1st Quarter Philatelic Literature Review 2023

Stops ’Round the Philatelic Globe

Summer Seminar on Philately is back for the first time since 2019. Welcoming Robert Dalton Harris and Diane deBlois as the 2023 Distinguished Philatelists.

Wayne Youngblood - Stamp Technology

Dan Piazza - Philatelic Research

Garfield Portch - The Use of Technology & Forensics in Expertizing and more...

Meet the instructors and explore the course catalog at www.stamps.org/SummerSeminar.

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES

14 REVITALIZING A DATED RESOURCE

By Michael Bloom

Research and documentation are invaluable to philately. But what do you do when prized handbooks and monographs, and the research within, become dusty and worn from decades of age? The author shows and tells how he and other members of the International Society of Guatemala Collectors – with great effort – took on and conquered the daunting task of modernization.

25 THIS CAT WAS CAUGHT

By Abhishek Bhuwalka

Cecil Rose, of England, was a colorful cat who made a name for himself as someone who brokered big deals and worked with big names in the 1940s and ’50s. He even wrote about it all in his book, Ten Under Cat. But, eventually, even a wily cat runs out of luck, as was the case with Mr. Rose.

38 BELGIUM: FROM THE BEGINNING

By Gregg Redner, PhD

Belgium was the home to some of Europe’s most important philatelic personalities when the hobby started and really took off in the middle to late 19th century. Studying them goes hand-in-hand with collecting Belgium.

48 UNEXPECTED FIND IN GERMANY

By Christopher C. Smith

While undergoing some volunteer work that took him to Germany, the author discovered a valuable resource with a friendly librarian in the heart of a city’s industrial district: the Philatelic Library of Hamburg.

53 MANY RESOURCES FOR CZECH AND SLOVAK PHILATELY

By James A. Buckner

Collecting Czechoslovakia – along with what was once and now Slovakia and the Czech Republic – includes a range of essential material, such as books and catalogs published in those countries. The Society for Czechoslovak Philately is on board to offer help, including through its monthly journal and with philatelic translations contained in a glossary.

JOURNAL

100 Match Factory Place Bellefonte, PA 16823

Phone: 814-933-3803

Fax: 814-933-6128 plrarticle@stamps.org

ADMINISTRATOR & PUBLISHER

Scott D. English • scott@stamps.org

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Susanna Mills • smills@stamps.org

SENIOR EDITOR

Jeff Stage • jstage@stamps.org

GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

Chad Cowder • ccowder@stamps.org

ASSOCIATE EDITOR, LIBRARIAN & DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES

Scott Tiffney • stiffney@stamps.org

ADVERTISING SALES

Steve Schwanz

Fox Associates, Inc. 800-345-8670 x 114 adinfo.theamericanphilatelist@foxrep.com

©American Philatelic Research Library, 2023

Philatelic Literature Review (USPS 928-660, ISSN0270-1707) is published quarterly by the American Philatelic Research Library, Inc. (APRL). Telephone: 814-933-3803; Fax: 814-933-6128; E-mail: plr@ stamps.org; Website: www.StampLibrary.org.

Postmaster: send address changes to the APRL, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. Periodicals postage paid at Bellefonte, PA 16823, and additional entry offices.

Annual subscription rates: $21, regular members; $30, sustaining members; and $50, contributing members. Libraries and institutions, $30. Single copy price, $5.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

BY MELANIE G. ROGERS President

Volunteering Benefits APRL and You

Volunteering is crucial to the American Philatelic Research Library and the American Philatelic Society. It augments the time and efforts of the staff and can bring great joy to those participating.

As you consider your plans for this year, please give some thought to helping out the APRL.

Volunteering from home

For many of us, our hobby provides hours of enjoyment, including looking up stamps in catalogs or learning about them via research as well as gingerly adding them to our albums. Not to mention those collectors who want to share their wares with others through putting together carefully crafted exhibits that they later enter in stamp show competitions.

With our increased connectedness via the internet, members can volunteer to help the digital library grow. Over the

years, philatelists and postal historians have written thousands of articles and books. The APRL is fortunate to have many of these publications; some are already electronic. There remains a need to add them to the digital catalog so library patrons can find them.

The great thing about participating in indexing is you can determine how you wish to specialize. If you receive a specialty journal from a society, there is an opportunity to write short entries for the digital catalog. If you want to learn about other areas of the hobby from a more general perspective, you can also do that. In summer 2022, I wrote catalog entries for at least a dozen articles from The Congress Book – many areas were new to me. It was a great way to be

The massive Trenchard Collection donation arrived on more than a dozen pallets.

exposed to aspects of the hobby I do not normally consider. Fortunately, there is a defined format to follow and a list of definitions on which an indexer can rely. To learn more about how you can participate, please contact APRL librarian Marian Mills at mmills@stamps.org.

Volunteering on-site

If you live within driving distance of the APRL, you may want to consider dedicating half a day or a day to come volunteer in person. The library receives numerous donations every year, and the library would benefit from help combing through the books and literature to determine whether those items are new or already in the holdings.

Some of the benefits to volunteers include in-person interaction and a change in venue. Sometimes it feels good to get out of the house, and what better way to spend time than in the warm environs of the APRL?

Choosing this option gives you flexibility too – you can determine which days work best for your schedule and coordinate with the staff.

