be issued at an early
    date--price 2s. each. Pending their issue the present books,
    containing eighteen 1d. and eleven ½d stamps of Edward VII.
    design, will, on and after the 22nd of June, be sold for 1s.
    11½d instead of 2s. as at present.

    EMBOSSED ENVELOPES--

    Court size (bearing 1d. stamp)--1s. a packet of 11
    Commercial size (bearing 1d. stamp)--2s. a packet of 23
    Foolscap size (bearing ½d stamp)--1s. a packet of 21.
    Commercial size (bearing ½d. stamp)--1s. a packet of 22.

    NEWSPAPER WRAPPERS--(Bearing ½d stamp)--1s. a packet of 22.
    (Bearing 1d. stamp)--2s a packet of 23.

All cards, envelopes and wrappers are sold in any quantities less than
a complete packet at proportionate prices. Full tables of these prices
will appear in the Post Office Guide issued on the 1st of July.

    GENERAL POST OFFICE.
    20th June, 1911.        By Command of the Postmaster General.

(1120) Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office by W P Griffith &
Sons Ld. Prujean Square. Old Bailey, E C. 6/11]

FOOTNOTES:

[9] "Fifty Years of Public Life," p. 63.

[10] Illustrated in "British Central Africa and Nyasaland
Protectorate," by Fred J. Melville, 1909.

[11] See further in "The Postage Stamps of the Fiji Islands," by
Charles J. Phillips, 1908.

[12] See the obituary of Charles Heath in _The Art Journal_, 1849, p.
20, and the argument in my "Great Britain: Line-engraved Stamps."

[13] I mention these and certain other quotations, not as standard
valuations, but to indicate the comparative importance of these and
other factors in determining the rarity of individual specimens.




VI

ON LIMITING
A COLLECTION




CHAPTER VI

ON LIMITING A COLLECTION

    The difficulties of a general collection--The unconscious
    trend to specialism--Technical limitations: Modes of
    production; Printers--Geographical groupings: Europe and
    divisions--Suggested groupings of British Colonies--United
    States, Protectorates and Spheres of Influence--Islands of the
    Pacific--The financial side of the "great" philatelic countries.


To the child in stamp-collecting the boundless world is small; he will
seek to bring into his net stamps from everywhere, postage and fiscal,
exhibition labels, trading stamps, and all that has the shape or
semblance of what he conceives to be subjects for his collecting. The
collector of fuller experience knows that he must make a lesser world
of his own. To attempt the whole wide world, even in what I may term
"ordinary" postage-stamps, is a task which can scarcely attain even
approximately to completion in these days, and the collector on such
a scale would lose much of the advantage that comes of specialisation
in particular directions. He would know little of the world's
postage-stamps except in a superficial way, that would never bring
him a bargain, and would probably make him a frequent victim of the
unscrupulous.

It is well enough that the beginner should first flounder in a sea
of stamps, to learn the first rudiments of the study. The specialist
needs a general education as a groundwork in stamp-collecting, just as
he does in any other pursuit. But it is almost unavoidable that the
tendency must come to the advancing collector to reserve his strength
in the direction which most attracts him, or for which he enjoys
special advantages.

It is in the defining of these limitations that many collectors are
constantly seeking for guidance. "Can you tell me a good country in
which to specialise?" is an ever-recurring query. The answer should,
of course, be extracted from the experience of the individual who sets
the question. It may be laid down as a maxim that the general collector
is not yet ripe for specialism until his general experience has turned
his inclinations to some well-defined speciality. The trend of one's
inclinations may be clearly reflected in the general collection,
where it is seen that one country has been by some--possibly
unconscious--bias developed beyond all others. Every stamp-lover knows
that there are some stamps which exert over him personally a peculiar
fascination. It may be due to some interest in the country of their
issue, or to some special attractions in their style of production, and
indeed to a variety of other causes.

It was a solitary--rather bilious-looking--stamp that first obsessed
me, a good many years ago now. It was the 3 cents Sarawak, 1869,
printed in brown on yellow paper, which was in the collection of
my schooldays, and I had always wanted to make it the nucleus of a
special collection. But, before the opportunity came for realising
this ambition, a different interest had arisen in that adventure-story
republic of Hayti, which led me first to try to specialise its stamps,
which having done, after my notions of specialising at that period,
the next start was made with my early friend the peculiar yellow-brown
label which a Scottish firm lithographed for the Rajah of Sarawak. I
suppose the spice of adventure suggested by both Hayti and Sarawak, and
subsequently China and Abyssinia, was responsible for turning one's
specialistic tendencies into definite channels.

But whatever the influence may be with some, the question is so
constantly being put that it may be useful to outline some skeleton
plans, which are all capable of providing good scope for the exercise
of philatelic talent.

The close study of detail, and particularly the increasing interest
taken by collectors in the manner of production, has led some students
to devote themselves to the stamps produced by a particular firm of
manufacturers. The finest collection on these lines would be that
dealing with the stamps produced by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.
during the period of, say, 1840-80. This would include the low-value
English stamps of the line-engraved series, the early imperforate and
perforated Ceylons, which in themselves afford ample scope for a big
collection, those old favourites the triangular Capes, the majority
of the stamps of the West Indian Islands, a few from Mauritius and
Natal, the most interesting of the issues for New Zealand, and several
of the Australian States, some of our North American possessions, with
many others, not forgetting Chili's early issues. The stamps in such a
collection would all be line-engraved.

Messrs. De La Rue & Co., the greatest stamp-printers in the world,
would also provide an interesting sphere for special study, embracing
line-engraved stamps from the old Perkins-Bacon plates, printed in
a superb series of pigments, distinctive from those of the earlier
printers, and also the long range of surface-printed stamps for which
this firm has been noted.

There are other printers whose work could be dealt with by the
collector in a like manner, and the would-be specialist on these lines
has an opportunity of choosing a very small field or a very large one,
the two I have expressly mentioned being capable of treatment on a very
large scale indeed.

A more general limitation begins with political or geographical
grouping. "Europeans" are in constant demand, as there are many
collectors who confine themselves to the stamps of the European States
as a group. It is, however, a very large group, and few could hope
to successfully cope with the whole of it on anything approaching
specialist lines. The Castle-Mann collection, sold in 1906 for nearly
£30,000, was limited to European stamps. But Europe for the collector
naturally subdivides into lesser groups, _e.g._, the German States,
Italian States, Balkan States, &c., and these in their turn yield
single countries, many of which will provide in themselves an abundance
of work and study for the enthusiast.

The fashion which has for many years kept the stamps of the British
Empire in constantly increasing demand is rather curious, in that
what may be attributed--at least partly--to patriotism at home has
yet prevailed in foreign countries, where British Colonials are
collected even more than the national products. In the United States,
for example, the collector has until quite lately somewhat neglected
the grand series of beautifully engraved stamps of the Republic and
has followed the crowd of collectors of British Colonials. This
may be explained in some measure by the shrewdness of the American
investor, whose confidence in the security of his money in good
old British Colonial stamps is still unbounded. At the same time
philatelic experience is that every country is gradually being taken
by the students and getting its turn, so that as the United States
has a growing family of its own, it is not unlikely that in due
course we shall find more United States collectors working out their
philatelic salvation on their own lines on a national, or American,
basis. The American field is a particularly fine one and offers the
most virgin philatelic soil. Nearly every other group has been pretty
well collected and studied, though not exhaustively. The United States
itself has had much attention, but Mexico and South and Central
America, Cuba, Hayti, the Dominican Republic are comparatively fresh
soil, and the student can invest at present prices with a good
assurance that, as United States expansion and influence become more
overwhelming in the Western Hemisphere, all these countries will enjoy
increased popularity with the stamp-collector.


THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.

                               National African Company, Ltd.
                                        (No stamps)
                                             |
                                  Royal Niger Company
                                (Charter of July 10, 1886)
                                             |
                                         1892-1893
                                             |
Sierra                Gold         Oil Rivers Protectorate
Leone,    Gambia,    Coast,     (Africa Order in Council, 1889)
 1860      1869       1875                   |
  |         |          |                     |
 -+-       -+-        -+-        Niger Coast Protectorate, 1893
                                             |
                                  +----------+---------+
                                  |                    |
                           Northern Nigeria,    Southern Nigeria,    Lagos,
                                1900                 1901             1874
                                                       |                |
                                                       +--------+-------+
                                                                |
                                                         Southern Nigeria,
                                                           Feb. 16, 1906

                         THE LEEWARD ISLANDS.

Antigua,  Dominica,  Montserrat,  Nevis,  St. Christopher,  Virgin Islands,
 1862       1874        1876       1861        1870              1866
----------------------------------+----------------------------------------
                                  |
                 Leeward Islands General Issues,[14] 1890

Antigua,   Dominica,    Montserrat,    St. Kitts-Nevis,    Virgin Islands,
 1903        1903          1903              1903               1899


The foregoing British Empire groups are given as
examples of how this great division may be sub-divided.

Of the stamps of the great English-speaking Republic and the countries
now or lately under her protection or looking to her for financial help
groups may be formed:--


UNITED STATES: THE GENERAL ISSUES:--

    (a) _With or without_--

        The Postmasters' stamps.
        The Carrier's stamps.
        Confederate States, General issues.
        Confederate States, Postmasters' stamps.

    (b) _With or without_--

        Cuba (since 1899).
        Guam (since 1899).
        Hawaii (since 1898).
        Panama Canal Zone (since 1904).
        Philippine Islands (since 1899).
        Porto Rico (since 1898).

    (c) _With or without_--

        Dominican Republic.
        Haytian Republic.

    (d) _With or without_--

        Liberia.

Other suggested groupings may be taken from:--


THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.

    (a) _British._

        Aitutaki.
        British Solomon Islands.
        Cook Islands.
        Fiji (after Sept., 1874).
        Gilbert and Ellice Islands
        New Hebrides (Condominium).
        Niue.
        Papua.
        Penrhyn.
        Tonga.

    (b) _French._

        New Caledonia.
        New Hebrides (Condominium).
        Oceanic Settlements.[15]
        Tahiti.

    (c) _German._

        Caroline Islands.
        German New Guinea.
        Marianne Islands
        Marshall Islands.
        Samoa (since 1899).

    (d) _United States._

        Guam.
        Hawaii (since July, 1898).
        Philippine Islands (since 1899).

Each of these, and the numerous other groupings, political,
geographical, &c., which they will readily suggest to the reader, is
capable of subdivision down to single countries or colonies, or into
periods, just as others are capable of expansion if larger groups be
desired.

In making his choice the collector will do well to give free scope to
his tastes and inclinations, but he should not be disregardful of the
financial side of the question, which is apt to confine the limitations
of a speciality rather more closely than would his inclinations. It
is well to realise from the start that some capital will be required
to tackle a large group, and if the collector wants to specialise in
the first issues of British Guiana, the "Missionaries" of Hawaii,
the "Post Offices" and "Post Paids" of Mauritius, the "Gold Diggings"
of New South Wales, the "circular" Moldavias, he will have to loosen
wide the strings of a bounteously filled purse. Happily for the
stamp collector, the interest and charm of his hobby is its broad
adaptability to all requirements, and it cannot be gainsaid that the
joys of the hunt for stamps are more real and stimulating to the
collector of modest means, who personally knows and loves his stamps,
than to the magnate who deputes the "collecting" to a secretary. In
many instances, of course, the secretary is a _desideratum_; the
vast collections of modern times practically necessitate an expert
assistant, especially where the owner is a busy man; but in the really
great collections of postage-stamps it is good to see the evidences
of the personal attention and study of the owner. Philately is indeed
fortunate in the number of wealthy stamp-lovers who build up monumental
collections, at great personal labour and expense, and are ever ready
to show portions of them at exhibitions and societies' meetings, and,
indeed, to publish the results of their researches for the benefit of
their fellow-students.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] The supersession of the stamps of the different islands lasted
from October, 1890, to 1899 in Virgin Islands and 1903 in the
other groups, when separate stamps were again issued by the five
Presidencies (St. Christopher and Nevis being in one Presidency) of the
Leeward Islands, the general and separate issues being in concurrent
circulation.

[15] The Oceanic Settlements comprise the more easterly French islands,
administered by a Governor, with Privy and Administrative Councils,
&c., the seat of government being at Papeete, in Tahiti.




VII

STAMP-COLLECTING
AS AN
INVESTMENT




CHAPTER VII

STAMP-COLLECTING AS AN INVESTMENT

    The collector, the dealer, and the combination--The factor
    of expense--Natural rise of cost--Past possibilities in
    British "Collector's Consols," in Barbados, in British
    Guiana, in Canada, in "Capes"--Modern speculations: Cayman
    Islands--Further investments: Ceylon, Cyprus, _Fiji Times_
    Express, Gambia, India, Labuan, West Indies--The "Post
    Office" Mauritius--The early Nevis, British North America,
    Sydney Views, New Zealand--Provisionals: _bonâ fide_ and
    speculative--Some notable appreciations--"Booms."


If we define the philatelist as a lover of postage-stamps, we may very
properly express the view that his affections should be chiefly centred
upon their historic and philatelic associations. Stamp-collecting for
most of us is a recreation and a respite from the anxieties of the
money-market, and many collectors are quite content with the joys of
collation and research. At the same time we are not out of sympathy
with the individual who,

    "Whatever thing he had to do
    He did, and made it pay him too."

He represents one of the strongest influences in the collecting
world, and is no doubt a tower of strength, imparting stability to the
stamp-market. The term "amateur" is little used in connection with our
pursuit, and the quibbles which seem inseparable in other pursuits,
from the endeavour to draw an imaginary line round the amateur to
separate him from the professional, are all but non-existent in
philately.

We use the terms "collector" and "dealer," but that one is not the
negation of the other is clear from the admission of the compound
term "collector-dealer," which combination applies to a very great
proportion of the more promiscuous portion of the philatelic world.
The mere vending of postage-stamps would not, I think, convert the
collector into the collector-dealer, as by the ingenious and widespread
system of stamp-exchanges collectors are obliged to put a price upon
their duplicates, and cash is the universal medium of exchange.

In a broad sense the collector-dealer class is composed of collectors
who are glad to enjoy their hobby, but are under the necessity, or have
the desire, to make their hobby pay for itself, and perhaps yield an
addition to their regular income.

It is perhaps due to the all-absorbing character of the hunt for rare
stamps that collectors and dealers enjoy unrestrained intercourse in
most of the societies, though in the Royal Philatelic Society the rules
forbid the admission of regular dealers to membership.

Among the best dealers we find some of the most advanced students of
philately, who when it comes to research have many a time risen above
considerations of commerce. Some of the most valuable contributions
to the literature of philately have come from their unaccustomed but
painstaking pens, and most of the dealers of repute take a pleasure
in assisting the student to unravel a problem. In whatever spirit we
form our collections, and with no matter what object in view, it is but
human to nourish the hope, even if some shrinking from the admission of
pecuniary motives never permits us to express it, that the collection
formed with loving care and a considerable expenditure of money shall
not, if parted with, result in a loss, or if retained suffer a heavy
depreciation. If we desire to interest others we must be prepared
for the _motif_ of the primary questions of the uninitiated, "What
is it worth?" "What did you give for it?" though one can never hope
to satisfy the ingenuous folk who ask the collector of many years'
standing "How many stamps have you got?" and "I suppose they ought to
be worth pots of money--how much do you think?"

There are several factors in the stamp trade which are worth noting,
as they have contributed in no small measure to the prosperity of the
business, and they must increase our confidence in the security of
our collections as investments. A world-wide market is open to the
vendor of rare stamps; it is convenient of access beyond all other
markets for _bric-à-brac_, because the rarest stamp in the world may
be safely transmitted anywhere, within an envelope, through the post.
The adaptability of the postage-stamp to effective and convenient
arrangement is not of more importance to the collector than the
portability of his goods, rare or common, is to the dealer. It involves
no more trouble to sell a rare stamp in Yokohama than it does over
a counter in that thoroughfare of stamp-dealers, the Strand. Nor is
there the risk of damage that would attend the transmission of a bulky
article of _vertu_ to a customer in a remote country.

It is this same portability which is constantly increasing the demand
for good and rare stamps from collectors. For the majority, almost
any form of collecting brings with it a serious problem of space,
arrangement, and security. We may display our collection of old English
porcelain about the house, and beautify our surroundings, but it is at
the cost of no little risk from the philistine fingers of the abigail.
We may bring together a great array of ornithological specimens, but
the cabinet space taken up by a collection of but moderate proportions
is out of all comparison to the compact album, which may contain a
large and portable collection of stamps. I would not be understood to
even cursorily enter upon comparisons of different hobbies, but it is
useful to mention the comparative facility with which transactions in
rare stamps can be negotiated to indicate the cumulative effect this
convenience must have in the value of old stamps.

Another important factor is the comparative standardisation of stamp
values. No person of average intelligence need ever be totally in
the dark as to the approximate selling value of the majority of old
postage-stamps, for in nearly every language, excepting some of the
Oriental tongues, there are standard price-lists of the leading dealers
which serve as guides to the majority of both buyers and sellers, for
these works are accessible both to the dealer and the collector.

When we come to consider the supply of old postage-stamps, we cannot
but recognise a further important factor in their security as an
investment. The majority of the rare, medium and common postage-stamps
have been issued with the Government imprimatur; re-issues and
reprintings are known, but they are the exception. Generally speaking,
a stamp is no sooner obsolete than it commences to soar in the
stamp-dealers' price-lists. In the cases of stamps of the larger
countries which have had a long period of currency the rise is slow,
but the frequency of the occurrence of unusual circumstances which cut
short the life of a stamp on the active postal list has introduced a
sporting element into even the collecting of current stamps. But it is
inevitable that, with the retirement of a postage-stamp from use, there
must come sooner or later a stoppage in the supply at the normal rates
prevailing during its period of currency. The older stamps, most of the
early issues of all countries, have for fifty years past been gradually
absorbed in the great collections, some of them extremely limited in
their original use, now withdrawn from the market into the stable
repositories of national museums, and the supply is the one serious
difficulty with which the dealer has to contend. This difficulty has
its value to the collector, for to replenish their stocks the dealers
have to buy back from the collector, and they compete keenly for the
acquisition of collections formed by private individuals, if they
contain the right class of stamps. My endeavour in this chat will be to
indicate the character of the stamps which have risen in the philatelic
period 1862 to 1911, all of which may be classed as "Collector's
Consols," but most of which are at this date and at present prices
likely to yield an excellent return in the future.

To take our own country first, for here purchases would have been made
at first-hand, that is, at the post-office, there are many stamps,
some of comparatively low facial value, that would have formed most
desirable investments _if_ one had only been able to prophesy, and
prophesy correctly.

The most notable examples amongst British stamps of rapid and great
appreciation in value are the Twopence Halfpenny of 1875, with error of
lettering, the Two Shillings, orange-brown, the Ten Shillings and One
Pound of 1878-83, the Five Pounds--both telegraph and postage in the
earliest shade--and certain "Officials": there are, of course, others
which show an even greater appreciation on their original face-value,
but the reason in that case is that small printings were made of
certain stamps from a particular plate or on certain paper--"abnormals"
to give them their usual name--and such stamps were not obtainable
except by accident.

The Twopence Halfpenny error, though not known to the philatelic world
until 1893, was present in every sheet printed from Plate 2 of that
value, to the number of no less than 35,000, and yet, in mint unused
condition, it is a very scarce stamp, probably worth £25. And yet
none amongst the thousands who purchased and used one of these errors
thought--even if he noticed the fact--that a mistake in one of the
corner letters would some day cause a great rise in value.

Another well-known example is the Two Shillings, brown: issued
originally in 1867, the first colour of that value was blue; but
in 1880, to avoid confusion with other stamps, it was changed to
orange-brown. It is said that only 1,000 sheets, or 240,000 stamps,
were printed, a large number certainly, but comparatively small when
it is remembered that of some stamps many millions were issued; small,
too, when it is considered that the minimum charge on telegrams was
a shilling, and foreign postal rates were high. An early price in
dealers' catalogues was seven shillings and sixpence; now a fine unused
copy realises more pounds than it formerly did shillings.

The _desiderata_ of British stamps--ignoring the "abnormal" varieties
of plate and paper--are the Ten Shillings and One Pound of 1878-83.
Few among the great multitude of collectors purchased the two stamps,
each on Cross _paté_ paper and each on that watermarked with a Large
Anchor, when current. But those few who did, and who kept them through
the years when the rise in value was very slight, ultimately realised
at the top of the market--say, £175 to £200--towards the end of the
'nineties. The £1 "Anchor" on bluish paper, which one could have
bought in 1882 for twenty shillings, is now priced at £80, showing
a profit which makes many a collector in these days sigh over lost
opportunities.

Five Pounds is a high facial value, but that sum invested in the
purchase of the telegraph-stamp, or of the postage-stamp which
superseded it, would now be represented approximately by £100; but
in the case of the Five Pounds postage-stamp, the paper must be
"blued"--"naturally," and not through the medium of the blue-bag--and
the colour should be of a vermilion almost merging into orange, and not
the scarlet-vermilion in which this stamp finished its career in 1902.

In a somewhat different category are the various Official stamps, but
as they were obtainable up to about 1890 by any respectable applicant
at Somerset House, the earlier varieties may fairly be included. Sets
bought during the 1884-90 period appreciated very little until towards
the close of the last century, when they attained high prices, the One
Pound "I.R. Official" in brown-violet, on Imperial Crown paper, being
the rarest, even rarer than the similar stamp on the Orb paper, which
without the Official overprint is rarer than the normal variety.

Of subsequent Official stamps, _not_ obtainable for the asking, special
mention should be made of the three high values of the Edwardian
issue--Five Shillings, Ten Shillings, and One Pound: in 1903 mint
PAIRS of the three stamps were sold for forty guineas, and single sets
for £25. Nowadays, pairs--the particular ones above referred to were
subsequently severed--would probably fetch a sum running into four
figures.

It may be interesting to record a few of the notable rises in value, in
the space of a comparatively short period, of stamps issued in one or
other of the British colonies, or in some foreign country.

In March, 1878, there was an unexpected shortage in Barbados of the
then current One Penny stamp, and the island Post Office authorities
supplied the deficiency by means of a provisional: they perforated
the large Five Shillings stamp down the centre, surcharging each half
"1d." These makeshifts in due course reached England, and orders were
duly sent out for a supply for the stamp-market; one dealer's order was
actually held back by the Barbados postmaster until the arrival of a
further supply of the ordinary One Penny, when a supply of that stamp
was sent him. Other dealers and collectors probably fared as badly, and
an unused pair, or even a single copy, of this rare stamp supplies an
example of unearned increment which would delight a Chancellor of the
Exchequer on the look-out for more subjects for taxation. What a nice
little nest-egg would a shilling's-worth of those stamps now represent!

Of the circular British Guiana stamps of 1850-51 it is hardly fair
to speak, as they were issued and became obsolete before even the
oldest philatelist ever thought of collecting; but if any far-seeing
individual had then invested the modest sum of thirteenpence in the
purchase of an unused copy of each of the four values, and had had
them "laid down" until the present year of grace, or even until so
comparatively far back as 1890, the sum they would realise in open
market would not fall far short of £2,500. So, too, with the very rare
large oblong type-set stamps of 1856, one of which--the One Cent, black
on magenta--is literally unique.

The smaller stamps of 1862, printed from ordinary type with a frame of
fancy ornaments, and issued on a shortage of One, Two, and Four Cents
stamps, were for some considerable time fairly common, being obtainable
for a few shillings, or sometimes, if one were fortunate, for pence;
now a used set of the commonest variety of each value costs nearly £30.

Canada provides a rarity, dating back to 1851. A stamp--and it is a
beautiful piece of work--of the apparently peculiar value of Twelve
Pence was issued, but for some reason a very small portion of the large
supply was sold, the remainder disappearing without a trace, never to
be found even to this day: that stamp is now worth two thousand times
its original cost. The reason for the value being expressed somewhat
quaintly was that, whereas "One Shilling" was a fluctuating amount
according to locality, "Twelve Pence" was the same everywhere.

It goes without saying that it is the rarities which have appreciated
the most, and therefore a list of the stamps which ought to have been
secured as an investment is practically a list of the rare and scarce
stamps.

Beautifully engraved, of chaste design, and of quaint shape, the Cape
"triangulars" are, and always have been, favourites; but they have
been out-distanced, as regards profitable investment records, by the
two roughly-executed stamps, of similar design and shape, printed from
hurriedly made stereotyped blocks to meet a temporary shortness of the
ordinary One Penny and Fourpence.

These provisionals, erroneously called (as they always will be)
"wood-blocks," were issued early in 1861, and the ordinary specimens
are of considerable scarcity even used, and very difficult of
acquisition unpostmarked; much more then are the errors, caused by the
unintentional inclusion in the group of stereotypes of each value of
one block of the other denomination.

These two stamps--the One Penny in blue, and the Four Pence in red,
instead of _vice versâ_--are well-known rarities used, and there are
only three known copies in an unused condition; one of these, obtained
by its owner during the period when the wood-blocks were in issue
at "face," realised five-and-thirty years later no less than £500.
"Prodigious," but true!

Another desirable Cape stamp owes its rarity to having been printed
in a small quantity on a paper in use for a short time only--the Five
Shillings, orange-yellow, of 1883, on paper watermarked with a Crown
and "CA". For some three to four years, 1883-87, these stamps were
purchasable unused at the post-office; and now--£100, perhaps.

Cayman Islands, that hotbed of official speculation and jobbery,
furnishes a more modern instance--instances would be more correct--of
sudden and excessive rise in price, if not in philatelic worth;
certain provisionals, made by surcharging higher value stamps to meet
the usual, and often avoidable, shortage. Fortunate, indeed, from the
investors' point of view, are those who, subscribing to some "new
issue" service, managed to obtain even single copies of these scarce
labels at a small percentage over face.

Ceylon! The name raises a vision of the gorgeous East, and, to the
philatelist, of rare imperforates, issued in the early days before
Philately was. Who in the end of the 'fifties would have thought of
investing in, say, a block of four of the Fourpence, dull rose, and,
having held it for forty years, receiving the handsome return of--what
shall I say?--£750? And yet it would be so.

Another Ceylon which has appreciated at a rapid rate is the Two Rupees
Fifty Cents issued in 1880; for long it was catalogued and obtainable
at 7s. 6d., but on suddenly becoming obsolete (through a change of
postal rates) its price began to rise by leaps and bounds, until it is
worth about twice as many shillings as it formerly was pence.

A glance at the catalogue prices of the first Cyprus set of Edwardian
stamps, which were printed on paper known to philatelists as "Single
Crown CA"--_i.e._, one entire watermark to each stamp--is a mild
example of the abnormal rise which took place in nearly all colonial
stamps, bearing the head of King Edward and printed on this "single"
paper, when the unexpected change was made in 1904 to a "multiple"
paper--that is, one in which the watermarks were arranged very closely
together, so that each stamp must show parts of three or four of the
devices. Stamps sold in 1902 or 1903 at a little over their original
cost jumped up and up in price until they fetched, even at auction, 700
or 800 or even 1,000 per cent. over "face": small fortunes were made;
but, as has happened, the rise was permanent and still continues.

The quaint "_Fiji Times_ Express" stamps, produced by private
enterprise, and which were the forerunners of a most interesting
series of stamps, many rare, were issued within the memory of many
collectors--One Penny, Three Pence, Six Pence, and One Shilling--and
yet that set of four stamps, dating from only 1870, is worth five
hundred times "face," a fair return even for a wait of forty years.
Certain stamps of a subsequent (1874) issue are now also very scarce;
but they are varieties as distinguished from the normal printings, and
scarcely come within the category of stamps obtainable by the casual
purchaser.

The pretty embossed Gambias, particularly those printed on the old
"Crown CC" paper, afford another instance of unearned increment: the
set of seven values was, say in 1885, to be bought for 3s. or 4s.--now
it is valued at about £6.

The reward of any far-seeing investor who had happened to purchase the
Four Annas, red and blue, issued in India in 1854, would have been a
rich one had he noticed an inversion of the Queen's head as regards its
frame--copies of this rarity are known on the entire original envelope,
so evidently they were, even if noticed, regarded merely as the results
of carelessness. It would have been a (perhaps fatal) shock to any
specialist in Indian stamps who had happened to purchase one of these
rare errors still on the original, to find that he, by the irony of
fate, had addressed and presumably stamped that very envelope thirty
or forty years previously. The stamp bought originally for a few pence
would have represented to-day, say, £130 unused, £70 used.

The purchase of a few copies of the Two Cents and Twelve Cents of the
first issue of Labuan, in 1879, some years before the advent of the
handsome "labels," all happily now obsolete, would not have proved a
matter for regret, seeing that the prices have for some years been well
over £10 for the two.

At present, the current Five Shillings stamps of Montserrat, Sierra
Leone, Southern Nigeria, &c., are catalogued, unused, at about 25 per
cent. over face, as once were the Two Rupees Fifty of Ceylon, the Five
Shillings St. Vincent, and the Five Shillings Victoria, blue on yellow;
without recommending it as an investment, it is by no means impossible
that within twenty years from now a Montserrat Five Shillings may be
worth £10 or even £15.

Incomparable as regards romantic interest and actual value, the first
two stamps of Mauritius have been, ever since their discovery in the
'sixties, the _desiderata_ of every collector.

Other stamps--and there are several--may be rarer; but, as examples
of a genuinely necessary issue, small in quantity, the One Penny and
Twopence "Post Office" of sixty-four years ago will always be looked
upon as the ultimate, even if seldom attained, goal of the Philatelist.

[Illustration: THE KING'S COPY OF THE TWO PENCE "POST OFFICE"
MAURITIUS.]

[Illustration: THE MAGNIFICENT UNUSED COPIES OF THE ONE PENNY AND TWO
PENCE "POST OFFICE" MAURITIUS STAMPS ACQUIRED BY HENRY J. DUVEEN, ESQ.,
OUT OF THE COLLECTION FORMED BY THE LATE SIR WILLIAM AVERY, BART.]

Originally looked upon as errors of engraving--"POST OFFICE" instead
of "POST PAID"--on the sheets of what is now known to be the second
issue of Mauritius, it was many years before they took their position
as a rare and distinct emission; now something under thirty copies are
known, and their status is firmly established.

From philatelic records we learn that the first-known copies changed
hands for the merest trifle: to-day they are catalogued at £1,000 and
£1,200 respectively, in used condition.

In 1894 a firm of stamp-dealers acquired a well-known collector's
unused _mint_ copies of these stamps at what would now be the very low
price of £680: they went into the collection of the late Sir William
Avery, and have now passed to another famous collector at the record
price of £3,500 for the two.

For romance, however, nothing approaches what occurred early in 1904.
A collector, visiting a friend resident in the north-west of London,
mentioned his hobby to his host, who, remarking that he once collected
stamps, brought out his almost-forgotten schoolboy album. Looking
casually through the old collection, the guest saw, to his amazement,
what proved to be the finest known unused copy of the Twopence "Post
Office," purchased by its owner forty years previously for a few pence:
this stamp was sold shortly afterwards at auction for £1,450, and now
adorns the fine collection of Mauritius stamps owned by King George V.

The quaintly designed stamps of Nevis, printed at first direct from
line-engraved plates, and subsequently from lithographic stones, show
a wonderful increase in value, from a few shillings each in 1880 to
three or four times the same number of pounds at the present time;
then, the stamps were only just obsolete, and most collectors were
satisfied with one or two single copies; now, the demand is for entire
sheets of twelve varieties, or, failing these, from the not very large
supplies printed, for plates "made up" from singles, pairs, and blocks,
arranged in their respective proper places.

The handsome "pence" issue of New Brunswick, some of the similar
stamps of Newfoundland, and the first emission of Nova Scotia, all
supplied by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., those unrivalled producers
of postage-stamps, were, within the memory of many collectors,
obtainable at very low figures; now many of the values, notably the One
Shilling, realise, especially when "mint," very high prices indeed.
As an instance, it may be mentioned that a young collector of thirty
years ago, submitting his stamps to a well-known expert, had a nice
unused copy of the One Shilling Nova Scotia valued at 25s., the present
valuation of which would be £55.

It is related, on excellent authority, that, long ago, a dealer,
learning that there was a small stock of these One Shilling stamps at
one of the Nova Scotia post-offices, forwarded a remittance to secure
them: he was successful in his desire, _but_ the postmaster had applied
to each stamp a fine impression of the local obliterator, possibly as a
concession to the then collector's presumed preference for postmarked
copies.

"Sydney Views," as the stamps of the first (1850) issue of New South
Wales have been, and probably always will be, known to philatelists,
afford another instance of unearned increment.

Far back in the 'sixties, the period of unappreciated but now regretted
opportunities for wonderful bargains, "Sydney Views" were a few pence
a dozen used, and about £1 a copy if unused--whether singles, strips,
or blocks did not matter then; now, postmarked copies are worth several
times the old price of unused specimens; and for the unused, from £25
to £50, according to condition and absence or presence of the original
gum, is not unreasonable. And yet, despite this enormous increase in
value, at a recent meeting of the Royal Philatelic Society a total of
2,363 of these now scarce stamps were produced from the collections of
fourteen members for purposes of study.

Other stamps there are of New South Wales, showing a great increase in
value during recent times, but none to compare in interest or demand
with the famous "Sydney Views."

New Zealand has issued many stamps, even in fairly modern times, which
have greatly appreciated: a famous collector, who has recently parted
with most of his treasures, had sent him years ago a quantity of
stamps at _one penny_ each--one of them, on an examination some time
afterwards, turned out to be the rare perforated One Penny, brown, of
1872, watermarked "NZ", and now worth some £30 used.

Of provisional issues, limited in quantity, ephemeral of use, and the
prey of speculators, there are many instances; but, though the rise in
value, from the original cost at the post-office, is often sharp, such
stamps can hardly be looked upon as investments one has missed, because
they were never obtainable by the public at large, as were the great
majority of stamps now rare and much sought after.

An instance of this limited and speculative creation of so-called
"provisionals" occurred in the Niger Coast Protectorate, at the
end of 1893, when a _very_ few copies of the current One Shilling
were surcharged "20/-," one or two (_literally_) in one colour,
three or four in another, and so on. Possibly these proved to
be good speculations, but they were not investments open to the
man-in-the-street, gifted with the most prophetic of philatelic spirits.

In 1881, a _bonâ fide_ shortage of the Fourpence stamps occurred
in St. Vincent, and a small quantity of the current One Shilling
was overprinted "4d": for some time the quotation for unused copies
was about thirty shillings, but now the price is nearer £20. Other
provisionals were issued in St. Vincent about this time, and most
of them have similarly appreciated in value; but collectors little
realised, even in 1881, that what was then considered a full price--and
grumbled at as such--would ever attain to its present day dimensions.
The very handsome Five Shillings stamp was priced five-and-twenty years
ago at 7s. 6d.: now it costs about £14.

Sierra Leone afforded an instance, in 1897, by issuing Twopence
Halfpenny provisionals, made by surcharging certain fiscal stamps of
the value of Three Pence, Six Pence, One Shilling and Two Shillings:
only fourteen years ago, and yet a sheet of thirty of the "2½d." on
Sixpence, costing 6s. 3d., is now catalogued at nearly £9, whilst the
set of five varieties surcharged on the Two Shillings stamp, originally
costing 1s. 0½d., is now worth £50.

The great rarity of South Australia is the Fourpence, specially printed
in blue in 1870-71, to be surcharged "3-PENCE", but from a sheet (or
possibly part of a sheet) of which the new value was accidentally
omitted. Very few copies are known, and all but two are used: the two
being in a "pair."

The first issue of Tasmania, then known as "Van Diemen's Land," affords
an instance of a substantial rise during the last thirty years; but,
although substantial, it is not abnormal. The Fourpence, blue, of
1870-71, would have proved a satisfactory investment to the purchaser
of a moderate quantity at its original cost, for it is now catalogued
at £5.

Owing to the greater part of the stock of the Sixpence, stone, 1884,
of Tobago, with watermark of Crown "CA", having been used for a
provisional surcharged Halfpenny, that stamp rose from its first
catalogue price of about 1s. 3d. to its present value of £7 10s.
No dealer seems to have obtained more than a small supply of this
Sixpence, and the subsequent consignments from London to Tobago were
printed in a totally different colour, orange-brown.

Practically all the stamps of the Transvaal have greatly appreciated,
and large sums have been made by the fortunate holders of stock
acquired at the old 1882 figures. In an old, but well-known catalogue,
thirty-five stamps are priced in unused state, varying from 3d. to
10s., the latter being for a One Penny in red, on Sixpence, black,
of May, 1879: and sixty-four used, ranging from 6d. to 7s. 6d., and
including amongst the intermediate prices those of four of the May,
1879, provisionals. A glance at Gibbons will show, even taking the
commonest varieties, a great rise all round, sufficient even to satisfy
a greedy investor. Of minor Transvaal varieties there are many, and
several of these show an abnormal rise in price: on the other hand,
some have appreciated very little. How, therefore, is the would-be
speculator-investor to know what to take?

In the old catalogue above referred to, some of the 1881 Turks' Islands
provisionals are priced from 6d. to 2s. each unused--presumably the
commonest varieties: now these stamps vary from 12s. to £5 for the
"½", from £3 to £30 for the "2½", and from 30s. to £7 for the
"4". The One Shilling, lilac, of 1873-79, largely used for the above
provisionals, has increased some twelve-fold in value since 1882.

If the reverend gentleman who, by the help of a typewriter, evolved
the earliest of the 1895 issues of Uganda, had only a few remainders
on hand, he should reap a handsome return for his original outlay of
two or three hundred cowries: but most probably he did not keep any,
consequently the stamps are, and will remain, scarce and expensive.

The Five Shillings, Victoria, blue on yellow, is a striking stamp,
and its present value is somewhere about £15 unused: a very famous
collection contains several mint copies, which the owner once remarked
were "Not bad at 7s. 6d. each."

Mr. Stanley Gibbons's well-known half-sheet of the Twopence, Western
Australia, printed in 1879, in mauve, the colour of the Sixpence,
affords a fitting close to this cursory list of good investments in
British Colonies: acquired at 6d. each, the price to the collector was
5s., then raised to £2, and now it stands at over £20.

Space precludes a similarly long list of foreign stamps which have
greatly appreciated; but the following examples, with early prices (as
indicated) and those at present asked, may be interesting, showing the
rises in many of the medium stamps:--

Egypt--1st issue, set, 6s. 3d. (in 1882), now £6 2s. 6d.

Oldenburg--1st issue, ¹/₃₀ thaler, 1s. (in 1882), now £2.

Oldenburg--1859-61 issues (in 1882), from 9d. each; now 4s. is the
lowest, 12s. the next, and the highest £11.

Schleswig-Holstein--the pretty little stamps of 1850 were (in 1882) 9d.
and 1s. 6d. each: they have now risen to 28s. and 50s.

Holland--1st issue, 9d., 6d., and 1s. respectively for the three
values, unused: now 15s., 20s., and 30s.

Of the following, most, if purchased twenty years ago, would now show
a very handsome profit, even after allowing 5 per cent. _compound_
interest.

The Swiss Cantonals, first issue Roumania (Moldavia), _tête-bêche_
pairs of France, inverted U.S.A., Paris prints of Greece, early
Uruguays, some Brazils, early Japans, middle-period Hawaiian Islands,
Italian States, early Spain and Colonies, first Samoas, first
Shanghais, &c.

Concerning the inverted U.S.A., it is said--though these stories are
often more interesting than true--that a purchaser of a quantity of
one of these errors took them back to the post-office and had them
exchanged for normally printed stamps. If true, the present feelings
of the purchaser (if he survives) on being reminded of his neglected
opportunity would be interesting.

Instances might be multiplied almost indefinitely by comparing the
prices in old and present catalogues, but the instances given are
sufficient to show the great profits which might have been made by the
judicious investment of _small_ amounts in the _proper_ stamps: large
amounts would probably lower prices.

A purchase in 1882 of twenty £1 "Anchor" would not lower the market if
now offered for sale, but £500 worth would probably result in a slump.

However, it is generally a case of _Hinc illæ lacrymæ_, for the
would-be traveller on the royal road to ease and great wealth has
either never invested at all or has selected stamps which show a marked
depreciation as the years roll on--_e.g._, the Fourpence Halfpenny of
Great Britain, which was going to rise abnormally, but which has been
"unloaded" at, or even under, "face." Only a trifling instance, but it
serves to show the risks of investment in stamps when current or just
obsolete; it is safer to buy those which have during a period of some
years shown an inclination to rise steadily--but then investors and
speculators are generally impatient and won't wait.

During the late South African War, there was an excessive speculation
by the uninitiated among the soldiers and the populace in the
provisional stamps overprinted "V.R.I." and "E.R.I."; thousands
appeared to think that a few pounds invested during the war would
enable them to retire on reaching the Strand with their booty. They
all bought to sell, and genuine collectors, finding the supply so
excessive, have only required a little patience to benefit their
pockets by acquiring at "greatly reduced prices," much under "face,"
from the would-be get-rich-quicks who wouldn't or couldn't wait. As a
rule, however, it is the early bird who catches the worm, and only at
such rare seasons of extraordinary national excitement are excessive
booms possible; and the early bird must have some solid ground of
knowledge and intelligence to guide him to the worm.




VIII

FORGERIES,
FAKES, AND
FANCIES




CHAPTER VIII

FORGERIES, FAKES, AND FANCIES

    Early counterfeits and their exposers--The "honest"
    facsimile--"Album Weeds"--Forgeries classified--Frauds on
    the British Post Office--Forgeries "paying" postage--The One
    Rupee, India--Fraudulent alteration of values--The British 10s.
    and £1 "Anchor"--A too-clever "fake"--Joined pairs--Drastic
    tests--New South Wales "Views" and "Registered"--The Swiss
    Cantonals--Government "imitations"--"Bogus" stamps.


Mr. Edward L. Pemberton, whose early writings on Philately will always
be regarded as little short of inspired from the marvellous intuition
which led him to the precise and the accurate, wrote a booklet on
"Forged Stamps, and How to Detect Them" in 1863. Already in the history
of this new hobby the forger had been at work catering for collectors;
it was, of course, from still earlier times that the unscrupulous had
endeavoured to relieve Governments of some portions of their revenues
by counterfeiting what is a kind of paper currency. Pemberton was not
the first author on this subject, but I turn to him because he was
the best of several contemporary writers in this as well as in other
directions. Of this superiority he was not entirely unconscious, for
in his "Introduction" he says: "We have tested the usefulness of the
only English work on the 'Falsification of Postage Stamps,' having gone
through it carefully, and after an impartial reading, feel convinced
that, from the vagueness of the descriptions, both of the forgeries and
genuine stamps, many persons testing stamps from them would select the
forgery as genuine, and _vice versâ_."

To satisfy (in some measure) the curiosity of his readers, our
early authority gives some particulars of the forgers. The "first
and foremost" in the nefarious practice was a Zurich forger, whose
productions--Swiss Cantonals, Modena, Romagna, &c.--had the largest
circulation in Mr. Pemberton's time. This gentleman (evidently well
known to the author) had an agent for the sale of his wares at Basle,
the prices of these latter being quoted at "for most of the Swiss 80
cts. each used, or unused 1 franc; for the Orts Post and Poste Locale
50 cts. each; for Modena and Romagna 80 cts."

The dealer who occupied the second position of dishonour in the
estimation of this philatelic Sherlock Holmes was a Brussels
individual, whose provisional Parma, Modena, Naples, and Spain sold
largely and were well executed.

These two appear to have been the leaders of the counterfeiting of
their time, "those indeed who have made almost a trade of it"; but
there was also a Brunswick dealer who "tried his hand at the Danish
essays," and a few forged stamps were supposed to hail from Leipsic.

A couple of years later John Marmaduke Stourton, in a brochure "How to
Detect Forged Stamps," gives evidence of a swarm of forgers cropping
up in even our own country at Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, and
London, in Hamburg and New York, as well as the Swiss and Belgian
forgers who still plied their traffic. The Glasgow productions were
of the "facsimile" class, and were possibly manufactured with the
well-intentioned but unwise endeavour to provide approximately correct
coloured facsimiles of stamps which were too scarce to be readily
accessible to all collectors. The "facsimile" has no doubt often been
produced with the best of intentions by firms of high repute, but the
protecting word "facsimile" or "Falsch," or other sign by which the
true nature of the copy may be identified, has so often been removed
for fraudulent purposes after it has left honest hands that there is
no alternative in these days of later and fuller experience to define
"facsimile," so far as it relates to Philately, as, in the words of my
glossary, "a euphemism for a forgery."

It is, however, to be borne in mind by the student that in the
beginning of Philately there was not entirely the same attitude
towards the production of legitimate (if any could so be called) or
honest facsimiles, and, indeed, a writer in one of the early journals,
in proposing the formation of a philatelic society, suggests that
one of the duties such an institution could properly fulfil would
be the reproduction of choice editions (copies) of rare stamps for
limited circulation! Also in the _Stamp Collector's Magazine_, whose
proprietors and engravers were as free of just reproach as Cæsar's
wife, we find the engraver so pleased with the illustration he has
produced for that journal of the Nicaragua stamp of 1862 that he
announces:--

    "NICARAGUAN STAMP.--Will be ready in a week. A beautiful proof
    of the Nicaraguan Stamp (equal to the original) will be sent
    for 13 postage-stamps. Only 75 proofs of this will be taken;
    each proof will be numbered, and then the block burnt. An early
    application is really necessary, 25 copies being already sold.
    Address...."

These "proofs," rarer, no doubt, than the originals, were endorsed
editorially, and collectors unable to procure the original stamp were
told they "would do well to provide themselves with one of these
facsimiles." The astute Mr. Pemberton, however, took a very different
view. "Although he tells every one that they are merely facsimiles and
not the real stamps, we cannot but help thinking that he is acting
wrongly; for less scrupulous dealers than himself will sell them as
genuine.... Again, these imitations are by far the best executed of any
we have seen. The regularly forged stamps are wretched in comparison
with these, and therefore all the more caution will be required to
detect them." So he proceeds to a detailed description of the small
differences existing between genuine and imitation.

There is no royal road by which the collector can attain to the
accurate and ready discrimination between the right and the wrong
copies of stamps. Forgeries have multiplied enormously between 1863
and 1911, so that now the standard handbook by the Rev. R. B. Earée is
a masterpiece of detail entitled "Album Weeds," occupying two large
volumes containing nearly 1,300 pages of text. It would be idle to
pretend that even the expert has every description contained therein
"at his fingers' ends." Yet the expert is rarely deceived in a stamp,
even when he has not access at the time to Mr. Earée's work or other
references. I remember an early instruction, the only one that covers
the subject, but I forget whence it comes. It was that if you study
your stamps an imperceptible sense will come to you that will enable
you at once to acclaim the true and to suspect if not denounce the
false.

Beyond this I can only advise the reader that, as a complete novice, he
would be unwise to purchase costly rarities and valuable stamps from
unknown and irresponsible persons. The novice will remain a novice in
these matters, unless he acquires some knowledge of the differences
(generally readily distinguishable) between a stamp that is from
an engraved plate and a forgery that is, say, lithographed or from
a wood-cut. It is important to remember also--at least for the new
collector--that strange though it may seem to him, stamps really do
fetch what they are considered to be worth by collectors and dealers
of experience, and that if rare stamps are offered much below the
current quotation by individuals supposed to know their true worth, it
may often be, and generally is, that the wares they have for sale are
either forgeries or carefully mended copies of damaged originals.

There is little danger of the collector being much at the mercy of the
forger if his transactions are confined to the reputable dealers, for
these latter have done more to purify the honest trade in stamps than
can, I think, be said of the dealers in the objects of other forms of
collecting. They have expert knowledge on their staff, and access to
highly specialised opinions and advice in the various branches of the
subject.

Personally, I do not consider the forgery question nearly so serious an
obstacle in Philately as in other crafts. Most active stamp-collectors
are companionable with other students of the same subject, and
there would be little opportunity for an _Affaire Vrain-Lucas_, in
which during a period of several years a French autograph collector
accumulated 27,000 autographs for about £6,000, mostly forgeries, and
all from the same source, or for such a string of incidents as was
exposed in the recent china case in Great Britain.

[Illustration: A GENUINE "PLATE 6."]

Forgeries of stamps are made either for the purpose of defrauding the
Government or else for rifling the pockets of the stamp collector;
these may be classed in two groups: (1) where a stamp is a forgery
either in its entirety or in some added, as distinguished from
"altered," material detail; and (2) where a genuine stamp is so altered
as to apparently convert it into some other stamp. The first group are
generally covered in the term "forgeries," the second being specially
distinguished as "fakes." There is another class dubbed "bogus," or
sometimes more elegantly _timbres de fantasie_, which comprises labels
which are a pure invention, and never had any genuine existence at all.

[Illustration: THE FAMOUS "STOCK EXCHANGE" FORGERY OF THE ONE SHILLING
GREEN STAMP OF GREAT BRITAIN.

One specimen was used on October 31, 1872, and the other on June 13 of
the next year. The enlargements betray trifling differences, in the
details of the design as compared with the genuine stamp above.]

The first attack on the Post Office revenue of which there is any
record is the subject of a letter from Downing Street, London, dated
September 2, 1840, and addressed to the late Sir (then Mr.) Rowland
Hill:--"Mr. Smith has just called and informed me that a forgery of the
Penny Label was yesterday detected in his office. The letter bearing
the forged stamp has been handed over to the Stamp Office to be dealt
with by them ... the forged stamp is a wood-cut...." An entry a few
days later in Mr. Hill's diary reads:--"At the Stamp Office I saw the
forged label. It is a miserable thing and could not possibly deceive
any except the most stupid and ignorant."

The above seems to have been an almost isolated attempt to defraud the
revenue, but it is interesting as being the earliest known forgery,
appearing, as it did, within four months of the issue of the first
postage-stamp.

A far more romantic forgery, and one of almost colossal magnitude, was
discovered in 1898. About that time, a large quantity of British One
Shilling stamps--those of the 1865 type in green, with large uncoloured
letters in the corners--came on the market, though, as they had been
used on telegram forms, they ought to have been destroyed: probably the
guilty parties relied on this official practice, not always honoured in
observance, as offering a security against not merely the tracing of
the offence but the discovering of the fraud itself.

Anyhow, after a lapse of twenty-six years, it was found that amongst
these one shilling stamps there was a large proportion of forgeries
(purporting to be from plate 5), all used on July 23, 1872, at the
Stock Exchange Telegraph Office, London, E.C. More recent discoveries
show that the fraud was continued for over twelve months,[16] and, as
an indication of the precautions taken by the forgers, plate 6 (which
came into use in March, 1872) was duly imitated, although the change of
the small figures was a detail probably never noticed by members of the
general public.

According to calculations, based on the average numbers used on several
days, the Post Office must have lost about £50 a day during the period
mentioned above. Who were the originators and perpetrators of the fraud
will probably never be known: possibly a stock-broker's clerk (or a
small "syndicate" of those gentlemen), or, more probably, a clerk in
the Post Office itself. It was an ingenious fraud, well planned and
cleverly carried out at a minimum of risk, and, but for the market for
old stamps, it would never have been discovered.

Amongst foreign countries, Spain has been the greatest sufferer from
forgery: her numerous, and until recent times almost yearly, issues
were mainly necessitated by the circulation of counterfeits, which
appeared on letters within a very short time after each new series of
stamps had been put on sale.

Some of the old Italian States, particularly Naples and the Neapolitan
Provinces, were defrauded of part of their revenue by numerous
forgeries of some of their stamps; and in these cases, as in that of
Spain, letters survive on which the postage has been entirely, or in
part, "paid" by means of counterfeits.

An ingenious fraud on the Indian Post Office was discovered in 1890,
through the care with which collectors frequently examine their stamps.
The One Rupee, slate, of the 1882-88 issue, very cleverly imitated,
was found to be frequently coming to this country on letters from
Bombay, and police inquiries, made on the information of a well-known
philatelist, led to the detection of the culprit; he, it seems,
engraved a facsimile on box-wood, and printed his stamps, one by one,
on paper as similar as possible to the genuine, but without watermark;
the perforation he effected by placing the printed label between two
plates of thin metal each with holes corresponding to the intended
perforations, and then, by the aid of a blunt wire, punching out the
small circular pieces of paper!

Other instances have been noted, but those given are the best known,
and serve as good examples of frauds against Post Offices, so far as
forgery of the entire stamp is concerned; but, of recent years, a new
kind of fraud has come into vogue--the alteration of a genuine stamp
into one of a much higher denomination, affecting British Colonies
only.

The possibility of this has resulted from the desire of the authorities
to print the majority of colonial stamps, available for postal
or fiscal purposes, in two colours--one being distinctive of the
particular value, and the other a purple or green, very susceptible to
any attempt to remove an obliteration or cancellation, whether by the
Post Office or by a member of the public: by the latter, in writing-ink.

The _modus operandi_ is ingenious--a stamp is selected, of which nearly
the whole design is, say, in green, the name and (low) value being in
some distinctive colour; the original value and name are removed by
chemical means, the name and new (high) value being substituted in
a colour applicable to the higher denomination--result, if the work
be carefully done, a stamp which would deceive not only the ordinary
official (who is seldom of real philatelic inclinations) but even,
at first glance, the average collector, unless he is on the look-out
for such "fakes," which, as a matter of fact, have been made for his
delectation also.

As has been remarked, the number of forgeries made to deceive
collectors has been immeasurably greater than of those prepared for
defrauding the Revenue; and it has been endeavoured to select some
of the most daring, and often successful, attempts to palm off a
clever forgery as a genuine--generally rare, but sometimes quite
common--postage-stamp.

In 1903, taking our own country first, an attempt was made to place on
the market unused copies of the rare Ten Shillings and One Pound stamps
of 1878-83, printed on Large Anchor paper, and perforated 14: these
were almost at once discovered by Mr. Nissen, the same philatelist who
first noticed the One Shilling (plate 5) counterfeits used at the Stock
Exchange Post Office, to be exceedingly clever forgeries. They were,
save for a slight lack of finish in the finer details, practically of
design identical with that of the original stamps; the colours were
well matched, and, most deceptive of all, the paper and perforation
were undoubtedly genuine. This timely discovery nipped the forgers'
schemes in the bud, but, some eight years subsequently, the lower of
these two forged stamps came again on the market, this time provided
with a neat, though fraudulent, postmark.

So far as can be judged from the examination of specimens of this
forgery, the paper used was that on which were printed certain "Inland
Revenue" stamps--probably the Threepence, which alone was watermarked
and perforated as were the two stamps imitated; but possibly other
fiscals also were used--the colour being chemically removed,
leaving a blank piece of paper, properly and genuinely watermarked
and perforated, all ready to receive the fraudulent imitation. An
undoubtedly clever, but almost unsuccessful, fraud on collectors;
though rumour has it that a well-known philatelist, usually credited
with capability to protect himself, was a victim for a substantial sum,
as the price of an unused "Pound Anchor"!

A recently attempted fraud--this time of the kind known as a
"fake"--has been, it is hoped, successfully exposed. As is well
known, especially to collectors of British stamps, the first Twopence
Halfpenny stamp, issued in 1875, shows an error of corner-lettering
on plate 2: the twelfth and last stamp in the eighth horizontal row
should have been lettered "L.H.--H.L." but, through want of care,
actually bore the letters "L.H.--F.L." This error, especially in unused
condition, is scarce, and the faker has naturally made an effort to
supply the deficiency.

Obviously, the easiest way to manufacture this error is to select a
stamp from plate 2 with the lettering of "L.F.--F.L." (the last stamp
in the _sixth_ row), and alter the first "F" into "H", with hope of
probable success because the collector's criticism would naturally
(if wrongly) be concentrated on the incorrect letter in the lower
left-hand corner. Unfortunately for the "fake," which was very well
executed, its creator, wishing no doubt to enhance its value, had left
the "error" in pair with the eleventh stamp in the same row: result, a
very nice pair from the sixth row, lettered "K.F.--F.K.", "L.H.--F.L.",
showing (as a consequence of being in pair) a mistake--"H" for "F" in
the upper right-hand corner. This, of course, condemned the error at
once, but the example serves to show how very careful one must be,
and how necessary it is to examine and consider every circumstance in
connection with the particular stamp under observation.

There are two varieties of stamps, differing from the normal through
some slip in the process of manufacture--bicoloured stamps, in which
the portion printed in one colour is inverted as regards the remainder
of the design, caused by carelessness in "feeding" the partly-printed
sheet wrong way up into the press, for the second impression completing
the design; and pairs of stamps, which, each quite normal if severed,
are when _se tenant_ inverted in respect to each other, a condition
philatelically termed _tête-bêche_.

The fraudulent manipulator has turned his attention to these, generally
scarce and frequently very rare, eccentricities, cutting out from
the bicoloured stamp the part printed in one colour and replacing it
with great care, but upside down; and, as to the _tête-bêche_ pairs,
manufacturing them by means of two single copies, a strong adhesive
mixture and heavy pressure.

Sometimes, so well have these frauds been made that nothing short of
several hours' _boiling_ has sufficed to dissolve the illegal union of
the two pieces of paper--a drastic test, and one somewhat detrimental
to the value of such copies as are enabled, by their genuineness, to
survive the ordeal. The possible result to, say, a mint imperforate
Fourpence, Ceylon, suspected of having recently acquired its otherwise
desirable "margins," reminds me of the test given (not advocated) by
a famous philatelist for the detection of forgeries of early Cashmere
stamps, which were printed in water-colour--"Put them in water; if the
colour is 'fast' the stamp is a forgery; if it comes off, leaving a
blank piece of paper, the stamp is genuine"!

A famous forgery was put on the market some years ago, the stamp
imitated being the One Penny value of the well-known first issue of New
South Wales, commonly called "Sydney Views." This stamp was issued in
sheets of twenty-five, each repetition of the design being separately
engraved on the plate and so giving twenty-five minor varieties; and
subsequently the entire plate was re-cut, doubling the number of
varieties for the specialist. The forger engraved his fraudulent wares
and printed the labels, as were the originals, direct from the plate,
in a very good imitation of the ink used in 1850 and on similar paper;
and these reproductions, often in pairs, were affixed to old envelopes
and cancelled with forged postmarks.

So well executed were these forgeries that suspicions as to their
character were not raised until an endeavour was made to ascertain the
original positions on the sheet of these desirable (?) specimens: then
it was found that the details of design did not tally with those of
any of the known varieties, and the career of yet another forgery was
brought (somewhat tardily) to an untimely end.

Watermarks in the paper were for many years a stumbling-block to
the counterfeiter, and practically all the old and generally poorly
lithographed forgeries were on plain paper: nowadays, however, the
watermark is imitated by actually thinning the paper where necessary,
or by impressing it with a die cut to resemble the design, or by
painting the "watermark" on the back with an oily composition which
renders the paper slightly transparent, and so apparently thinner.

In a comparatively recent forgery of the Registration stamp of New
South Wales sent by a correspondent, the counterfeit was produced by
the same process (from line-engraved plates) as the original; the
watermark showed very distinctly when the label was placed face down,
but was not visible at all when held up to the light: it was a "paint"
mark in a very faint tint of the ink used for printing that part of the
forgery where it appeared.

Occasionally, but it must be admitted not very often, forgeries are so
inscribed. A notable instance is the series of large handsome stamps
issued by the United States during 1875-95 for payment of the postage
on newspapers, singly or in bulk, and ranging from one cent to the high
value of one hundred dollars: on each of these particular counterfeits
the word "Falsch" was engraved as part of the design, and "Facsimile"
was printed across the central portion of the stamp.

Practically the same course was adopted in the native manufacture of
forged sets of the early Japanese stamps, the counterfeits (which
were produced by the same process as the originals) being marked in
the design with two microscopic characters signifying "facsimile":
unfortunately for the honest intention of the forger to give due notice
of the spuriousness of his productions, the incriminating letters are
so small that a carefully applied postmark is apt to completely hide
them.

Some stamps have been very extensively forged: for instance, of the
2½ rappen issued in the Swiss Canton of Basle, in 1845, no less
than seventeen distinct counterfeits have been detected. The stamp, of
which an embossed dove carrying a letter in its beak is the central
part of the design, is tricoloured--pale greenish blue, dull crimson
and black--and, in common with most of the other Swiss Cantonals, is
becoming rare. Copies have also been faked by thinning down card proofs
of the genuine impression and adding gum.

Of the rarest Cantonal stamp, usually known as the "double Geneva," and
consisting of two stamps of 5 centimes each, joined at the top by a
long label inscribed with the aggregate value of 10 centimes, fifteen
(probably more) forgeries are known; and as the entire stamp is priced
at £75 unused and £28 used, it is naturally worth the counterfeiter's
while to persist in the improvement of his imitations, with little
hope, however, of attaining a perfection sufficient to defy discovery.

Individuals, however, are not the only forgers of postage-stamps:
Governments, too, in their anxiety to provide so-called "reprints"
for sale to dealers and collectors, have not hesitated to supply
the necessary dies and plates, replacing those originally used and
long since cancelled; and some have sunk so low as to deliberately
manufacture counterfeits, and sell them as genuine stamps out of a
supposed stock left on hand!

A reprint is an impression from the old original die, plate, or stone,
taken after the stamp has become obsolete; but prints from a new die,
however faithful a copy it may be, can only be correctly given one
name--forgery.

In 1875, the United States Government, desiring to exhibit a complete
series of their postage-stamps, and finding that the original dies and
plates used for production of the Five and Ten Cents, 1847, were not
available, ordered new dies to be cut: impressions from these, though
closely approaching the originals, can be distinguished therefrom by
certain minute but well-defined differences in the design.

The first issue of Fiji--a series printed from ordinary printers' type
at the office of a local newspaper, and known amongst philatelists as
the "_Fiji Times_ Express" stamps--has been twice "reprinted" from
a special setting-up of similar type; but, as the original printing
_forme_ had been "distributed," even a re-setting of the actual type
would produce little less than a forgery of a class euphemistically
described as "official imitations."

The greatest sinners in this respect were the officials at Jassy,
Roumania, who, in response to numerous applications for copies of the
four very rare stamps of July, 1858, caused to be made, at different
times, no less than three varying types of the 54, 81, and 108
paras--which they sold as genuine. It was only in the late 'seventies
that this official fraud was thoroughly exposed.

As I have indicated, it is impossible, within the limits of a single
chapter, to do more than touch the fringe of the subject of forgery
and "faking," and the dissection of a few skilful imitations would
not materially add to the warning which the previous few pages will
have conveyed--that the interest taken by the forger in Philately is a
purely mercenary one, detrimental to our scientific hobby and damaging
to our pockets; the collector must always be on the defensive and on
the look-out for pitfalls, not relying too much on a guarantee of
genuineness (which only secures reimbursement of money paid) to prevent
the admission into his album of a forgery or clever fake.

The prevalence of forgery--and the almost equally reprehensible
"reprinting"--should be no insurmountable obstacle to the collector;
rather it should be a spur to prick the sides of his intent to intimate
study and patient research. By collecting in a thorough and scientific
manner, the collector will so impress on his memory the general
features of the majority of the world's issues, together with the
details of the safeguards afforded by paper, watermark and perforation,
that the first glimpse at a forgery or fake will reveal a something
which at once rouses suspicion that the particular label is not the
legitimate offspring of the Post Office.

The "bogus" stamp, that is, the fraudulent label which has never
existed as an original, is not to be feared: standard catalogues of
the present day contain a practically accurate list of the designs
of all issued stamps, and information as to new issues is so widely
disseminated by the philatelic press that the chances of successfully
placing a bogus stamp or issue are very small.

There have been frauds of this kind, but they are so few, and their
character is so easily ascertained from the perusal of any catalogue
deserving of the name, that it will suffice to merely mention two or
three countries which have had bogus issues foisted on them.

A place supposed to be named Sedang and said to be ruled by a Frenchman
was credited with a set of stamps for its non-existent Post Office;
Brunei, in 1895 or thereabouts, was reported to have issued a set of
stamps, which eventually turned out to be the private speculation of
some European trader; and Cordoba (a province of Argentina) had her
two legitimate stamps of 5 and 10 centavos supplemented by four higher
values of similar design made for the delectation of collectors.

There are a good many more, including the so-called issues for
Clipperton Island, Torres Straits, Principality of Trinidad, Counani
(the character of these last named is, I believe, still contested),
Spitsbergen; and certain labels purporting to hail from Hayti, Hawaii,
German East Africa, and Mozambique.

For the novice it may be well to add that the absence of a variety
of a known stamp from the catalogue does not necessarily signify
that it must be so rare in that particular form that it is unknown
to the cataloguer. It may, of course, be a new discovery, but it is
not less likely to be a variety which has been built up by some one
interested in beguiling you with a fancy of his own. Forgers have been
known to add new denominations to the sets of stamps they have been
counterfeiting, that is to say, bearing face values unknown in the
genuine series, and sometimes fictitious overprints or surcharges are
applied to genuine stamps. The most remarkable instance of the latter I
can recall is the "Two Cents" overprint on the 3 cents brown on yellow
Sarawak, which even the local authorities had come to believe in as
having been applied by an up-country official in need of Two Cents
stamps, but which were surcharged in London, where the dies of the
surcharge and the very genuine-looking combinations of postmarks were
subsequently found during an important _cause celèbre_.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] See _The Postage Stamp_, vi. 153.




IX

FAMOUS
COLLECTIONS




CHAPTER IX

FAMOUS COLLECTIONS

    The "mania" in the 'sixties--Some wonderful early
    collections--The first auction sale--Judge Philbrick and his
    collection--The Image collection--Lord Crawford's "United
    States" and "Great Britain"--Other great modern collections--M.
    la Rénotière's "legions of stamps"--Synopsis of sales of
    collections.


To fail to emphasise the broadly democratic character of the world
of stamp collectors would be to overlook an important aspect of the
popularity of this science, or, as it is to the majority, the "hobby"
of stamps. I have already indicated the dual side of the collecting in
the 'sixties, when the boy-collector predominated in numbers, but the
adult student had the influence that gave "Philately" or "Timbrologie"
a permanent place among the recreative studies. A note on the "Postage
Stamp Exchange" in _The Express_, in April, 1862, indicates the
benevolent toleration on the part of the outside public and the press
concerning the new "mania." "... We may mention that the mania has
been increased in such a degree as to lead to the formation of a
postage-stamp exchange, the locality being Change Alley, leading out
of Birchin Lane. There every evening about fifty boys, _and some men,
too_, may be seen industriously exchanging old disfigured stamps, most
of which are carefully fastened in books. The earnestness and assiduity
with which the 'trade' is carried on is very remarkable."

"'Some men, too,'" says Mr. Mount Brown in sending me the paragraph,
"is very lovely." It would be idle to disguise the fact that the mantle
of bare toleration of the "mania" has not been entirely discarded by
the uninitiated, and it has been a very disconcerting privilege to have
for chairmen at lectures on postage-stamps, at literary and scientific
institutions, gentlemen who have introduced the subject by confessing
that they had once been collectors themselves, _but that was when they
were at school_. The press, however, has shown a greater respect for
the substantial basis of scientific interest which underlies the hobby,
and to-day _The Daily Telegraph_, which has led the modern journalism
in the matter of regular specialised articles, has its column of
"Postage Stamp" notes every week, and so too has _The Evening News_.

To-day, the press frequently discusses interesting new issues of
stamps, and much publicity is now given to that _argumentum ad
populum_, the remarkable prices which are constantly being realised
in the stamp-market. Considering that stamp-collecting can scarcely
be regarded as having started prior to 1860-61, the prices of stamps
quickly attained respectable proportions. In _The Young Ladies'
Journal_ of December 14, 1864, there is this paragraph:--

"We had almost heard nothing of late of the postage-stamp collecting
mania, till suddenly the formidable announcement is made by
advertisement that an amateur is ready to sell his collection--for what
sum would it be thought?--nothing less than £250."

Had the doubting Thomas[17] (for I dare say gentlemen edited ladies'
papers in those days, much as they undertake the duties of "Aunt Molly"
and the "Editress's Confidences" in the ladies' journals of to-day) had
the foresight to buy a collection worth £250 in 1864, it would have
been worth not less than, say, £25,000, probably more, to-day.

The collecting of stamps has at all times in the history of Philately
been enjoyed by young and old, by men and women of all ranks and
stations. Kings have shared this pastime with the humblest of
their subjects, and do so to this day. His Majesty King George V.
once wrote of stamp-collecting to a friend that "it is one of the
greatest pleasures of my life." A letter "enthusing" on the delights
of stamp-hunting reached me the other day from a correspondent who
claimed to be "only a working-man." There are few old stagers amongst
collectors who have not encountered, and perhaps even been stimulated
by, the boastful eagerness with which a youngster in his 'teens tells
you of bargains got from Gibbons's books, or of a rare "snap," an
unnoticed variety priced as the normal from Peckitt. For the Strand
is full of bargains to-day, to the personal hunter who has the right
knowledge.

Having alluded to the wide differences in ages and in stations of
collectors throughout the philatelic period 1862-1911, it will
be interesting to follow the more notable collections in their
vicissitudes. M. Alfred Potiquet, one of the very earliest collectors,
whose catalogue is of extreme rarity in its first edition, was probably
an almost solitary example of the collector of unused stamps only, in
the first days of the hobby. It is strange that in these later days
the collectors on the Continent, almost to a man, prefer used stamps.
But to return to Potiquet: he was probably the first collector of
importance to sell his collection outright, which he did about the
time the second edition of his catalogue was issued by Lacroix. The
collection was a small one, about five hundred stamps, all unused, and
he sold the lot to Edard de Laplante in 1862 for five hundred francs,
of which sum the purchaser had to borrow one half to complete the
deal. But, if the reader considers that five hundred francs represents
approximately £20, he will appreciate the purchaser's bargain when
told that the collection included the New Brunswick 1s. (representing
to-day £70); the Nova Scotia 1s. (£55-£65 to-day); the Natal 3d. and
6d. embossed in plain relief, which now are almost unattainable, except
as reprints; Tuscany's 60 crazie (now worth £35) and the 1 soldo (£7 to
£8); and the 4 and 5 centimes "Poste Locale" stamps of the transitional
period of Switzerland, which catalogue at £100 and £10 respectively;
and add to these many of the early issues of the Americas, the prices
of which are now leaping up in the catalogues, and of which we know
Potiquet to have had a good number, including the very rare error,
the half-peso of Peru, printed in rose-red instead of yellow, through
a transfer of that denomination getting mixed up in the making up of
the lithographic stone for the 1 peseta. The above error is priced £13
used, but an unused copy would be worth very considerably more. He had
also the 1 real and 2 reales of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company
stamps, on _blued_ paper.

Who was the amateur whose collection was referred to in the _Young
Ladies' Journal_ in 1864? It was possibly the "long cherished album"
of that "worthy embodiment of Christian and gentleman," the Rev.
F. Stainforth, the chief gems of which passed about this time into
the possession of Mr. Philbrick. What price the reverend invalid
(he survived the sale but eighteen months) received has not been
handed down to us, but as Mr. Stainforth had been in the swim from
the beginning, as he was a ready and high bidder for "any real or
supposed rarity," and as his album was a general reference collection
at the Saturday afternoon rendezvous at the rectory of All Hallows,
London Wall, it goes without saying that it was rich in stamps that
to-day would be of the greatest value. At least two of the St. Louis
Postmaster stamps were included. The first "Patimus" British Guiana
known was in the Stainforth collection, a rarity with the motto of the
colony _Damus petimusque vicissim_, wrongly spelt "patimus," an error
which, as Mr. Edward L. Pemberton pointed out, laid the colonists
open to "the charge of selecting that which was beyond their ability
to spell," but which was purely an engraver's error. The Stainforth
collection was also rich in the American locals, and it was to this
collection that Mr. Mount Brown was indebted for the useful lists of
these stamps in his catalogues. From the little we know of the reverend
gentleman's collection, we may be sure it would have well justified the
remarkable price of £250 even in 1864 or 1865.

Few--very few--collectors of that period, and indeed of later times,
withstood the temptations of a rapidly rising market or the emergencies
of pecuniary embarrassments; many sold their collections when prices
seemed to be great but were, as events have proved, still in their
early stages. One collector retained his collection from 1859 to
1896: its owner, Mr. W. Hughes-Hughes, of the Inner Temple, started
collecting in the former year, but ceased active collecting in 1874,
from which time his album was latent until 1896--with the exception of
some items lent for display at the London Exhibition of 1890. Happily
for our instruction, Mr. Hughes-Hughes was one of those methodical
men who keep a strict account of expenditures, and he had spent £69
on his stamp-collection in those fifteen years. In 1896 he sold that
collection for £3,000. It was then cheap at the latter price, for it
contained among its 2,900 varieties a yellow Austrian "Mercury" unused;
a 4 cents British Guiana of 1856, on blue "sugar" paper; the 12d.
black of Canada unused; plate 77 of the 1d. Great Britain unused; and,
_mirabile dictu_, an unused copy of the 4d. red "woodblock" error of
the Cape of Good Hope, a stamp which afterwards fetched £500. One could
go on to the rare used stamps, and so "pile on the agony," but let
it suffice for the present to say that the collection contained many
gems, especially in those classic early issues of Victoria, Trinidad,
Mauritius, France, Reunion (the 15 centimes), Mexico, Naples (the
½ Tornese in both types), Tuscany, Saxony, &c., the very names of
which countries conjure up for the present-day philatelist visions of
pocket-money for millionaires.

Hying back to the Continent, the troubles in France led to considerable
disruption of the philatelic life, and no doubt many collectors and
their albums were parted. M. Oscar Berger-Levrault was the producer
of the earliest privately printed lists of stamps. His firm of
typographical printers, which had been established in Strasburg (the
city of Gutenberg associations), had to move from Strasburg to Nancy,
as a result of the German annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. The work
of setting up, in a new centre, establishments for his four hundred
workmen left M. Berger-Levrault no time for stamps from 1870 to 1873,
and this lapse in the continuity of his collection was so serious a
gap that he decided to sell, especially as he had to undertake long
bibliographical researches into his family history. He has told us
something of his collection, but not the price it realised in 1873.
Here is a brief statistical outline:--

  Contents of the collection, September, 1861   Stamps  673
     "      "         "       August, 1862        "   1,142
     "      "         "       April, 1863         "   1,553
     "      "         "       July, 1864          "   1,857

These figures are without counting varieties of shade. In 1870 the
collection contained 10,400 stamps in all, including 6,300 unused,
and more than 1,400 genuine essays. "I was only short of fifty
postage-stamps known at that date," he writes, "as also a certain
number of Australian stamps, with their various watermarks, which I had
begun to study towards 1866, with my old friends and collaborators, F.
A. Philbrick and Dr. Magnus."[18]

Here indeed was a collection, probably as near to the collector's
elusive ideal of completeness as has ever been attained in a general
collection. Writing from memory, in January, 1890, he gives the
following list of special items he remembers to have been amongst the
6,300 unused stamps:--

  Bergedorf                 Nov. 1, 1861         ½ sch. violet.
                                                 3 sch. rose.
  Saxony                            1850         3 pf.
  Great Britain                     1840         1d. V.R.
  Switzerland: Zurich               1843         4 rapp.
      "          "                    "          6 rapp.
      "       "Vaud"                  --         4 centimes.
      "          "                    --         5    "
  Tuscany                           1849         1 soldo.
     "                                "          2 soldi.
     "                                "          60 crazie.
  Naples                            1860         ½ T. arms.
     "                                "          ½ T. cross.
  Reunion                           1851         15 centimes.
     "                                "          30 centimes.
  "Indies"                          1854         ½ anna red.
  New Zealand                       1855         1s.
  New Brunswick                     1857         1s.
  Nova Scotia                       1857         1s.
  British Guiana                    1856         4 cents carmine.
  Peru                              1858         ½ peso.
  Buenos Ayres               April, 1858         3 pesos.
     "     "                   "      "          4 pesos red.
     "     "                   "      "          4   "   brown.
     "     "                   "      "          5   "   orange.
     "     "                 Oct.     "          4 rl. brown.
     "     "                  "       "          1 peso brown (:IN Ps).
     "     "                 Jan.   1859         1 peso blue (:IN Ps).
     "     "                  "       "          1   "   "   (TO Ps).

"On the other hand, Spain, without its colonies, was represented in
my collection for the period of 1850 to the end of 1856 by 79 unused
stamps, 80 postmarked stamps, 8 essays of the Madrid stamp (bear), and
was very complete." Even on the extenuated scale of the modern Gibbons
catalogue, the total of varieties of the issues 1850-56 only numbers
125.

The first four-figure price for a stamp collection was obtained in
1878, when the magnificent collection of Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart.,
K.C.M.G., was transferred to the ownership of Mr. Philbrick, Q.C., for
£3,000. Sir Daniel's public career, chiefly in connection with the
promotion of "Advance, Australia!", is still well remembered, but it
is significant of the character of the assemblages at Mr. Stainforth's
rectory that this distinguished Australian should have been one of
their most active promoters in 1861 and the following years. He was,
with Mr. Philbrick, one of the founders of the Philatelic Society in
1869, and was the first of the line of distinguished occupants of the
presidential chair of the now Royal Philatelic Society. It is only
natural that, with his intimate associations with Australia, the early
stamps of that continent and of New Zealand should figure strongly in
his collection. It was he who supplied the data which enabled the young
philatelic giant, Mr. E. L. Pemberton, to announce the existence of a
pre-Rowland Hill stamped envelope in New South Wales, leading to the
discovery of the embossed letter-sheets of Sydney, 1838.

On March 18, 1872, there was held the first auction of rare
postage-stamps at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, in Wellington
Street, London. The experiment was made with what was described as a
_portion_ of an American collection, and the only reason the _whole_
collection was not offered was that the time of the public was too
valuable to spread over three days! A criticism in the columns of
_The Philatelical Journal_ of April 15, 1872, attributes some of the
prices, even then considered low, to the distrust of amateurs when the
owner was bidding. I give a few of the prices realised. Lot 6 was the
15 cents error, United States, 1869, with the frame inverted: "This
fetched a _good price_" in the opinion of the contemporary philatelic
writer, being knocked down to Mr. Atlee for 36s. My friend, Mr. E. B.
Power, in his priced work "United States Stamps," 1909, prices this
stamp at $2,500 unused, $150 used. Lot 12 was a 5 cents Brattleboro:
"a beauty, was bought in at £3; it would have sold well but for the
owner's bidding," &c. I suppose a Brattleboro, especially "a beauty,"
would find ready competition in three figures to-day. Other lots
_bought in_ were:--

  Lot 15, St. Louis, all three varieties of the 5c.       £2 13s.
  Lot 16,    "        "            "      "    10c.       £2 7s.
  Lot 17,    "      20 c., "unique"                       £6.
  Lot 18,    "      20 c., "variety not unique"           £8 12s.

The 5 cent St. Louis used is now catalogued at £25, and the 10
cent at £30; a _pair_ of the 20 cents, these stamps being part of
the treasure-trove of the celebrated find of 1895, was sold in the
'nineties for £1,026. Some of the Blood locals were bought in, but
Mr. Pemberton secured for £5 a copy of the very rare _pink_ Jefferson
Market P.O. stamp.

"Here," says our chronicler, "occurred something amusing; the
auctioneer probably fancied that as this was unique and exciting
competition, it was a _handsome_ stamp, so as the bidding rose
described it as 'beautifully engraved,' which created great laughter,
for it was a foully hideous thing, and the engraving apparently done by
a blind man with a skewer." Altogether there were many rare American
locals, the majority of which fell to Sir Daniel Cooper, Mr. Atlee, and
Mr. Pemberton. Then came "some miscellaneous lots, sets of used, &c.,
of which some fetched exorbitant prices, for instance, four varieties
of 5 cents, green, eagle, Bolivia, were sold for 14s., the 5 cent lilac
for 23s., the 10 cent brown for 17s. The early Luzons (Philippines),
used, were good lots and the 5 and 10 cent 1854, with 1 and 2 rs.,
fetched in the aggregate £6 9s., so they were no bargain."

Lot 150 was the ½ T. Naples, arms type, bought in for 40s., and the
cross type was bought in for 9s. Lot 160 was "a remarkably good 13
cent of the commoner type of the 1852 figure Sandwich Islands, which
the owner boldly started at £6 and bought in for an additional ten
shillings, _a very full price indeed_." Nevertheless it would have cost
£90 or more to-day.

The record of this sale deserves more attention than I am able to
give it here: the event was certainly one of extraordinary interest,
though it was considered at the time something of a failure, and was
not repeated. The next auction sale of stamps did not take place until
sixteen years later. But I must spare a few lines for my chronicler's
peroration.

"The results of this sale are so far satisfactory that they prove that
Philately is not yet on the wane, _and never will be_. It is a young
science, but before many years pass, we shall regard £5 for a valuable
stamp as calmly as we do now the pound sterling for an ordinary
specimen; and those who have been the mainstays of the dealers will
undoubtedly find that their outlays, however extensive, will produce at
least cent. per cent. What are we to think of the matchless collections
of Mr. Philbrick, Sir Daniel Cooper, Mr. Atlee, Baron Arthur de
Rothschild, E. J., and others, gathered together with unflagging toil
and patience, but all of which contain practically unattainable things?
And will not these in the course of years inevitably become of fabulous
value?"

Four years after the Cooper collection was sold for £3,000, Mr.
Philbrick, to the deep regret of all his British colleagues, sold his
general collection (not the Great Britain portion) to M. la Rénotière
in Paris, for the then record price of £8,000. At his death, which
occurred so recently as Christmas, 1910, it would have represented the
comfortable fortune of, say, £50,000! It would be a shorter task to
say what was _not_ in this truly wonderful collection than to attempt
a list of its gems, for the absentees were almost _nil_. The best idea
of the strength of this collection must be gathered from the valuable
papers Philbrick contributed to _The Stamp Collector's Magazine_ and
_The Philatelic Record_, chiefly under the pseudonyms "Damus petimusque
vicissim," "An Amateur," and several "By the author of the 'Postage
Stamps of British Guiana,'" and by his collaborated work with the late
Mr. W. A. S. Westoby, "The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great
Britain." Here I may fittingly place on record a souvenir I recently
acquired of this collaboration and close friendship between these
two most renowned of the students of stamps, whose work is a classic
in the literature of Philately, and is still constantly referred to,
being only in some respects superseded by later authorities. The letter
itself amply justifies publication in entirety here, as it throws
an interesting light on the philatelic evidence before the Joint
Committee on Postage Stamps appointed by the Postmaster-General, the
"confidential" report of which was printed in 1885 ("Bibl. Lindesiana,"
p. 159).

        "11, EARL'S AVENUE, FOLKESTONE,
            "_December 29th_.

    "MY DEAR PHILBRICK,--

    "After seeing you on Saturday I wrote a letter to Mr. Jeffery
    saying that you had told me the substance of what passed,
    and that I most thoroughly endorsed what you had said about
    forgery. It was not the difficulty of forging a stamp which
    constituted their protection, so much as the difficulty of
    disposing of the stamps when forged.

    "I further said that if they determined on having a surface
    printed series not combined with embossing they must allow
    me to point out what I considered to be a fatal error in all
    Messrs. De La Rue's designs, and this was the introduction of
    a lined background, the lines of which were almost coincident
    with the lines of shading in the head. The merit of Bacon's
    design was that he had a light head thrown up by a dark
    background, and I could scarcely point out an instance where
    surface-printed stamps had not either a solid background or
    none at all, like the Hungarian of 1872. As they would possibly
    not like a solid background I suggested to them to adopt a
    standard profile of the Queen's head, and for all the stamps up
    to 1s. to reduce it by photography to the size of the head on
    the 2d., and for those above they might reduce it to a larger
    size, so as to keep the same likeness through all, and to put
    it on a plain white ground, and I sent them a 2d. from which I
    had removed the lined background like as I have done in the 1d.
    annexed.

    "That if they would excuse my making a further suggestion
    it would be that for all the stamps up to 1s. about four
    colours would suffice, if the framings were made different and
    distinctly visible, ... thus:--

    ------------+------------------+-----------------+-----------
          {   ½.|     pink     {1d.|  blue    {      |       {6d.
    Green { 1½d.|   like the   {2d.| like the { 2½d. | olive {9d.
          {  3d.|  present 5s. {4d.|   2s.    {  5d. |       {1s.
    ------------+------------------+-----------------+-----------

    "I have had a very courteous reply from Mr. Jeffery, thanking
    me much for the letter, and saying he would lay it before the
    Committee at the next meeting.

    "I forgot to mention one thing I said. That I knew that stamp
    collectors were not regarded with too much favour by the
    authorities, who were inclined to regard them as too curious
    and desiring to look into mysteries into which even angels were
    forbidden to look, but that they ought to take a very different
    view, for we were the greatest protectors against forgeries
    of stamps that they could have. Not one came out, but was
    immediately denounced in the publications circulating amongst
    collectors and the forger's trade stopped.

    "I have written you a long lot of twaddle, but I have tried to
    sound the trumpet of the Philatelist--what Bunhill Row will
    think I do not know nor care; I said their manufacture was
    good--the best--but that the least said about their designs
    and colours the better. I also said that as to the lettering I
    agreed with you that it was practically useless _if_ the stamp
    was properly obliterated and the saving slips done away with.

    "The kind of stamp I suggested that they should have the design
    made of as a trial was the 2d. head turned the other way, when
    they could see the effect.

        "Ever yours very affectionately,
            "W. A. S. WESTOBY."

I am not entering upon any details of the Philbrick collection, for the
most I could give would be a bald citation of an almost untold list
of rarities. Imagine--if you can--a complete list of all known stamps
up to 1880, imagine also some of the rarities not merely in duplicate
or triplicate, but in the course of advanced plating of the settings
(especially in British Guiana), and you may get some idea of what was
in this great collection--and is still preserved in the collection of
M. la Rénotière. His two used "Post Offices" of Mauritius were the
first known copies of these rarities, and were at first considered
to be an error of the inscription "Post Paid" of 1848, instead of a
distinct issue of 1847. They came from the correspondence of a M.
Borchard, whose widow found no fewer than thirteen of the twenty-five
copies now known. The first pair was exchanged for a couple of
"Montevideos," which had, in the eyes of the lady, so M. Moëns tells
us, "the supreme advantage of having a place indicated for them in the
Lallier album, where the 'Post Office,' like many other stamps, were
not indicated." The two stamps were used on one envelope, and were
postmarked together with one impression of the "Inland" handstamp,
the 1d. specimen having the left upper corner defective. M. Albert
Coutures, a youngster of twenty, secured the stamps in the "swap," and
afterwards (October, 1865) parted with them to M. Moëns through the
medium of a Bordeaux merchant, M. E. Gimet. The price Moëns paid must
have been a mere trifle, as he parted with them to Mr. Philbrick on
February 15, 1866, for a few pounds. The record of these stamps Nos.
1 and 2 in Moëns's "A History of the Twenty Known Specimens, &c.," is
therefore briefly--

    Year.        Owner.
    1847        Borchard.
    1864 (?)    Coutures.
    1865        Gimet.
    1865        Moëns.
    1866        Philbrick.
    1882        La Rénotière.

To-day their "weight in gold" would, of course, represent but an
infinitesimal fraction of their market value.

[Illustration: THE UNIQUE ENVELOPE OF ANNAPOLIS (MARYLAND, U.S.A.) IN
LORD CRAWFORD'S COLLECTION OF STAMPS OF THE UNITED STATES.]

The Image collection was sold in the same year as the Philbrick
albums. Mr. W. E. Image was yet another of the _vieille garde_ of
Philately, though he ploughed a lone furrow during the early years of
his collecting, which began in 1859. His collection, sold for £3,000
in 1882, deserves to be especially noted, as it was in one sense the
basis of the great national collection now at the British Museum. The
late Mr. T. K. Tapling, M.P., was the purchaser, and so magnificent was
his new acquisition that he at one time thought of parting with his own
and continuing the Image collection. At this juncture, the death of Mr.
Tapling's father enabled him to amalgamate the two collections, his own
with that of Mr. Image, and to launch out upon the grandly conceived
collection bequeathed in 1891 to the nation.

Mr. Image at first compiled his collection almost entirely by
correspondence, and did not see the inside of a dealer's shop until the
'seventies. He is said, however, to have never refused a good specimen
of a stamp he lacked, save on one occasion, an historic one. Moëns
offered him for £240 the two Post Office Mauritius, but he declined,
as he hoped to get another chance at a more moderate figure. That was
in the 'seventies. Image lived to the advanced age of ninety-six (b.
1807), and within a few months of his death a copy of the 2d. Post
Office alone was sold by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson for £1,450.

But if he lacked the "Post Offices," there was an abundance of other
rarities. Philbrick travelled to Bury St. Edmunds to see Image's
wonderful unused 6d. orange of Victoria ("beaded oval"), a stamp which
in the Mirabaud sale (1909) fetched £140. The copy from the Avery
collection attained in 1910 a price still higher. British Guiana,
Guadalajara and the American locals were amongst the specially strong
sections of this collection.

There have been so many really important collections formed since
the Philbrick collection that almost any entry into details becomes
invidious in a brief review. The collections of to-day are, as I have
indicated, on a more broadly historical basis than was general in the
early days of the study, though even the collections of Dr. Gray, Sir
Daniel Cooper and Judge Philbrick, and others, were on a sound basis
of historical research. Philately has had no more precise or more able
historians than Judge Philbrick and his collaborator, Mr. W. A. S.
Westoby, while to Dr. Gray we are indebted for the history of most of
the English essays of the first period.

[Illustration: PART SHEET (175 STAMPS) OF THE ORDINARY ONE PENNY BLACK
STAMP OF GREAT BRITAIN, 1840.

(_From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T._)]

But the collections of Lord Crawford have carried the historical and
scientific aspects of Philately to more profound depths, and the
stamps have been collected on a more lavish scale to provide ample
reference material not only for present but future study. Condition,
too, has received more attention, and is now a primary consideration.
The collections are mostly arranged in countries or groups,
and few suspect the wealth of material as yet not disclosed, among
the sections which have not yet been publicly displayed. The United
States collection, when shown to the New York Collectors' Club a few
years ago, opened up a new aspect of Philately to the collectors in
the States, and gave an effective stimulus to the serious side of
collecting in America. The collection is very fully written up in the
Earl's own writing, much of which was done on board his yacht, the
_Valhalla_. The collection contains practically all that could be got
together to illustrate the postal history of the United States, and
makes the mention of particular items useless. The _unique_ envelope of
Annapolis, however, is especially noteworthy, and also the 10 cents,
black on white, adhesive stamp of Baltimore, of which but three copies
are known.

[Illustration: NEARLY A COMPLETE SHEET (219 STAMPS OUT OF 240) OF THE
HIGHLY VALUED ONE PENNY BLACK "V.R." STAMP, INTENDED FOR OFFICIAL USE.

(_From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T._)]

Of Great Britain, too, Lord Crawford has a large number of well-filled
albums, including some extraordinarily large blocks ("part sheets"
would describe them better) of the imperforate line-engraved stamps.
There is nearly a complete sheet of the 1d. black "V.R." (219 stamps
out of the 240), a part sheet of the ordinary 1d. black (175 stamps),
and all but six rows of a sheet of the scarce 2d. blue, "no lines,"
which was the companion stamp of the 1d. black, and was issued on May
6, 1840.

[Illustration: PART SHEET (LACKING BUT SIX HORIZONTAL ROWS) OF THE
SCARCE TWO PENCE BLUE STAMP "WITHOUT WHITE LINES" ISSUED IN GREAT
BRITAIN, 1840.

(_From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T._)]

The collections of Mr. Leslie L. R. Hausburg, have, next to those of
the Earl of Crawford, attracted widespread attention and the unstinted
admiration of philatelists. They have hitherto dealt chiefly with the
Australasian portions of the British Empire, but latterly have been
extended to a number of foreign countries. Mr. M. P. Castle, J.P.,
has formed several great collections, as will be noted in the list of
sales which concludes this chapter, and Mr. Henry J. Duveen has one of
the three finest collections of Mauritius, including the superb "Post
Offices," both unused, from the Avery collection, and a matchless
block of four, unused, of the 1d. Post Paid, for which wonderful item
its possessor paid £1,000. These "Post Offices" are the ones which in
1910 carried the record price for this popular pair of rarities up to
£3,500. Mr. Duveen's Switzerland collection is also a very notable one,
and contains the block of double Genevas, and the part sheet of "large
Eagles" from the Avery collection, and the beautiful block of fifteen
Basle "doves," which was the subject of a recent find in Berne. Baron
Anthony de Worms is the owner of a fine collection of Great Britain and
the collection _par excellence_ of Ceylon. Mr. Harvey R. G. Clarke's
collection of New South Wales is justly celebrated, and in the less
costly countries the honours of possessing the most perfect collections
are distributed by no means exclusively among the very wealthy. In
stamp-collecting the personal search is often more productive than
lavish expenditure without personal effort.

[Illustration: THE UNIQUE BLOCK OF THE "DOUBLE GENEVA" STAMP, THE
RAREST OF THE SWISS "CANTONALS."

(_Formerly in the "Avery" Collection, but now in the possession of
Henry J. Duveen, Esq._)]

In America there are some collections of great note. That of Mr.
George H. Worthington has been referred to elsewhere. Mr. Henry
J. Crocker, a San Francisco magnate, had the misfortune to lose about
£15,000 worth of his stamps in the disastrous fire which followed
the earthquake of 1906. This included eleven out of forty-three of
his albums, but luckily his greatest work, the Hawaiian collection,
was safely in England at the time of the catastrophe. A wonderful
collection of Japanese was completely destroyed. Mr. Crocker has no
fewer than sixteen of the Hawaiian "Missionaries"; outside of the
British Museum, his is the only copy of the 2 cents, Type I.; he has
four used copies of the 5 cents, two of them being on the entire
envelopes; and there is a unique item in an unbroken strip of three
13 cents "Hawaiian Postage" on entire. Two of the stamps are Type I.
and the other Type II.; he has also an unused and two used copies of
each type. Of the "H.I. & U.S. Postage" 13 cents stamp there are two
specimens, one of each type used together.[19]

[Illustration: PART SHEET OF THE SCARCE 5C. "LARGE EAGLE" STAMP OF
GENEVA, SHOWING THE MARGINAL INSCRIPTION AT THE TOP.

(_From the collection of Henry J. Duveen, Esq._)]

Of other American collections, that of Mr. Francis C. Foster, of
Boston, impressed me as much as any that I have seen across the
Atlantic. Mr. Foster has been interested in stamps probably longer than
any other living collector in the United States, and his collection
now comprises the United States, the possessions, and British North
America. In the general issues of the Republic he has a superb set of
the _premières gravures_, and all the early issues are extensively
shown, together with the beautiful proofs and essays associated with
them. The Confederate States Postmasters' stamps include the 5c. Athens
used on the envelope; the 5c. and 10c. Goliad; and the Livingston,
Alabama. The late Mr. Thorne, an old New York collector, showed me his
collection in 1906, which was of great proportions and was exclusively
composed of blocks of four, a state in which he had the greatest
difficulty in obtaining even many modern stamps. His collection, or
some of it, has been disposed of by auction in America. The late Mr.
J. F. Seybold, of Syracuse, had the credit of fostering the cult
of collecting the used stamps on the entire envelope or letter,
which from the historical point of view is extremely useful. His
collection, however, was bought for about £5,000 by Mr. J. T. Coit, and
subsequently realised nearly £7,000 at auction.

[Illustration: A PAGE OF THE 5 CENTS AND 13 CENTS HAWAIIAN "MISSIONARY"
STAMPS.

(_From the "Crocker" Collection._)]

Of the great collections of the Continent, that of M. Philippe la
Rénotière is the greatest ever brought together, but its owner has
not been in the habit of exhibiting it, and the number of living
philatelists who have seen even portions of it must be extremely few.
He has certainly got together in the aggregate a collection greater
than the Tapling one, and he has absorbed in the process the albums
of Sir Daniel Cooper and Judge Philbrick, and has had the pick of all
the greatest collections which have come on the market for many years.
It was estimated years ago that he must have spent a quarter of a
million of money on the collection,[20] and as he commenced about
1864, the extent of his treasures has brought him to be regarded as
a philatelic Comte de Monte Cristo. The unique British Guiana 1 cent
stamp of 1856 is in this collection, together with five Post Office
Mauritius, including one of the _two_ known copies of the 1d. unused.
Other great rarities are mostly represented by several copies.

[Illustration: HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 1851. THE 5 CENTS "MISSIONARY" STAMP ON
ORIGINAL ENVELOPE.

(_From the "Crocker" Collection._)]

The collection of the late M. Paul Mirabaud, a wealthy Parisian banker,
was exceptional for the beauty of the condition of the stamps it
contained, and at the auction sale many of the stamps fetched prices
much beyond the standard quotations of the catalogues. The Swiss
portion, which formed the basis of a most sumptuously illustrated
work written in collaboration by M. Mirabaud and the Baron A. de
Reuterskiöld, was sold privately.

The following synopsis of the chief sales of collections (whether
by auction or privately) covers only those which are known to have
realised £1,000 and upwards; there are many more which have doubtless
been sold for amounts well into four figures, but the transactions, or
at any rate the amounts, have not been disclosed. The amounts given
below must not in every case be taken as the exact purchase price;
where not exact they are approximate.

  -------+----------------------+------------------------------+-------
   YEAR. |     COLLECTION.      |           CHARACTER.         |AMOUNT.
  -------+----------------------+------------------------------+-------
         |                      |                              |   £
  1878   |Cooper.               |General.                      | 3,000
  1882   |Philbrick.            |General.                      | 8,000
  1882   |Image.                |General.                      | 3,000
  1885   |Burnett.              |General.                      | 1,000
  1890   |Caillebotte.          |General.                      | 5,000
  1891   |Colman.               |British Colonies.             | 2,000
  1894   |Winzer.               |General.                      | 3,000
  1894   |Castle.               |Australia.                    |10,000
  1894   |Philbrick.            |Great Britain.                | 1,500
  1895   |Harrison.             |United States.                | 1,330
  1895   |Harbeck.              |General.                      | 3,000
  1895   |W. Cooper.            |General.                      |  --
  1895   |J. E. Wilbey.         |General.                      |  --
  1896   |Hughes-Hughes.        |General.                      | 3,000
  1896   |Ehrenbach.            |Germany.                      | 6,000
  1896   |Earl of Kingston.     |British Empire.               | 1,800
  1896-7 |Blest.                |New South Wales, New Zealand, | 4,750
         |                      |  and Queensland.             |
  1897   |F. W. Ayer.           |General (dispersed gradually).|45,000
  1897   |Dr. Legrand.          |Part of General.              |12,000
  1898   |Russell.              |General (unused, strong in    | 4,600
         |                      |  British Colonies).          |
  1898   |H. L. Hayman.         |General.                      | 4,000
  1899   |Pauwels.              |General.                      | 4,000
  1900   |M. P. Castle.         |Europe.                       |27,500
  1901   |W. T. Willett         |Great Britain (with Nevis).   | 2,000
  1902   |Major-Gen. Lambton.   |British Colonies.             | 3,400
  1902   |C. Hollander.         |South Africa.                 | 1,500
  1903   |J. N. Marsden.        |General.                      | 2,350
  1903   |E. J. Nankivell.      |Transvaal.                    | 3,000
  1904   |P. Fabri.             |General.                      | 3,000
  1904   |A titled collector.   |Selection of great rarities.  | 4,700
  1904   |Prince Doria Pamphilj.|General.                      | 2,000
  1905   |M. P. Castle.         |Australia.                    | 5,750
  1906   |W. W. Mann.           |Europe.                       |30,000
  1906   |A. Bagshawe.          |Straits Settlements.          | 2,000
  1907   |V. Roberts.           |Cape Colony, Queensland, &c.  | 3,800
  1907   |Tomson.               |West Indies.                  | 6,800
  1908   |P. Mirabaud.          |{Switzerland, £8,000         }|
         |                      |{Rest of Collection, £22,000 }|30,000
  1909   |Sir W. B. Avery.      |General.                      |24,500
  1909   |J. W. Paul, jun.      |General.                      |11,400
  1909   |J. F. Seybold.        |General.                      | 5,000
  1911   |Miguel Gambin.        |Argentina.                    | 6,000
  -------+----------------------+------------------------------+-------

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Earlier in the same year this boudoir gossiper had answered no
fewer than three correspondents, "Mercury," "Daniel," and "Milly"
at one shot thus: "We cannot encourage 'exchanging foreign stamps,'
for we do not see the smallest good resulting from it. This foreign
stamp-collecting has been a mania, which is at length dying out. Were
the stamps works of art, then the collecting them might be justified.
Were they, in short, anything but bits of defaced printing, totally
worthless, we would try to say something in their favour. There are now
so many lithographic forgeries in the market that he is the cleverest
of the clever who can detect the spurious stamps from the true."--_The
Young Ladies' Journal_, April 27, 1864.

[18] The pseudonym of Dr. Legrand.

[19] See further "Postage Stamps of the Hawaiian Islands in the
Collection of Henry J. Crocker," described and illustrated by Fred J.
Melville, London, 1908.

[20] "The Stamp Collector," by W. J. Hardy and E. D. Bacon, 1897.




X

ROYAL AND
NATIONAL
COLLECTIONS




CHAPTER X

ROYAL AND NATIONAL COLLECTIONS

    The late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a collector--King
    George's stamps: Great Britain, Mauritius, British Guiana,
    Barbados, Nevis--The "King of Spain Reprints"--The late Grand
    Duke Alexis Michaelovitch--Prince Doria Pamphilj--The "Tapling"
    Collection--The Berlin Postal Museum--The late Duke of
    Leinster's bequest to Ireland--Mr. Worthington's promised gift
    to the United States.


Royalties have been included amongst collectors almost from the
beginning of Philately. The late Mr. Westoby, in describing[21] a
number of rarities in private albums in Paris in 1869, includes a
mysterious rarity of Mexico as being one of which three specimens only
are known to exist, "one of them [_i.e._, one of the remaining two] in
the possession of the Princess Clotilde, wife of the Prince Napoleon,
and the other in that of the King of Portugal."

King George V. probably owes some of his early enthusiasm for stamps to
his uncle, the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As Duke of Edinburgh,
the latter had long been a collector before the fact was made publicly
known by his cordial support of the London Philatelic Exhibition
of 1890, which he formally opened. At the lunch which followed the
ceremony he said:--

"To-day Prince George of Wales starts--nay, probably has started--from
Chatham in the _Thrush_, to the command of which he has been appointed.
I am sure you will join me in wishing him a prosperous and pleasant
cruise. He also is a stamp collector, and I hope that he will return
with a goodly number of additions from North America and the West
Indies. I am a collector, too, and I have been only too glad to
contribute specimens to this fine exhibition."

The newspaper reports of that Exhibition state that "The Duke of
Edinburgh, before leaving, intimated his intention of again visiting
this marvellous proof of civilization and progress." In the same year,
H.R.H. became Hon. President of the London Philatelic Society.

[Illustration: A PAGE FROM THE KING'S HISTORIC COLLECTION OF THE STAMPS
OF GREAT BRITAIN, SHOWING THE METHOD OF "WRITING UP."]

The late Duke's collection was, I believe, on general lines, a large
range of countries and colonies being included in his exhibits at
the Portman Rooms in 1890. These included a fine lot of Uruguay, and
displays of Cyprus, Gibraltar, Heligoland, Ionian Islands, and Malta;
Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden; Greece, Servia, Bulgaria and
Montenegro; Cuba, Porto Rico and Fernando Po. At the 1897 Exhibition,
at the galleries of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the
Duke showed only a few specimens in the class for rare stamps, his
exhibit including the 2 kreuzer, orange, of Austria unused; the 54
paras of Moldavia; the Half Tornese Naples, cross, unused; several
of the rare 2 reales stamps of Spain and the 3 cuartos "bear" stamp of
Madrid; the Swedish 24 skill, bco., unused; the so-called "Neuchâtel"
stamp of Switzerland, unused; the 18 kreuzer Wurtemburg, with silk
thread, unused; Buenos Ayres 4 pesos, red; United States, 1856, 5c.
red-brown and 90c. blue, perforated; and some other rarities. Of
British and colonials he displayed two of the 1d. black V.R. stamps; a
12d. black of Canada; Hong Kong 96 cents, yellow-brown; a small show of
rare Nevis, including the 6d. lithographed and the surface-printed 6d.
green; St. Vincent 5s., watermarked star, unused; an unused 1d. Sydney
View, Plate I., and an unused 6d. "laureated head."

[Illustration: THE THREE COPIES OF THE UNISSUED 2D. "TYRIAN-PLUM" STAMP
OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE COLLECTION OF H.M. THE KING.

The one on the envelope is the only specimen known to have passed
through the post.]

It will be seen from the wide field covered by his exhibits that the
philatelic inclinations of the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha were
broadly catholic. His royal nephew, King George, has limited his
collecting--though not his interest--to stamps of the British Empire.
His Majesty's interest in stamp-collecting has been made popularly
known by the newspapers, but it is not always realised, I think, that
the interest is an appreciative personal one. Of this philatelists
have had many gracious proofs. The King is understood to have been
consistently collecting since his midshipman-days on the _Bacchante_,
and his collections to some extent coincide with his travels, several
of his finest albums being those which contain the stamps of West
Indian colonies.

There is little collected information on the subject of His Majesty's
collections, so I will endeavour to outline a few of the salient points
in those sections which have been most nearly completed.

_Great Britain._--The collection contains the original sketch of W.
Mulready, R.A., for the famous envelopes and letter sheets of 1840 to
which reference has been made.[22]

A note accompanies it to the effect that, "From statements made by Mr.
Mulready to his friends, it would appear that the original idea for the
design was given to him by Queen Victoria and was carried out by the
artist in accordance with Her Majesty's suggestions."

On this point of the origin of the design, Sir Rowland Hill's journal
contains an entry which scarcely bears out the legend that the Queen
devised the idea together with the Prince Consort. The entry, under
April 3, 1840, is: "Mr. B[aring] has sent a proof impression of the
cover stamp to the Queen, with a memorandum from Mulready and Thompson
[the engraver] explanatory of the design."

Then there is the historic pair of sketches in water-colours, roughly
executed by Sir Rowland Hill to show the approximate appearance of the
penny stamp in black and the twopence stamp in blue. This was sent by
Hill to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[Illustration: DESIGN FOR THE KING EDWARD ONE PENNY STAMP APPROVED AND
INITIALLED BY HIS LATE MAJESTY.

(_From the collection of H.M. King George V._)]

In the line-engraved series, His Majesty has shown two copies of the
1d. V.R., and a fine series of imperforates of the 1d. red, Die I. and
Die II., in a large range of shades; 1d. red with letters in all
four corners (plates 132 and 225); 1d. red, in a pair, on Dickinson
paper; ½d. rose-red (plate 9), 2d. blue with four letters (including
plate 7), 1½d., plate 1 in bluish lake and plate 3 in brick-red.

[Illustration: THE COMPANION DESIGN TO THAT ON PAGE 313, AND SHOWING
THE CORRECT POSE OF THE HEAD, BUT IN A DIFFERENT FRAME, WHICH WAS NOT
ADOPTED.

(_From the collection of H.M. the King._)]

All the Victorian surface-printed series are shown imperforate,
including the 3d. with reticulated background; 3d., plate 3 ("dot");
4d. in lake, watermarked "small garter"; 6d., plate 1 on safety paper
and plate 3 with hair-lines; 9d., plate 3 with hair-lines and plate 5;
10d., plate 2; 1s., plate 1 on safety paper, plate 3 with hair-lines,
4 in an unissued colour, lilac; 2s., plate 3; 10s., £1, and £5 on blue
paper.

In addition to the scarce items in the Victorian series of official
stamps, the King possesses the extremely rare I.R. Official 5s., 10s.
and £1, of the Edwardian issues, in mint corner pairs; also the almost
unique Sixpence of the same set, in similar condition. Of this last
stamp, no other unused copy is known, and only three which have been
through the post.

Of the ordinary stamps of King Edward's reign, the Royal collection
contains several essays and proofs of great interest. A photograph of
a stamp made up from Herr Füchs's original sketch of King Edward's
head, enclosed in the newly designed frame and border, deservedly comes
first, and bears the late King's written approval: from this, temporary
copper-plates were engraved, so that the effect might be noted, and
three proofs therefrom are included.

Unfortunately, the final result did not come up to the anticipated
standard, and there was some talk about having a fresh design prepared,
after the style of the then new Transvaal stamps, but this fell through
on the ground of expense; proofs of this also are in the collection,
together with various colour-trials of the One Penny value, as adopted.

Of unissued stamps during the late reign, there are only three
instances: the £5 value, which did not proceed so far as the completion
of the plate; and a small printing of the Twopence Halfpenny, in the
adopted design, but in mauve on blue paper, was destroyed, owing to a
decision to print in blue on white paper. Both these stamps, the £5 and
the Twopence Halfpenny mauve on blue, together with proofs of the lower
value in shades and tones of blue, are in the King's collection.

The last of the unissued stamps is the Twopence "Tyrian-plum," which,
owing to the lamented death of King Edward, the authorities decided not
to issue; his present Majesty possesses an unused pair, and a unique
used copy on the original envelope.

Beyond these, the collection contains proofs of the contractors'
designs for three of the new stamps, the One Penny in four types of
head and bust, in the old frame of the 1881 stamp, and the Twopence and
Fivepence in frames similar to those of the 1887 issue; in all these
King Edward is shown in military uniform, the best of these being, so
far as the portrait is concerned, the Fivepence.

[Illustration: A PAGE OF THE ONE PENNY "POST PAID" STAMPS OF MAURITIUS.

(_In the collection of H.M. the King._)]

A curiosity, for it was not for issue except after severance, is the
sheet of one penny stamps as prepared for the booklets on sale at the
post-office--for convenience in making-up and binding these small
books, the stamps were specially printed in four panes of sixty each,
in vertical rows of ten, each alternate three rows being inverted, and
so producing a certain number of _tête-bêche_ pairs. King George's
sheet is, outside the printers' establishment and Somerset House,
probably unique.

_Mauritius._--In the stamps of this colony the royal collection is
particularly strong. There is here the 1d. red Post Office _used_,
which came from Mr. Peckitt out of the collection of the Earl of
Kintore for £850, and the matchless unused copy of the 2d. blue which
was purchased in Messrs. Puttick & Simpson's saleroom on January 14,
1904, for £1,450: it is admittedly the finest known copy of this
stamp, and its romantic history has been alluded to in Chapter VII.
These two _raræ aves_ are followed by a grand display of the Post Paid
series, including three fine 2d. unused, one with the error "PENOE"
for "PENCE," and a wonderful mint block of five, containing the error
_se tenant_ with four of its neighbours in the sheet. This block is
a comparatively recent acquisition, having been acquired from Mr. D.
Field for £500 in 1910. There is a considerable number of used copies
showing all states of the plates of the 1848 issue, the small head of
1849, and the "fillet" of October, 1859. The 4d. green of April, 1854,
is represented unused and used, and there is also an unused copy of the
perforated 1s. deep green of 1862. The collection of this colony is
practically complete from beginning to date.

_British Guiana_ presents probably the most difficult set of stamps
that any collector ever attempted to get together. The King's
collection is representative, but is strongest in the issues of
1860-82: they formed the basis of a display before the Royal Philatelic
Society on March 17, 1910, and included most of the stamps in a wide
range of shades, all the rarities being present, unused, except the 24
cents perforated 12 of 1860 on thin paper, and the provisional series
of 1862, and a few of the "officials." The used portion was practically
complete, and in the case of the 1882 provisionals there were entire
and also reconstructed sheets, showing all the varieties.

The _Barbados_ collection, which was shown by His Majesty at the
Imperial Stamp Exhibition held by the Junior Philatelic Society in
London in 1908, was exceptionally rich in the scarce "1d." on 5s.
provisional, of which there were no fewer than a pair and two single
copies, four in all, in the unused condition, and five used pairs and a
number of single used copies.

_Hong Kong_ and _Grenada_, _Bermuda_, _Trinidad_ and _Turks' Islands_
have also been arranged and exhibited, as well as a small but choice
collection of the stamps of _Nevis_, which contains, among other items,
the beautiful card proofs of the first 1d. in green, 4d. in dull
purple, 6d. in orange, and 1s. in lake. There are two reconstructed
sheets of the 1d. perforated 13, and the 4d. rose, unused; the 6d.
grey and 1s. green, used and unused. Of the 1867 set the 1d. is
shown unused, the 4d. both used and unused and the 1s. used. Of the
lithographs there are four mint sheets of the 1d., a mint sheet of the
4d. and another of the 6d., the 1s. in light and dark green; and
there are two entire sheets of the 1d. perforated 11½.

[Illustration: THE TWO PENCE "POST PAID" STAMP OF MAURITIUS.

Unique block showing the error (the first stamp in the illustration)
lettered "PENOE" for "PENCE".

(_In the collection of H.M. the King._)]

Comparatively little is known of the stamp-collections of other
monarchs, but both King Alfonso of Spain and King Manuel are known to
have formed collections of the stamps of their respective realms. The
Spanish King's expressed desire to add the stamps of Portugal to his
collection led to the reprinting of certain of the obsolete stamps of
which the dies were on hand at the Lisbon Mint; these are the stamps
known as the "King of Spain Reprints," a complete set of which was
presented by King Manuel to the Reference Collection of the Royal
Philatelic Society.

His Imperial Highness the late Grand Duke Alexis Michaelovitch was a
member of the Philatelic Society. His early death lost to Philately a
collector with a keen sense of the beauty of condition. Although only
nineteen at the time of his death, he had been engaged for some years
on a semi-official work on the history of the postal issues of Russia,
and his collection was strong in the stamps of his own country and in
Russian proofs and essays. His collection covered a very broad field,
and he acquired the Peru section of the Koster collection _en bloc_.
When the first Castle collection of Australians came on the market, the
young Grand Duke acquired a number of its choicest copies, including
some plated items. Some of the rarities he showed in London on the
occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Philatelic Society
(1894) were brilliant used copies of the 2 reales Spain of 1851 and
1852; the Poste Locale of Switzerland unused; the "1 Pranc", error
for "1 Franc", on the 37½-centime bistre, Luxemburg; the Hanover 10
gr. used; Oldenburg ¹/₃ gr. black on green; Nevis 6d. lithographed (in
two shades); Trinidad 1858 6d. and 1s. unused; Uruguay, Diligencias
60c. and 80c. unused; entire sheets of Bergedorf essays in green of all
values; and a beautiful and much admired group of thirty-two Russian
essays.

Prince Doria Pamphilj, of Italy, is another of the devotees of the
"royal" hobby of stamp-collecting, and his British Empire collection
contained an Archer roulette and many choice items in English and
colonial stamps. Of the stamps of other countries he has also had a
very comprehensive collection; and at the Manchester Exhibition of 1899
he displayed some rarities of these, including the United States 1861
30 cents with grille, and the 1869 15 cents with frame inverted; the
5 cents Confederate local of Petersburg; Spain, 1851 10 reales unused
and 2 reales used, 1865 12c. with inverted frame; France, 1849 1 franc
vermilion; the double Geneva, types of the Zurich, the 4c. Vaud and
the Poste Locale 2½ rappen with cross unframed in used condition.
The Prince has made a speciality of the Italian States. Although His
Royal Highness sold his chief collection in 1904 for £2,000, he is, I
understand, still to be numbered amongst the active philatelists.

[Illustration: A SPECIMEN PAGE FROM THE "TAPLING" COLLECTION AT THE
BRITISH MUSEUM.

Probably the most valuable page, showing the Hawaiian "Missionaries."
The two stamps at the top have been removed from the cases, and are now
kept in a safe in the "Cracherode" Room.]

Of National collections, Great Britain possesses the finest, in the
bequest of the late Mr. T. K. Tapling, M.P. Mr. Tapling died in 1891,
and since then the great collection which he had formed of the
postage-stamps and postal stationery of the world has been arranged
for exhibition purposes, in specially constructed cases, in the King's
Library of the British Museum. It is estimated to contain 100,000
specimens, the total market value of which would probably not be much
short of £100,000. Since the complete collection has been available
to the public for inspection, there has been no one feature at the
Bloomsbury institution which has attracted more visitors; and it is
good to know that philatelic students are freely using the magnificent
opportunities the collection offers for study. Unfortunately, there
is no comprehensive official guide to this important collection, but
by the courtesy and assistance of the officials I was able to compile
a fairly detailed index[23] to its beauties, which was published,
together with a history of the formation of the collection, by Messrs.
Lawn & Barlow. To detail the gems is but to recount the Mauritius,
the British Guianas, the Hawaiians (these are particularly fine), the
Moldavias, Newfoundlands, Reunions, &c., to most of which frequent
reference has already been made in these pages. There is here one of
the copies of the famous Fourpence blue of Western Australia with the
centre inverted. Unfortunately the copy is a damaged one, but the stamp
is rarer than the Mauritius "Post Office," and a celebrated and fine
copy fetched £400 at auction.

It is a very real misfortune to Philately that the Trustees of the
British Museum have taken no steps to continue the collection beyond
1890, or to add items which are lacking prior to that date. It is,
I understand, simply a question of money, and the Trustees would
not be unwilling to allow the necessary space for the growth of the
collection if money were forthcoming for that purpose. It is now twenty
years since Mr. Tapling died, and the loss of that period in the
collection is almost irretrievable. Yet the collection as it stands
is the most comprehensive treasure store of the first half century of
stamp-issuing, and students in this country are fortunate indeed in
having such a wealth of material at their disposal for comparison and
for reference.

The collection which has been formed by the authorities of the Berlin
Postal Museum has been attaining a high rank in recent years. The
Museum, which is the finest repository of postal records and curios
in the world, was founded by Dr. von Stephan, the first Director
of the Posts of the German Empire, and the first to propose the
use of post-cards. The stamp collection was based at first on the
stamps received at the General Post Office in Berlin from the postal
administrations of other countries. But the collection is being built
up on philatelic lines, and is not to be compared with the fancy frames
devised by decorative fiends for the postal museums of other countries.
In Berlin the collection shows essays and proofs, those of the old
German States being particularly fine, and most of the prominent
rarities have been acquired, chiefly by exchange of duplicate stamps.
There is the 1d. Post Office Mauritius used, and the 2d. unused; the
2 cents circular British Guiana, the 2 cents, 5 cents, and both types
of the 13 cents of the Hawaiian "Missionaries"; _pairs_ of the 27 paras
and 108 paras of Moldavia, and a set of the 27, 81, and two of the
108 paras all cut round, and all used together on one envelope; the
woodblock errors of the Cape of Good Hope; the 15 cents and 30 cents
Reunion; and a wonderful range of the stamps of all the German States.

The late Duke of Leinster left his valuable collection to the Irish
National Museum; and there are several instances of bequests and
gifts of lesser importance to local museums. In 1910 Mr. George H.
Worthington, the owner of the finest collection in the United States,
made the announcement that he was going to leave his great collection
to the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

It is to be hoped that Mr. Worthington may be spared to continue his
collection for many years to come, but on the ultimate fulfilment of
the bequest the people of the United States will enjoy the public
possession of what is now one of the three largest collections in the
world. Mr. Worthington's gems include most of the well-known rarities.
He has the Cape woodblock 4d. error in a block with three of the 1d.
stamps all in red, and his entire collection of Capes is extremely
fine. Like most of the larger collections in America, the Worthington
one contains a strong showing of the Hawaiian stamps and of the United
States and Confederate States "Postmasters'" stamps. There is, for
example, the only known 2 cents Hawaiian "Missionary" on envelope. Mr.
Warren H. Colson,[24] of Boston, records that Mr. Worthington prizes
highly the only unused copy known of the United States 15 cents of
1869 with the inverted frame, and as a companion treasure he has the
30 cents in like condition, but of this three other unused copies are
recorded.

The Confederate Postmasters' Provisionals, I gather from the same
authority, include all the rare Baton Rouge; a 10 cent Beaumont, on
pink paper; the Emory, Va.; Grove Hill, Alabama; the rare Macons and a
particularly fine lot of the Texas locals, including several Goliads,
the Helena, and two very rare Victorias.

The 1d. Post Office Mauritius is included in two copies used on the
entire envelope; the Sydney Views are a splendid lot, and include a
superb unused block of four of the 1d. plate 1 with original gum.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] _The Philatelist_, vol. iii. pp. 85, 86.

[22] _Ante_, p. 167.

[23] "The Tapling Collection of Stamps and Postal Stationery at the
British Museum," by Fred J. Melville.

[24] "Postage Stamps and their Collection," by Warren H. Colson,
Boston, 1907.




A SHORT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF
PHILATELY




A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PHILATELY


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of the Earl of Crawford, K.T. By E.
    D. Bacon. _London_, 1911.

  ⁂ This work constitutes the most complete Bibliography of the
    literature of Philately, giving entries for all known printed books
    and pamphlets published up to 1908, and all periodicals up to 1907.

The following short Bibliography is a handy practical guide to the
standard reference works on the special subject, and includes the
handbooks and monographs issued up to 1911.


GENERAL HANDBOOKS

The A B C of Stamp Collecting: A Guide to the Instructive and
    Entertaining Study of the World's Postage Stamps. By Fred J.
    Melville. _London_, 1903. ⁂ Nineteen plates.

A Colour Dictionary. By B. W. Warhurst. 2nd ed. _London_, 1908.

Hints on Stamp Collecting. By T. H. Hinton. 3rd ed. _London_, 1908.

How to Collect Postage Stamps. By B. T. K. Smith. _London_, 1907. ⁂
    Forty-eight plates.

How to Start a Philatelic Society. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1910.

A Penny All the Way. The Story of Penny Postage. By Fred J. Melville.
    2nd ed. _London_,1908.

Postage Stamps worth Fortunes. By Fred J. Melville. 2nd ed.
    _London_,1908.

The Romance of Postage Stamps. (An Introductory Lecture.) By Fred J.
    Melville. _London_,1910.

The Stamp Collector. By W. J. Hardy and E. D. Bacon. _London_, 1898. ⁂
    Twelve plates.

Stamps and Stamp Collecting: A Glossary of Philatelic Terms and Guide
    to the Identification of the Postage Stamps of all Nations. By E.
    B. Evans. _London_, 1894.

What Philately Teaches. (A Lecture delivered February 24, 1899.) By J.
    N. Luff. _New York_, 1899.


GENERAL CATALOGUE (NOT PRICED)

A Catalogue for Advanced Collectors of Postage Stamps, Stamped
    Envelopes, and Wrappers. Compiled from the most recent authorities
    and individual research. By H. C. Collin and H. L. Calman. _New
    York_, 1890-1901. ⁂ Two hundred and forty-six plates.


GENERAL CATALOGUES (PRICED)

  These are current, general, illustrated and priced lists of the
    world's postage-stamps, briefly indicated under the country of
    publication and under publisher's name.

GREAT BRITAIN. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd.; Bright & Son; Whitfield King &
    Co.; D. Field (Colonials).

AMERICA. Scott Stamp and Coin Company; Stanley Gibbons, Inc.

FRANCE. Catalogue Officiel de la Société Française de Timbrologie;
    Yvert et Tellier; Lemaire; Bernichon; Montader; &c.

GERMANY. Gebrüder Senf; Paul Kohl, Ltd.

SPAIN. Galvez.


COLLECTIONS

  The Catalogues of Stamp Exhibitions held in London, the Provinces,
    and abroad are useful for succinct accounts of numerous Collections
    of interest and importance. I do not, however, include them here,
    nor do I list the catalogues of auction sales, which have a similar
    reference value.

The Avery Collection of the Postage Stamps of the World. By W. H.
    Peckitt. _London_, 1909. ⁂ This collection was sold after the death
    of Sir William Avery, Bart., for £24,500.

Concise Description of the Collection of Essays of Martin Schroeder. By
    A. Reinheimer. _Leipzig_, 1903. ⁂ Seventy-two plates.

  (A celebrated Collection of historical value, brought together
    between the years 1893 and 1902.)

Postage Stamps and their Collection. By Warren H. Colson. _Boston,
    Mass._, 1907. ⁂ Seventeen plates.

  (Chiefly devoted to a description of the Collection of Dr. William
    C. Bowers, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, but containing comparative
    notes on other American Collections.)

Postage Stamps of the Hawaiian Islands in the Collection of Henry J.
    Crocker, of San Francisco. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1908. ⁂
    Eight plates.

A Priced List of the Rare Stamps in the "Winzer" Collection. Stanley
    Gibbons, Ltd. _London_, 1894.

  ⁂ A fine Collection formed by Ernst Winzer, of Dresden, and sold for
    £3,000.

The Tapling Collection of Stamps and Postal Stationery at the British
    Museum: A Descriptive Guide and Index, with Portraits and
    Illustrations. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1905.


SPECIAL HANDBOOKS

  [For grouped Countries, see under comprehensive title, _e.g._,
    Africa, Australasia.]

ABYSSINIA. Abyssinia. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

AFGHANISTAN. The Postage Stamps of Afghanistan. By [Sir] D. P. Masson
    and B. G. Jones. _Madras and Birmingham_, 1908. ⁂ Twenty-four
    plates.

AFRICA. The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, Post Cards and
    Telegraph Stamps of the British Colonies, Possessions and
    Protectorates in Africa. [The Philatelic Society, London.]

  I. British Bechuanaland to Cape of Good Hope. _London_, 1895. ⁂ Eight
    plates.

  II. Gambia to Natal. _London_, 1900. ⁂ Fourteen plates.

  III. New Republic to Zululand. _London_, 1906. ⁂ Thirty plates.

AMERICA. The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, and Post Cards of the
    North American Colonies of Great Britain. [The Philatelic Society,
    London.] _London_, 1889. ⁂ Six plates.

ARGENTINA. Sellos postales de la Confederación Argentina. By J. Marco
    del Pont. _Buenos Aires_, 1902. ⁂ Two plates.

  Sellos postales de la Républica Argentina. (Emisión de 11 de Enero de
    1862.) By J. Marco del Pont. _Buenos Aires_, 1895.

  Timbres de la République Argentine et de ses diverses provinces. Two
    vols. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1882.

  Valores Postales Argentinos. By C. Carles. _Buenos Aires_, 1897, 1898.

  [The work is of a semi-official character, containing specimen
    ("muestra") copies of the Stamps accompanied by the official
    decrees relating to their issue.]

ASIA. The Stamp Designs of Eastern Asia. By C. A. Howes. _New York_,
    1905.

AUSTRALASIA. The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, and Post Cards of Australia
    and the British Colonies of Oceania. [The Philatelic Society,
    London.] _London_, 1887. ⁂ Thirty-one plates.

AUSTRIA. Die Postwertzeichen des Kaisertumes Öesterreich und der
    öesterreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie. By H. Kropf. _Prag_, 1908. ⁂
    Thirty-five plates.

BADEN. Baden (in German). By O. Rommel. _Leipzig_, 1893-6. ⁂ One plate.

  Die Abstempelungen der Marken von Baden. By A. E. Glasewald.
    _Gössnitz_, 1898. ⁂ Two plates.

  Die Briefmarken von Baden. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1894. ⁂ One
    plate.

  Die Briefumschläge von Baden. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1894.

BARBADOS. The Stamps of Barbados. By E. D. Bacon and F. H. Napier.
    _London_, 1896. ⁂ Three plates.

BAVARIA. Bayern (in German). By O. Rommel. _Leipzig_, 1893-96. ⁂ Two
    plates.

  Die Postwerthzeichen von Bayern. By S. Friedl. _Wien_, 1880.

  Die Briefumschläge von Bayern. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1895.

  Der Specialsammler von Bayern nach Abstempelungen. By A. Chelius.
    _München_, 1900.

BELGIUM. Belgique et Congo Belge. Catalogue spécial de tous les
    variétés de timbres-poste, télégraphe, colis-postaux & cartes
    postales. By C. Brandès-Hoffstetter. _Bruxelles_, 1897.

  Les Timbres de Belgique. By J. B. Moëns. Two vols. _Bruxelles_, 1880.

BERGEDORF. Die Postfreimarken des beiderstädtischen Postamtes
    Bergedorf. By H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_, 1896. ⁂ Nine plates.

BHOPAL. Notes on the Postage Stamps of Bhopal. By G. A. Anderson.
    _Calcutta_, 1899. ⁂ Thirty-two plates.

BOLIVIA. How to Collect Bolivian Stamps. By H. R. Oldfield. _London_,
    1898. ⁂ Six plates.

BRAZIL. Catalogue historique des timbres-poste et entiers du Brésil. By
    C. O. Vieira. _Paris_, 1893.

  Catalogue of Postage Stamps issued in Brazil, accurately described
    and formed from the stock of Exemplar Stamps collected by C. J. L.
    of Bahia in Brazil. By C. J. Lindgren. _Bahia_, 1891.

BREMEN. Bremen (in German). By O. Rommel and H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_,
    1893-6. ⁂ Six plates.

  Die Briefumschläge von Hamburg und Bremen. By C. Lindenberg.
    _Berlin_, 1894.

  Les Timbres de Brême. By G. Brunel. _Paris_, 1907.

BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. British Central Africa and Nyasaland
    Protectorate. By Fred. J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

BRITISH HONDURAS. The Stamps of British Honduras. By B. W. H. Poole.
    _London_, 1910.

BRITISH NEW GUINEA. British New Guinea and Papua. By Fred J. Melville.
    _London_, 1909.

BRUNSWICK. Die Postwerthzeichen des Herzogthums Braunschweig. By L.
    Berger. _Braunschweig_, 1893.

  Die Briefumschläge von Braunschweig. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1892.

  Braunschweig. By O. Rommel and H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_, 1893-6. ⁂ Four
    plates.

CAMPECHE. Some Notes on the most remarkable Postage Stamp ever issued.
    By W. C. Bellows. _New York_, 1909.

CANADA. The Postage Stamps of Canada. By C. A. Howes. _Boston_, 1911. ⁂
    Fifteen plates.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Cape of Good Hope. By E. J. Nankivell. _Tunbridge
    Wells_, 1909.

CAYMAN ISLANDS. The Cayman Islands: Their Stamps and Post Office. By D.
    Armstrong, C. Bostwick, and A. Watkin. _London_, 1910. ⁂ Two plates.

  Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. By E. J. Nankivell. _Tunbridge
    Wells_, 1908.

CEYLON. The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, Post Cards, and
    Telegraph Stamps of British India and Ceylon. [The Philatelic
    Society, London.] _London_, 1892.

CHILI. Estudios de la filatelia de Chile. By R. Aguirre Mercado.
    _Coquimbo_, 1905.

  Les Timbres du Chili, d'après Rafael Aguirre Mercado. By Sigismond
    Jean. _Paris_, 1910.

CHINA. Notes on the Postage Stamps of China, 1878-1905. By J. Mencarini
    (of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service). _Shanghai_, 1906. ⁂
    Four plates.

  The Postage Stamps of China, with a History of the Chinese Imperial
    Post. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1908. ⁂ Three plates.

COLOMBIA. Catalogo de estampillas postales de Colombia: emisiones 1859
    à 1897. By L. Umaña. _Cali_, 1897.

CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. Catalogue of the Stamps, Envelopes, and
    Wrappers of the United States of America, and of the Confederate
    States of America. By H. L. Collin and H. L. Calman, with John N.
    Luff and Geo. L. Toppan. _New York_, 1900.

COREA. The Emissions of China, Shanghai, Corea, and Japan. By W. A.
    Warner. _Chicago_, 1889.

CRETE. Les nouveaux timbres-poste de l'ile de Crete et les modèles
    des monnaies antiques (translated from the Greek). [Direction des
    Postes Crétoises.] _La Canée_, 1905.

  The New Postage Stamps of the Island of Crete. Translated from the
    above. _New York_, 1905.

DENMARK. Danske Postfrimaerker 1851-1901. [A semi-official jubilee
    work, containing reprints.] By O. Koefoed. _Kjobenhavn_, 1901.

  Dänemark-Studie. By O. V. Riise. _München_, 1893. ⁂ Three plates.

DOMINICA. Dominica. By B. W. H. Poole. _Tunbridge Wells_, 1909.

DUTCH INDIES. Beschrijving van alle Nederlandsch Indische
    Frankeerzegels, Postzegels. [Nederlandsche Vereeniging van
    Postzegelverzamelaars.] _Amsterdam_, 1895.

EGYPT. The Stamps of Egypt. By W. S. Warburg. _Tewkesbury, Egremont_,
    1895.

  De Postzegels van Egypte. By J. C. auf der Heide. _Amsterdam_, 1902.

ERRORS. The World's Stamp Errors. By Miss Fitte. Part I., The British
    Empire. Part II., Foreign Countries. _London_, 1910.

EUROPE. The Adhesive Postage Stamps of Europe. By W. A. S. Westoby. Two
    vols. _London_, 1898-1900.

  Catalogue-Memento pour servir de Manco List: Europe et Colonies. By
    Paul Morand. _Paris_, 1909.

FALKLAND ISLANDS. The Postage Stamps of the Falkland Islands. By B. W.
    H. Poole. _London_, 1909.

FIJI ISLANDS. The Postage Stamps, &c., of the Fiji Islands. By Charles
    J. Phillips. _London_, 1908. ⁂ Fifteen plates.

FINLAND. Die Ganzsachen von Finnland. By R. Granberg. _Berlin_, 1903.

  Katalog über die Freimarken des Grossfürstentums Finland.
    [Helsingfors Frimärkssamlare Förening.] 3rd ed. _Helsingfors_,
    1908. ⁂ Three plates.

FORGERIES. Album Weeds, or How to detect Forged Stamps. By the Rev. R.
    B. Earée. 3rd ed. Two vols. _London_, 1906-7.

FRANCE. Catalogue Descriptif Illustré de toutes les Marques Postales
    de la France. By A. Maury. 2nd ed. _Paris_, 1899, with supplement,
    1905.

  Catalogue Memento, pour servir de Manco-Liste: France et ses
    Colonies. By Paul Morand. _Paris_, 1909.

  Étude et description des signes de controle sur les timbres de la
    France de 1846-99. By H. Valois. _Amiens_, 1896. ⁂ Three plates.

  Histoire des timbres-poste français. By A. Maury. Two parts. _Paris_,
    1907-8.

  Histoire du timbre-poste français. By L. Leroy. _Paris et Bruxelles_,
    1891.

  Les Vignettes postales de la France et de ses Colonies. By F.
    Marconnet. Two vols. _Nancy_, 1897. ⁂ Second vol. consists of atlas
    of plates.

  Notes sur l'émission provisoire des timbres-poste français dits de
    "Bordeaux." By P. Hermand. _Paris_, 1901.

  Le Timbre-Poste français, étude historique et anecdotique de la poste
    et du timbre en France et dans les colonies françaises. By Georges
    Brunel. New ed., with supplement. _Paris_, 1901.

GAMBIA. Gambia. By Fred. J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

GERMANY AND COLONIES. Die Aushülfsmarken von Tsingtau und ihre
    Fälschungen. By Gebrüder Senf. _Leipzig_, 1903.

  Deutsche Reich-Post. By O. Rommel. _Leipzig_, 1893-6.

  Illustrierter Spezial-Katalog der Deutschen Kolonialmarken und der
    Deutschen Postämter im Auslande. By Gebrüder Senf. _Leipzig_, 1907.

GIBRALTAR. Die Postwertzeichen von Gibraltar seit 1889. By W.
    Breimeier. _Leipzig_, 1892.

GREAT BRITAIN. Great Britain: Embossed Adhesive Stamps. By Fred J.
    Melville. _London_, 1910.

  Great Britain: King Edward VII. Stamps. By Fred J. Melville.
    _London_, 1911.

  Great Britain: Line-engraved Stamps. By Fred J. Melville. 2nd ed.
    _London_, 1910.

  A History of the Adhesive Stamps of the British Isles. By H. E.
    Wright and A. B. Creeke, Jun. _London_, 1899. ⁂ Thirty-eight
    plates. With a Supplement. By A. B. Creeke, Jun. _London_, 1904. ⁂
    One plate.

  The Postage Stamps of Great Britain. By Fred J. Melville. _London_,
    1904. ⁂ Eight plates.

  The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great Britain. By F. A. Philbrick
    and W. A. S. Westoby. _London_, 1881.

  The Postage Stamps of the United Kingdom, 1840-90. By W. A. S.
    Westoby. 2nd ed. _London_, 1892.

  Standard Priced Catalogue of the Stamps and Postmarks of the United
    Kingdom. By H. L. Ewen. 6th ed. _London, S. E._, 1898.

GREECE. Les Emissions des Timbres Grecs. By Georges Brunel. _Paris_,
    1909.

  Die Postmarken von Griechenland. By A. E. Glasewald. _Gössnitz_,
    1886-96. ⁂ Plates.

  Die Postwerthzeichen von Griechenland. By A. E. Glasewald.
    _Gössnitz_, 1896.

  The Stamps of Greece. By W. D. Beckton and G. B. Duerst.
    _Manchester_, 1897. ⁂ Three plates.

GRENADA. Grenada. By E. D. Bacon and F. H. Napier. _London_, 1900. ⁂
    Nine plates.

GRIQUALAND. The Stamps of Griqualand West. By F. H. Napier.
    _Manchester_, 1903. ⁂ Two plates.

HAMBURG. Die Briefumschläge von Hamburg und Bremen. By C. Lindenberg.
    _Berlin_, 1894.

  Hamburg (in German). By O. Rommel and H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_, 1893-6.

  Die Postwerthzeichen von Hamburg. By E. Heim. _Wien_, 1880.

  Les Timbres de Hambourg. By G. Brunel. _Paris_, 1911.

HANOVER. Die Briefumschläge von Hannover. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_,
    1895.

  Hannover (in German). By H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_, 1893. ⁂ Nine plates.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. Descriptive Catalogue of the Postage Stamps of
    Hawaii. By W. M. Giffard. _Honolulu_, 1893.

  Hawaiian Numerals. By Henry J. Crocker. _San Francisco_, 1909. ⁂
    Twenty-two plates.

  History of the Postal Issues of Hawaii. By Brewster C. Kenyon. _Long
    Beach, Cal._, 1895. ⁂ Eight plates.

  Postage Stamps of the Hawaiian Islands in the Collection of Henry J.
    Crocker, of San Francisco. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1908. ⁂
    Eight plates.

HAYTI. The Postage Stamps of Hayti. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1905.

HELIGOLAND. Heligoland et ses timbres. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_,
    1897.

  Originaux et Réimpressions de Héligoland. By A. Wulbern. _Bruxelles_,
    1911. ⁂ Two plates.

HOLLAND AND COLONIES. De Afstempelingen voorkomende op de Postzegels
    van Nederland. By Schreuders & Co. _s'Gravenhage_, 1897. ⁂ Twelve
    plates.

  Beschrijving van alle Nederlansche Postzegels. [Nederlandsche
    Vereeniging van Postzegel-verzamelaars.] _Amsterdam_, 1894-5. ⁂
    Part I. deals with Holland; II., Dutch Indies; III., Surinam; IV.,
    Curaçao.

  Holland. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

  Perforations Galore. By A. H. Warren. _London_, 1910. ⁂ Plates.

HONG KONG. Descriptive Catalogue of the Postage Stamps and Cards issued
    by the Hong Kong Post Office. By J. Mencarini. _Amoy (China)_, 1898.

  The Postage Stamps of Hong Kong. By B. W. H. Poole. _London_, 1908.

HUNGARY. Die Wasserzeichen der Ungarischer Postwerthzeichen. By Dr. S.
    Lengyel. _Leipzig_, 1890.

INDIA. The Adhesive Fiscal and Telegraph Stamps of British India. By C.
    S. Crofton and W. Corfield. _Calcutta_, 1905.

  British Indian Adhesive Stamps, surcharged for Native States. By C.
    Stewart-Wilson. Part I., Chamba, Faridkot, Gwalior. _Calcutta_,
    1897. ⁂ Four plates. Part II., Jhind, Nabha, Patialla. _Calcutta_,
    1898. ⁂ Four plates. (A revised edition by the same author in
    collaboration with B. G. Jones, was published in one volume.
    _Calcutta_, 1904. ⁂ Nine plates.)

  The Postage Stamps, &c., of British India and Ceylon. [The Philatelic
    Society, London.] _London_, 1892. ⁂ Twenty-four plates.

  Notes on the De La Rue Series of the Adhesive Postage and Telegraph
    Stamps of India. Supplement to preceding work. By J. A. Tilleard.
    _London_, 1896.

  The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of British India. Part I., Postage
    Stamps. By L. L. R. Hausburg. Part II., Telegraph Stamps. By C.
    Stewart-Wilson and C. S. F. Crofton. _London_, 1907. ⁂ Twenty-three
    plates.

ITALY. I Francobolli Italiani. By G. Damiani. _Milano_, 1894.

  Catalogo Filatelico-Storico dell'Italia dal 1818 a 1901. By G.
    Rocereto. 2nd ed. _Napoli_, 1902.

JAMAICA. Jamaica. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1910. ⁂ Six plates.

  Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. By E. J. Nankivell. _Tunbridge
    Wells_, 1908.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR. The Stamps of Jammu and Kashmir. By Sir D. P.
    Masson. Vol. I., _Calcutta_, 1900. ⁂ Six plates. Vol. II.,
    _Lahore_, 1901. ⁂ Eleven plates.

JAPAN. Dai Nippon Teikoku Ubin Kitte Eukakushi (_lit._, History of the
    Postage Stamps of the Great Japanese Empire). [Japanese Postal
    Department.] _Tokio_, 1896. ⁂ This work is illustrated with actual
    stamps, and is of considerable rarity. A forgery or unofficial
    imitation of the work has been published.

  Les Écritures et la légende des timbres du Japon. By Dr. A. Legrand.
    _Bruxelles_, 1878.

LEEWARD ISLANDS. Priced Catalogue of the Obsolete Leeward Isles. By R.
    Hollick. _London_, 1895. (_See_ West Indies.)

LUBECK. Die Briefumschläge von Lübeck. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1892.

  Lübeck. By H. Krötzsch. _Leipzig_, 1893. ⁂ Forty plates.

  Die Postwertzeichen von Lübeck. By O. Rommel. _München_, 1895.

  Les Timbres de Lubeck. By Georges Brunel. _Paris_, 1911.

LUXEMBURG. Timbres du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. By J. B. Moëns.
    _Bruxelles_, 1879. ⁂ Plates.

MAURITIUS. Notes sur les Timbres-poste de Maurice. By E. B. Evans.
    _Paris_, 1880.

  Les Timbres de Maurice. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1878.

MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN AND MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ. Die Briefumschläge von
    Mecklenburg-Schwerin und Mecklenburg-Strelitz. By C. Lindenberg.
    _Berlin_, 1892.

  Mecklenburg-Schwerin und Mecklenburg-Strelitz. By Hugo Krötzsch.
    _Leipzig_, 1893-6. ⁂ Seventeen plates.

  Les Timbres de Mecklembourg-Schwerin et Strelitz. By J. B. Moëns.
    _Bruxelles_, 1879.

MEXICO. Catalogue of Mexican Postage and Revenue Stamps, Envelopes,
    Post Cards, &c. By C. H. Mekeel. 4th ed. _St. Louis, Mo._, 1896.

  Catalogue of the Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, and Postal Cards of
    Mexico, including the Provisional Issues of Campeche, Chiapas,
    Guadalajara, &c. By H. Collin and H. L. Calman, with Albert E.
    Lawrence. _New York_, 1895.

  Los Sobrecargos de los sellos postales de México. By J. Marco del
    Pont. _Buenos Aires_, 1903. (See also _Campeche_.)

MODENA. I Francobolli del Ducato di Modena e delle Provincie Modenesi.
    By Dr. Emilio Diena. _Modena_, 1894. ⁂ Seven plates.

  The Stamps of the Duchy of Modena and the Modenese Provinces. By
    Dr. Emilio Diena. _Manchester_, 1905. ⁂ Seven plates. (A revised
    version in English, prepared by the author from his original work
    in Italian.)

  Timbres des États de Parme, Modène et Romagna. By J. B. Moëns.
    _Bruxelles_, 1878.

MOLDAVIA. _See_ Roumania.

NAPLES. Timbres de Naples et de Sicilie. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_,
    1877.

NEVIS. Nevis. By Fred J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

NEW CALEDONIA. Une réimpression des timbres de la Nouvelle-Calédonie.
    By A. Maury. _Paris_, 1880.

NEW HEBRIDES. New Hebrides. By Single CA. _London_, 1910.

NEW SOUTH WALES. A History and Description of the Sydney View Stamps of
    New South Wales. By R. C. H. Brock. _Philadelphia_, 1890.

  History of the Post Office, together with an Historical Account of
    the Issue of Postage Stamps in New South Wales. Compiled chiefly
    from the Records, by A. Houison. _Sydney_, 1890. ⁂ Fifteen plates.

  The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, Post Cards and Telegraph
    Stamps of New South Wales. By A. F. Basset Hull. Two vols.
    _London_, 1911. ⁂ Sixteen plates.

  The Registration Stamp of New South Wales. By A. Houison. _Sydney_,
    1888.

NIGER COAST. Niger Coast Protectorate. By E. J. Nankivell. _Tunbridge
    Wells_, 1909.

NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION. Die Briefumschläge des Norddeutschen
    Postbezirks. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_, 1893.

  Norddeutscher Postbezirk mit Occupations-Freimarken. By H. Krötzsch.
    _Leipzig_, 1893-6.

OLDENBURG. Die Briefumschläge von Oldenburg. By C. Lindenberg.
    _Berlin_, 1893.

  Oldenburg (in German). By P. Ohrt. _Leipzig_, 1893-6.

ORANGE RIVER COLONY. South African War Provisionals. By B. W. H. Poole.
    _London_, 1901. ⁂ Six plates.

PANAMA. Bartels' Check List of Canal Zone Stamps. By J. M. Bartels. 2nd
    ed. _Boston, Mass._, 1908.

  Bartels' Check List of the Postage Stamps of Panama, 1907. By W. W.
    Randall and J. M. Bartels. _Boston, Mass._, 1907.

  A Reference List of the Stamps of Panama. By J. N. Luff. _New York_,
    1905.

  The Stamps of the Canal Zone. By G. L. Toppan. _New York_, 1906.

PARMA. Timbres des États de Parme, Modène et Romagne. By J. B. Moëns.
    _Bruxelles_, 1878.

PERSIA. Die persische post und die Postwerthzeichen von Persien und
    Buchara. By F. Schüller. _Wien_, 1893. ⁂ Four plates.

  La Poste des Califes et la Poste du Shah. By P. Hugonnet. _Paris_,
    1884. ⁂ Map.

PERU. Beredeneerde Geïllustreerde Catalogus aller Postzegels, Couverten
    en Briefkaarten, officiëel uitgegeven door de Peruaansche Republiek
    van af 1 December, 1857, tot en met 31 December, 1887. By A. E. J.
    Huart. _Amsterdam_, 1888.

  Catalogue général et détaillé des timbres-poste, enveloppes et cartes
    postales officiellement émis dans la République du Perou. [Société
    Philatelique Sud Americaine.] _Lima_, 1887.

  Peru. Investigaciones sobre la emisión de estampillas del coronel
    seminario en túmbez en Marzo de 1895. By A. T. Lista. _Santiago de
    Chile_, 1899.

  Les Timbres du Perou. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1878.

  Studie über Postwertzeichen von Peru. By Dr. O. Rommel. _München_,
    1890.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. The Postage Stamps of the Philippines. By J. M.
    Bartels, F. A. Foster and F. L. Palmer. _Boston, Mass._, 1904.

PORTUGAL. Catalogue descriptif et illustré de tous les timbres-poste,
    &c., du Portugal emis dès 1853 à 1895 avec leur differentes
    denteleurs, papiers, &c. By T. Ramos. _Lisbonne_, 1895.

  The Dies of the Postage Stamps of Portugal of the Reigns of Dona
    Maria II. and Dom Pedro V. By R. B. Yardley. _Manchester_, 1907. ⁂
    Thirty plates.

  Portugal. Eine Studie über die Ausgaben 1853-76. By L. Berger.
    _Berlin_, 1898.

PORTUGUESE INDIES. Portuguese India. By G. Harrison and F. H. Napier.
    _London_, 1893. ⁂ Two plates.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Prince Edward Island. By R. E. R. Dalwigk.
    _London_, 1910.

PRUSSIA. Preussen. By P. Ohrt. _Leipzig_, 1893-6.

  Les Timbres de Prusse. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1887.

REPRINTS. Handbuch aller bekannten Neudrucke staatlicher
    Postfreimarken, Ganzsachen und Essays. By P. Ohrt. _Dusseldorf_,
    1907.

  Reprints of Postal Adhesive Stamps and their Characteristics. By E.
    D. Bacon. _London_, 1899.

ROMAN STATES. Timbres des États de Toscane et Saint-Marin et des États
    de l'Église. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1878.

ROUMANIA. Die Postwerthzeichen von Rumänien. Moldau, Moldau-Walachei,
    Fürstenthum Rumänien, Königreich Rumänien. By H. Roggenstroh.
    _Magdeburg_, 1894. ⁂ Five plates.

  Timbres de Moldavie et de Roumaine. By Dr. Magnus. 2nd ed.
    _Bruxelles_, 1869.

RUSSIA. Die Postmarken von Russland. By Dr. E. von Bochmann. _Leipzig_,
    1895.

  Les Timbres de Russie. By J. B. Moëns. Bruxelles, 1893.

ST. THOMAS AND PRINCE ISLANDS. La Guerre aux timbres surchargés de S.
    Thomé et Principe. By J. A. da Silva. _Lisbonne_, 1895.

ST. VINCENT. Saint Vincent. By F. H. Napier and E. D. Bacon. _London_,
    1895. ⁂ Two plates.

SAN MARINO. Timbres des États de Toscane et Saint-Marin. By J. B.
    Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1878.

SARAWAK. The Postage Stamps of Sarawak. By Fred J. Melville. _London_,
    1907. ⁂ Eight plates.

SAXONY. Die Briefumschläge von Sachsen. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_,
    1894.

  Les Timbres de Saxe. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1879.

  Geschichte der Postwerthzeichen des Königreichs Sachsen. By Dr. P.
    Kloss. _Dresden_, 1882.

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. Die Postfreimarken der Herzogtümer
    Schleswig-Holstein. By A. Rosenkranz. _Leipzig_, 1897. ⁂ Fourteen
    plates.

  Timbres des Duchés de Schleswig-Holstein et Lauenbourg et Bergedorf.
    By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1884.

SEYCHELLES. The Postage Stamps of the Seychelles. By B. W. H. Poole.
    _London_, 1906.

SHANGHAI. Shanghai. By W. B. Thornhill. _London_, 1895. ⁂ Eight plates.

SIAM. The Postage Stamps of Siam. By A. Holland. _Boston, Mass._, 1904.
    ⁂ One plate.

  Siam: Its Posts and Postage Stamps. By Fred J. Melville. _London_,
    1906.

SICILY. History of the Postage Stamps of Sicily. By Dr. E. Diena.
    _London_, 1904. ⁂ Twenty plates.

SIRMOOR. Sirmoor I. By [Sir] D. P. Masson. _Madras_, 1906.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA. South Australia. By F. H. Napier and Gordon Smith.
    _London_, 1894. ⁂ Three plates.

SPAIN. Catálogo ilustrado de sellos de correo de España. By H. Prats.
    _Barcelona_, 1894.

  Historia de los sellos de correos y telégrafos de España. By M. A.
    Fernandez. _Madrid_, 1901-4.

  Histoire des timbres-poste ... en Espagne. By J. B. Moëns.
    _Bruxelles_, 1891.

  Reseña Histórico-Descriptiva de los Sellos de Correo de España. By A.
    F. Duro. _Madrid_, 1881.

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. A Reference List to the Stamps of the Straits
    Settlements, surcharged for use in the Native Protected States. By
    W. Brown. _Salisbury_, 1894. ⁂ Supplemental plate.

SUDAN. Sudan. By E. J. Nankivell. _London_, 1904.

SUEZ CANAL COMPANY. Timbres d'Égypte et de la Compagnie du Canal de
    Suez. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1880.

SWEDEN. Sveriges Frankotecken, 1855-1905. [Sveriges
    Filatelist-Förening.] _Stockholm_, 1905. ⁂ Plates.

  Die Postmarken von Schweden, 1855-1905. [A _précis_ of the above in
    German.] By H. Djurling and R. Krasemann. _Leipzig_, 1908.

SWITZERLAND. The Forgeries of the "Cantonal" Stamps of Switzerland. By
    Baron A. de Reuterskiöld. _Manchester_, 1908. ⁂ One plate.

  Spezial-Katalog und Handbuch über die Briefmarken der Schweiz und
    Tabellen über Abstempelungen der Ausgaben 1843-81. By E. Zumstein.
    _Bern_, 1908.

  Handbook of the Postage Stamps of Switzerland, from the above. By E.
    Zumstein. _London_, 1910. ⁂ Six plates.

  The Stamps of Switzerland, 1843-54. By Baron C. von Girsewald.
    _München_, 1893.

  Les Timbres Cantonaux ... Suisses de 1843 à 1852, et leurs fac-similé
    à ce jour. By H. Goegg. _Genève_, 1893.

  Les Timbres-poste Suisses, 1843-62 [and in German and English]. By P.
    Mirabaud and Baron A. de Reuterskiöld. _Paris_, 1900. ⁂ Fourteen
    plates.

TASMANIA. The Stamps of Tasmania. By A. F. B. Hull. _London._ 1890. ⁂
    Nine plates.

THURN AND TAXIS. Die Abstempelungen der Marken des Thurn und
    Taxis'schen Postgebietes. By A. E. Glasewald. _Gössnitz_, 1893. ⁂
    Ten plates and two maps.

  Die Briefumschläge von Thurn und Taxis. By C. Lindenberg. _Berlin_,
    1892.

TONGA. Tonga. By Fred. J. Melville. _London_, 1909.

TURKEY. Croissant-Toughra (Armoiries de l'Empire Ottoman). By F.
    Mongeri. _Bruxelles_, 1887.

  Katalog der Postwerthzeichen des ottomanischen Kaiserthums. By F.
    Meyer. _Wien_, 1878.

UNITED STATES. History of the Postage Stamps of the United States. By
    J. K. Tiffany. 2nd ed. _St. Louis_, 1893.

  The Postage Stamps of the United States. By J. N. Luff. _New York_,
    1902. ⁂ Twenty-three plates.

  The Postage Stamps of the United States. By Fred J. Melville.
    _London_, 1905.

  A Tentative Check List of the Proofs of the Adhesive Postage and
    Revenue Stamps of the United States. By G. L. Toppan. _New York and
    Boston, Mass._, 1904.

  United States Postage Stamps, 1847-69. By Fred J. Melville. 2nd ed.
    _London_, 1910.

  United States Postage Stamps, 1870-93. By Fred J. Melville. _London_,
    1910.

  United States Postage Stamps, 1894-1910. By Fred J. Melville.
    _London_, 1910.

URUGUAY. A Study of the Stamps of Uruguay. By Hugo Griebert. _London_,
    1910. ⁂ Seven plates.

  Les Timbres de la République Orientale de l'Uruguay. By Dr. E.
    Wonner. _Neuilly_, 1887. ⁂ Map.

  Les Timbres de l'Uruguay. By S. Jean. _Paris_, 1908.

WEST INDIES. The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers, Post Cards and
    Telegraph Stamps of the British Colonies in the West Indies,
    together with British Honduras and the Colonies in South America.
    [The Philatelic Society, London.] _London_, 1891.

WURTEMBERG. Die Briefumschläge von Württemberg. By C. Lindenberg.
    _Berlin_, 1895.

  Les Timbres du Wurtemberg. By J. B. Moëns. _Bruxelles_, 1881.

ZULULAND. Zululand. By B. W. H. Poole. _London_, 1909.




INDEX




INDEX


Aberdeen University Library, 127

Abyssinia, 201

Accessories, 136-150

Acts of Parliament:
  Commonwealth, 63, 159;
  George III., 67;
  Uniform Penny Postage, 101, 159

"Adhesive Stamps of the British Isles, The," 156

Africa, 204

"Aids to Stamp Collectors," Booty's, 123, 147

Aitutaki, 206

Albino, 23

Albums, 128, 136, 137, 147

"Album Weeds," 243

Alexis Michaelovitch, H.I.H. the Grand Duke, 325

Alfonso XIII., H.M. King, 325

All Hallows Staining rectory, 122, 268

Alsace and Lorraine, 269

Althorp, Lord, 96

Anderson, Mr. P. J., 127

Aniline colours, 23

Annapolis, 279, 289

Antigua, 204

Argentine Republic, 259

Ashurst, Mr. W. H., 101, 109, 159

_Athenæum, The_, 97, 98, 109, 170

Atlee, Mr. W. D., 273-275

Auction sale of stamps, The first, 272

Augustus, Emperor, 59

Australian Commonwealth, 190, 202

Austria, 60, 61, 71, 269

Avery, late Sir W. B., 9, 177, 183, 225, 282, 290, 291, 302

Ayer, Mr. F. W., 302


Bacon, Mr. E. D., 298

Baden, 61

Bagshawe, Mr. A., 302

Balkan States, 203

Baltimore, 289

Barbados, 219, 322

Baring, Mr. Thomas, M.P., 167

Basle, 256, 290

Batavia, Find of old papers in, 85

Bâtonné paper, 23, 39

Baton Rouge, 181, 332

Bavaria, 61

Beaufort House Press, The, 95

Beaumont, 332

Belgium, 179

Bellman, Origin of the, 67

Benzine, The use of, 139

Bergedorf, 271, 326

Berger-Levrault, M. F. G. Oscar, 125, 269-271

Berlin Postal Museum, 330

Bermuda, 322

_Billets de port payé_, 81

Birchin-lane, Stamp exchange in 118, 121, 263

Bisected provisional stamps, 23, 37, 219

Blest, Mr. W., 302

_Bleuté_, blued paper, 23

Blind division, General Post Office, 57

Blocks of stamps, 23, 25

Blood locals, The, 273

Bogus stamps, 23, 247, 258-260

Booty, Mr. Frederick, 123, 124, 147

Borchard, Mme., 278

Bourne, Mr. Herbert, 172

_Boys' Own Magazine, The_, 127

Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., 172

Brattleboro, 273

Brazil, 71, 116, 234

British Central Africa, 168

British Colonial Stamps, 32, 203, 311

British Guiana, 53, 219, 268, 269, 271, 275, 277, 282, 301, 321, 329, 331

British Museum, 97, 98, 124, 160, 281, 327, 329, 330

British New Guinea, 170

British North America, 71, 202, 295

British Post-offices abroad, 53

British Solomon Islands, 206

British South Africa Company, 170

British West Indies, 71, 202

Brown, Mr. Mount, 123, 124, 127, 264, 268

Brunei, 259

Brunswick, 61

Buenos Aires, 71, 271, 311

Bulgaria, 306

Bulwer, Mr. Edward Lytton, 96

Burelé, 23

Burnett, Mr. M., 302


Caillebotte, Mm., 302

Canada, 176, 220, 269, 311

Canary Islands, 71

Cancelled to order, Stamps, 23

Cape Colony, 25, 179, 202, 220, 269, 331

Caroline Islands, 206

Cashmere, 40, 253

Castle, Mr. M. P., 131, 290, 302, 325

Castle-Mann collection, The, 202

"Catalogue of British Colonial and Foreign Stamps," Mount Brown's, 124

Catalogues, Stamp, 137

Cayman Islands, 221

Centimetre, 24

Ceylon, 201, 222, 224, 253, 290

Chalk-surfaced paper, 24

Chalmers, Mr. James, of Dundee, 99, 101

Chalon, Mr. Alfred Edward, R.A., 170

Change-alley, Stamp exchange in, 263

Charles II., 64

Cheverton, Mr. Benjamin, 102, 105, 159, 160

Chili, 71, 179, 189, 202

China, 189, 201

Christie, Manson & Wood, 167

City medal, Wyon's, 163

Clarke, Mr. Harvey R. G., 290

Cliché, 24, 45

Clipperton Island, 259

Clotilde, Princess, 305

Coit, Mr. J. T., 296

Cole, Sir Henry, 101, 102, 106, 109, 110, 167

Collections, Sales of, 302

Colman, Mr. C., 302

Colour trials, 24

Coloured postmarks, 186

Colours, 23, 28

Colson, Mr. W. H., 332

Comb perforating machine, 24

Commemorative stamps, 24

Commissioners of Post-office inquiry, 101, 109, 159

Commonwealth, posts during the, 63

Compound perforations, 24

Condition, The Importance of, 8;
  Essential details of, 139-142

Confederate States of America, 296, 331

Control letters, marks, 24

Cook Islands, 206

Cooper, Miss Eliza, 160

Cooper, Mr. W., 302

Cooper, Sir Daniel, 123, 129, 131, 272, 274, 275, 282, 298, 302

Corbould, Mr. Edward Henry, 170, 173, 175

Corbould, Mr. Henry, 106, 175

Cordoba, 259

Counani, 259

Cousins, Mr. Samuel, 170

Coutures, M. Albert, 278

Crawford, The Earl of, 105, 131, 148, 159, 160, 171, 282-289, 279

Creased stamps, How to treat, 138

Creeke, Mr. A. B., jun., 156, 160

Crocker, Mr. Henry J., 295, 297, 299

Cromwell, Thomas, 62

Crown Agents for the Colonies, 172

Cuba, 205, 306

Current-number, 27, 29

Cut-outs, cut-squares, 27

Cyprus, 29, 168, 222, 306


_Daily Telegraph, The_, 264

Darius, I., 59

David's letter to Joab, 58

De la Rue & Co., Limited, 168, 202, 276

Denmark, 240, 306

"De-oxidisation," 138

De-sulphurisation of stamps, 138

Dickens, Charles, 122

Dickinson, Mr. John, 102, 109, 159, 160, 164

"Dickinson" paper, 27, 41, 109, 157, 161, 164

Dies, postage-stamp, 23, 24, 27, 31, 35, 36, 46, 51

Dilke, Mr., of _The Athenæum_, 109

_Diplomata_ of the Roman Emperors, 60

Dockwra, Mr. William, 64-67, 82-84

Dominica, 204

Dominican Republic, 205

Doria Pamphilj, Prince, 302, 326

Double prints, 27

Dutch East Indian Company, 85

Dutch Indies, 85

Duty-plate, 27, 32

Duveen, Mr. Henry J., 187, 225, 290-293


Earée, Rev. R. B., 243

Edinburgh, H.R.H. the Duke of, 131, 305-311

Edward VII., H.M. King, 129, 313, 317, 318

Egypt, 233

Ehrenbach, Mr. R., 302

Electrotypes, 27

Embossing, 27

Engraving, 28

Entires, 28

Envelope stamps, 28

Errors, 28

Essays for postage stamps, 28, 103, 107

European stamps, 202, 203

Evans, Major E. B., 156

Evans, Mrs. John, 161

Evans, Mr. Lewis, 160, 161

_Evening News, The_, 264

_Express, The_, 263


Fabri, Sr. P., 302

Facsimiles of postage stamps, 28, 241

"Facts and Reasons," Mr. Ashurst's, 101, 109

Fakes, 28, 249-253

"Falsification of Postage Stamps, The," 240

Fernando Po, 306

Field, Mr. D., 9, 321

Fiji, 168, 169, 206, 223, 257

Fiscal stamps, 28, 45, 48

Flap ornaments, 28

"Forged Stamps and How to Detect Them," 239

Forgeries, 28, 31, 239-260

Forrester, Mr. Samuel, 159, 160

France, 234, 269, 326

Francis, Mr. John, 109

Francis, Mr. John Collins, 109

French Revolution, 61

Füchs, Herr Emil, 317

Fugitive inks, 28


Gambia, 37, 204, 223

Gambin, Sr. Miguel, 302

Gauge for measuring perforations, _see_ "Perforation Gauge"

Gauge for use in arranging stamps, 144-147

General Post Office, London, 57, 80, 195

Generalising, 31, 49, 199, 200

Geneva, 256, 290-293, 326

George V., H.M. King, 131, 160, 167, 195, 225, 265, 305-325

German East Africa, 259

German Empire, 61

German New Guinea, 206

German States, 61, 71, 179, 203, 330

Gibbons, Mr. E. S., 117, 233

_Gibbons Stamp Weekly_, 156

Gibraltar, 71, 306

Gilbert and Ellice Islands, 20

Gimet, M. E., 278

Gold Coast, 204

Goliad, 183, 332

Government imitations, 31, 256

Grangerising philatelic monographs, 155

Granite paper, 31, 41

Gray, Dr. J. E., 97, 98, 124, 282

Great Britain, 25, 31, 32, 45, 53, 62, 68, 99, 154-161, 170-173,
    177-180, 191, 195, 201, 216-219, 235, 244-248, 251, 269, 271,
    275, 283-290, 307, 312-321

"Great Britain: Embossed Adhesive Stamps," 160

Greece, 51, 234, 306

Grenada, 25, 322

Griebert, Mr. Hugo, 180

Grille, The, 31

Grove Hill, 332

Guadalajara, 282

Guam, 205, 206

Guillotine perforation, 31

Gum, 36

Gumpaps, 31


Hair-lines, 31

"Hand Catalogue of Postage Stamps," Dr. Gray's, 124

Hand-made paper, 31, 39

Hanover, 61, 326

_Hansard_, 96-98

Harbeck, Mr. C. T., 302

Hardy, Mr. W. J., 298

Harrison, Mr. G., 302

Harrow perforating machine, 32

Harwood's envelope, 109

Hausburg, Mr. L. L. R., 289

Hawaii, 205-207, 234, 259, 274, 295-299, 327-331

Hayman, Mr. H. L., 302

Hayti, 71, 201, 205, 259

Haywood, Mrs., 175

Head-plate, 32

Heath, Mr. Charles, 106, 176

Heath, Mr. Frederick, 106, 173, 175

Helena, 332

Heligoland, 306

Henderson, Mr. S., of Dalkeith, 102

Herodotus, 59

Herpin, M. G., 127

Hill, Mr. Edwin, 160

Hill, Mr. John, 64

Hill, Mr. Matthew Davenport, 96

Hill, Mr. Ormond, 160

Hill, Sir Rowland, 71-75, 97-101, 110-112, 159, 160, 164, 167, 175,
    247, 272, 312 and frontispiece

Hinges for mounting stamps, 137, 140-144

Hobson, Tobias, 62

Holland, 179, 234

Hollander, Mr. C., 302

Holstein, 61

Honduras, 71

Hong Kong, 322

House of Commons envelopes, 110

House of Lords envelopes, 93, 110

"How to Detect Forged Stamps," 241

Hughes-Hughes, Mr., 123, 268, 302

Humphrys, Mr. William, 170

Hungary, 276


Iceland, 306

Image, Mr. W. E., 281, 302

Imperforate stamps, 32, 140, 179-185

Imprimatur, 32

Imprint, 32

India, 223, 249

Inverted, 32

Ionian Islands, 306

Irish National Museum, 331

Irregular perforation, 32

Italian States, 118, 171, 203, 234, 249, 326

Italy, 60


Jaffray, Miss, 167

Jamaica, 37, 170

James II., King, 64

Japan, 234, 255, 295

Jezebel's forged letters, 59

Joab, 59

Johnson, Mr. H. F., 9

Joint-Committee on Postage Stamps, 276

Jubilee line, 32

Junior Philatelic Society, 9, 322


Kent, H.R.H. The Duchess of, 170

Key-plate, 27, 32

King, Mr. S., of Bath, 72, 73

King's Messengers, 62

Kingston, The Earl of, 131, 302

Kintore, The Earl of, 321

Knife, 35

Knight, Mr. Charles, 96-98


Labuan, 224

Lacroix, M., 266

Lagos, 204

Laid bâtonné paper, 35

Laid paper, 35, 39

Lallier, M. Justin, 128, 278

Lambton, Major-General, 302

Laplante, M. Edard de, 266

Lauenburg, 61

Lawn & Barlow, 329

Leeward Islands, 204

Legrand, Dr. A., 126, 270, 302

Leinster, The Duke of, 331

L'Epinard, Chevalier Paris de, 82

Letter-balances, 72-74

Letter-office of England, The, 63, 80

Letters, The earliest, 58, 59;
  penny-post letter in 1686, 83, 84;
  statistics, 75

Lincoln, Mr. W. S., 117, 127

Line-engraving, 35, 46

Lithography, 35, 46

Livingston, 183

Locals, 35, 273

Louis, Mr., witness, Select Committee, 95

Luxemburg, 61, 326


Macon, 332

MacWhirter, Mr. John, 169

Madden, Rev. G. C. B., 186

"Magnus," Dr., 270

Malta, 71, 306

Manila paper, 35, 40

Mann, Mr. W. W., 302

Manuel, H.M. King, 325

Marianne Islands, 206

Marsden, Mr. J. N., 302

Marshall Islands, 206

Matrix, 27, 35, 50

Mauritius, 47, 187, 202, 207, 224-227, 269, 278, 281, 290, 301,
    319-323, 329-332

Maury, M. A., 81

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 61

_Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News_, 189

Mercantile Committee, The, 101

Mexico, 189, 203, 269, 305

Millbury, 181

Millimetre, 35

Million stamps fable, The, 116

Mill-sheet, 35

Mint, 35, 141

Mirabaud, M. Paul, 282, 301, 302

_Mirror of Parliament, The_, 98

Mixed perforations, 35

Modena, 240

Moëns, M. J. B., 117, 128, 278

Moldavia, 207, 234, 306, 329, 331

Montenegro, 306

_Monthly Advertiser, The_, 128

_Monthly Intelligencer and Controversialist, The_, 128

Montserrat, 204, 224

Morocco, 189

"Mounted" stamps, 36

Mounting stamps in albums, 137

Mounts, 137

Mozambique, 259

Mulready, Mr. William: envelopes and covers, 109-111, 159, 160,
    165, 167, 175, 312


Nankivell, Mr. E. J., 302

Naples, 47, 118, 240, 249, 269, 271, 274

Natal, 202, 267, 311

Native-made paper, 36, 40

Nepal, 40

Netherlands, 61

Nevis, 204, 227, 311, 322, 326

New Brunswick, 176, 228, 266, 271

New Caledonia, 206

Newfoundland, 228, 329

New Hebrides, 206

New South Wales, 106, 123, 176, 207, 229, 254, 255, 272, 290, 311

Newspaper tax, 96

New Zealand, 35, 170, 190, 229, 271, 272

Nicaragua, 242

Nicholas, Mme., 121

Niger Coast Protectorate, 204, 230

Nissen, Mr. C., 9, 106, 251

Niue, 206

North, Mr. J. C., 168

Northern Nigeria, 204

Norway, 306

Nova Scotia, 228, 267, 271

_Nuncii et Cursores_, 62


Oates, Titus, 64

Obliterations, 36

Obsolete, 36, 47

Oceanic Settlements, 206

Oil Rivers Protectorate, 204

Oldenburg, 61, 233, 326

Original covers, stamps used on, 185

Original die, 36

Original gum, 36

Overprint, 36


Pacific Steam Navigation Co., 267

Packet-collections, 136

Pairs, 25, 36

Palmer, J., 73

Panama Canal Zone, 205

Panes of Stamps, 33, 39

Paper, 39-41

Papua, 170, 206

Paraphe, 41

Parker, Mr. J. W., 101

Parliament, Temporary letter-covers for Members of, 93, 109

Parma, 240

Patte, 28, 41

Paul, Mr. J. W., jun., 302

Pauwels, Mr. J., 302

Peacock papers, The, 111, 155, 175

Peckitt, Mr. W. H., 9, 156, 266, 321

Pellisson, M., 81

Pelure paper, 40, 41

Pemberton, Mr. E. L., 123, 127, 239, 242, 268, 272, 274

Pen-cancelled, 41

Penny post, first proposed, 64;
  in Edinburgh, 67;
  local penny posts, 67

Penny post of 1680, 4, 82-84

Penrhyn, 206

Perazzi, Signor, 112

Percé, perçage, 41, 42

Perforation, 24, 31, 32, 35, 42-44, 48, 139

Perforation-gauge, 43, 44

Perkins, Bacon & Co., 102, 106, 201, 228

Peroxide of hydrogen, The use of, 138

Persia, 24, 59

Peru, 31, 71, 189, 267, 271, 325

Petersburg, 326

_Petite Poste_, 80

_Philatelic Record, The_, 82, 88, 275

Philatelic Society, The Royal, 105, 123, 129, 131, 158, 160, 229,
    272, 306, 322, 325

_Philatelical Journal, The_, 272

_Philatelist, The_, 305

Philately, Definition of, 7, 44, 127

Philately, The higher, 8

Philbrick, Judge, 123, 131, 155, 270, 272, 275-282, 298, 302

Philippine Islands, 205, 206, 274

Phillips, Mr. Charles J., 168

Pin-perforation, 42, 45, 48

Plate, 24, 27, 45, 46

Plate-number, 29, 45

Porto-Rico, 41, 205, 306

Portugal, 71;
  King of, 305

Portuguese Nyassa, 172

Post, Genesis of the, 55-75

"Post," Origin of the word, 59

"Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great Britain, The," 155, 276

"Postage Charts" proposed in Sweden, 91, 92

_Postage Stamp, The_, 189

Postage Stamp "chart," A, 119

"Postage Stamps and their Collection," 332

Postal fiscal, 45

Postal Stationery, 27, 28, 45

Postmarks, 23, 36, 41, 45, 140, 185

Post-office in 1790, 69

Posts in early times, 59-75

Posts, Master of the, 62

Potiquet, M. Alfred, 125, 266

Povey, Mr. Charles, 67

Power, Mr. E. B., 273

Pre-cancellation, 45

Presidents and Vice-Presidents of The Royal Philatelic Society, London, 131

Prices of old stamps, 9

Printers of postage stamps, 202

Printing postage stamps, 46

Proofs, 46, 171-179

Provisionals, 46

Prussia, 61

_Punch_, 116

Puttick & Simpson, 281, 321


Quadrillé paper for albums, 147;
  for stamps, 39, 46

"Queen's Heads", the early use of the term, 116

Queensland, 175


Re-cutting, 47

Re-drawing, 47

Re-engraving, 47

Re-issues, 47

Remainders, 47

Rénotière, M. la, 275, 278, 296

Rep paper, 40, 47

Reprints, 47, 256, 325

Resetting, 47

Retouching, 47

Reunion, 269, 271, 329, 331

Reuterskiöld, Baron A. de, 301

Revenue, 48

Reversed, 48

Ribbed paper, 40, 48

Roberts, Mr. Vernon, 302

Romagna, 240

Roman _posita_, The, 59

Rosace, 28, 41, 48

Rothschild, Baron Arthur, 275

Rough perforation, 48

Rouletting, 41, 42, 48;
  in coloured lines, 48

Roumania, 234, 257

Royal Niger Co., 204

Russell, Mr., 302

Russia, 71, 189, 325


"Safety" paper, 40, 49

St. Christopher, 204

St. Helena, 71

St. Kitts-Nevis, 204

St. Louis, 268, 273

St. Vincent, 224, 230, 311

Samoa, 206, 234

Sandwich Islands. _See_ Hawaii

Sappho, The French, 81, 82

Sarawak, 201, 260

Sardinia: Letter sheets of 1818, 86-93

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, H.R.H. the Duke of, 131, 305-311

Saxony, 61, 269, 271

Schleswig-Holstein, 233

Scudéri, Mdlle., 81, 82

Scythia: early communications, 59

Sedang, 259

Seebeck, Mr. N. F., 49

Select Committee on Postage, 95, 98-101

Serpentine roulette, 49

Servia, 306

Se tenant, 49

Seybold, Mr. J. F., 296, 302

Shanghai, 234

Sheet of paper, of stamps, 49

Sicily, 118

Sierra Leone, 204, 224, 231

Sievier, Mr. R. W., 102

Silk-thread paper, 49

Single-line perforation, 49

Smith, Mr. Alfred, 127

Smith, Mr. Stafford, 127

Société Française de Timbrologie, 127

Somerset House, 154-156, 172, 321

South African War provisionals, 235

South America, 49, 203

South Australia, 231

Southern Nigeria, 204, 224

Spain, 60, 71, 172, 234, 240, 248, 271, 311, 325, 326

Spandrel, 49

Specialising, 49, 200-207

Spitsbergen, 259

Stainforth, Rev. F. J., 122, 129, 267, 272

"Stamp Collector, The," 298

_Stamp Collector's Magazine, The_, 117, 121, 128, 241, 275

_Stamp Lover, The_, 170

Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., 9, 266

Stationery, 45, 50

Stead, Mr., of Norwich, 102

Stead, Mr., of Yarmouth, 95

Stephan, Dr. von, 330

Stereotyping, 46, 50

Stourton, Mr. J. M., 240

Strip of Stamps, 25, 50

Surcharge, 36, 50

Surface-printed, 46, 50

Sweden, 71, 91, 306, 311

Switzerland, 234, 240, 256, 267, 271, 290, 291, 301, 311, 325

Sydney, Embossed envelopes used in, 106, 272


Tahiti, 206

Taille douce, 35, 50

Tapling, Mr. T. K., M.P., 131, 281, 298, 326-330

"Tapling Collection of Stamps and Postal Stationery, The," 329

Tasmania, 231

Taxes on knowledge, 96

Taylor, Mr. Overy, 124

Tête-bêche pairs, 50, 253

Thorne, Mr. W., 296

Thurn and Taxis, Counts of, 60-62

_Timbre-Poste, Le_, 117, 128

_Timbrologie_, 127

_Times, The_, 115

Tobago, 231

Tomson, Mr. A. S., 302

Toned paper, 50

Tonga, 206

Torres Straits, 259

Transvaal, 232, 318

Treasury Competition, The, 102-109, 163

Treffenberg, Lieut. Curry Gabriel, 91

Tresse, 28, 41, 50

Trials, 50

Trinidad, 269, 322, 326

Trinidad, Principality of, 259

Tuilleries open-air stamp exchange, 121

Tuke, Sir Brian, 62

Turkey, 71

Turks' Islands, 232, 322

Tuscany, 118, 267, 269, 271

Two-_sous_ post, 80-82

Type (design), 53

Type-set stamps, 53

Typography, 46, 53


Uganda, 232

Uniform Penny Postage, 67, 71-75

Union of South Africa, 190, 191

United States, 31, 35, 71, 116, 168, 171, 189, 203, 205, 234, 255,
    257, 273, 279, 289, 295, 311, 326, 331

"United States Stamps," 273

Universal Penny Postage, 190

Uriah the Hittite, 58

Uruguay, 179, 180, 234, 306, 326

Used abroad, 53


Valette, M. François, 126

"Vanguard, The," 169

Variety, 53

Vaud, 271, 326

Victor, Mr. Henry R., 127

Victoria, 224, 233, 269, 282

Victoria, Queen, 73, 170, 312

Villayer, Comte de, 80-82

Viner, Dr. C. W., 117, 123

Virgin Islands, 204


Walker, Mr. Leslie J., 168

Wallace, Mr., M.P., 98

Ward, Sir Joseph, 190

Watermarks, 37, 53, 254

Western Australia, 233, 329

Westoby, Mr. W. A. S., 156, 275-277, 282, 305

Whiting, Mr. Charles, 95, 96, 102

Wilbey, Mr. J. E., 302

Willett, Mr. W. T., 302

Williamson, Mr. Peter, 67

Winzer, Mr. E., 302

Witherings, Mr. Thomas, 63

Woods, Mr. J. J., 127

Worms, Baron Anthony de, 290

Worthington, Mr. George H., 290, 331

Wove bâtonné paper, 53

Wove paper, 39, 53

Wright, Mr. Hastings E., 156, 160

Writing-up a collection, 148-150

Wurtemburg, 61, 311

Wyon, Mr. William, 106, 163


_Young Ladies' Journal, The_, 264, 267

Ysasi, Mr. V. G. de, 131


Zurich, 240, 271, 326

       *       *       *       *       *

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.

       *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber's note--the following changes have been made to this text:

Page 346: Republique changed to République.

Page 360: Reüterskiold changed to Reuterskiöld.






End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Postage Stamps, by Frederick John Melville

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