Volunteer Work Week

For a truly immersive experience, mark your calendars for July 17 to 21. That’s the dedicated Volunteer Work Week at the APS and APRL. Volunteers can attend for a few days up to the entire week. One great aspect is you can start off doing one volunteer activity and have a chance to change if you would like some variety. You are not locked into a certain project for the entire time.

I attended in 2022. Library volunteers fanned out to help with a variety of projects. On the second floor, five of us combed through boxes of donations from years past. There was a bit of a backlog due to the pandemic. The boxes contained items such as auction catalogs, show programs, articles and books.

Due to space considerations, the library retains two copies of most auction catalogs. Additional copies were recycled. I spent entire days searching auction catalogs in the digital catalog to determine if they were already in stock. Another volunteer from Chicagoland, Roy Gelder, focused his energy on journals, some of which were separated for scanning.

In the Morse Building (the old library space), another team of volunteers assisted with the Trenchard donation, which resulted in clearing out two pallets of material (out of 25). To learn more about that donation, please search on stamps.org – the library staff has authored several updates on what it contains and the progress made.

APRL BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PRESIDENT

Melanie G. Rogers

VICE-PRESIDENT

Greg Galletti

SECRETARY

Charles Epting

TREASURER

Kathryn Johnson

TRUSTEES

Thomas Bieniosek

Hugh McMackin

Casey Jo White

Rich Drews

Murray Abramson

CONNECT ONLINE

I was fortunate that my company offered five volunteer days, which I was able to use by coming to Bellefonte. If your company offers a similar benefit, I encourage you to consider supporting the library.

If you have attended Summer Seminar, I want to point out the atmosphere of Volunteer Work Week is very different. Folks who attend this are here to work and spend less time socializing. It’s perfect for introverts. Still, the staff did a great job being welcoming and keeping some departments open late for volunteers to use after hours, including circuit sales and the library. There was also a

happy hour one evening.

If you would like to participate, I encourage you to book your hotel early and stay tuned for when registration opens to be a volunteer. Planning early will help because there are a limited number of slots. The web URL is: https://stamps. org/learn/volunteer-work-week.

Next steps

If you would like to learn more about volunteering with the library, please email library@stamps.org, and the staff will be in touch about available opportunities.

Volunteers sort material from the Trenchard Collection at last year’s Volunteer Work Week.

EDITOR’S NOTE

BY SUSANNA MILLS Editor, editor@stamps.org

A Ruthless Invitation to Get Involved

Happy new year to our Philatelic Literature Review readers! This issue marks one year since we made some (admittedly minor) changes to the layout of the PLR, switching “New Acquisitions” to digital-only, and making cosmetic changes to the cover and interior design. This new year doesn’t bring any major changes – however, we are planning big things for the PLR, many of which we hope to institute in late 2023 and 2024, and we want to make sure we get things right.

PLR subscribers will be receiving a special invitation to answer questions about the publication. We want to know more about you and why you subscribe to the PLR. What about this journal do you like, or use most often? Do you add the books we reference to your collection? Does the PLR help you conduct your own research? Why should other people subscribe? We will need your help to gather this information so we can continue to make decisions. Please keep an eye out for this survey invitation, which will be coming soon.

A few notes about handbooks

This issue includes an article from Michael Bloom, president of the Interna-

tional Society of Guatemala Collectors. Michael and the society underwent a fascinating project of bringing their major out-of-print and decades-old philatelic handbooks back from the dead. This massive undertaking required digitizing, expansion, and peer review of the original works into a new digital handbook, updates of which can be crowdsourced and added at any time. The result is something that to the best of my knowledge is unique to philately, especially at this scale. (And if it’s not unique, I hope the authors of other projects will come forward and tell us about them!)

The difficulties of this project aside, I was fascinating by Michael’s description of some of the decision-making process. If you and your society or chapter were to undertake an update and overhaul of your philatelic resources, what kind of challenges would you face? Surely a question of copyright would arise. Layout and design would be considerations. Updating images and information would be a concern. And the biggest question of all – who is going to put in the work?

This hobby relies, in many cases, on a few people doing a lot of work. Every year the APS gives out the Nicholas Carter awards, honoring local

and national volunteers who thanklessly keep the lights on and gears turning smoothly. I suspect that I’m speaking to the choir at the moment, because I know the readership of this journal is especially active and invested in the health and future of philately. The Guatemala society’s handbook is just one example of a project for the betterment of philately. I’d love to hear what others are doing, whether it looks like this, or if your volunteering takes another form.

The process

issue we publish the results of the Chicagopex literature exhibition. I’ll take some time here to plug one of the next upcoming competitions.

Over my tenure so far as the editor of the PLR, most of these articles have come from someone telling me about something cool they recently researched or published – then I ruthlessly coerce them into writing more about it for the PLR. This method has worked quite well, actually. There are, of course, a few folks who regularly write for the PLR, no coercion necessary (thank you!).

However, I still need your help. Are you working on something interesting and want to share about it? Tell me and allow me to ruthlessly coerce a PLR article out of you. I promise that it is for the greater good of our hobby.

Also, none of my questions in these columns are rhetorical. If they light a spark in you, or give you an idea you want to follow, please reach out to me. I’m available at editor@stamps.org or (814) 933-3803 ext. 207.

Literature competitions

There are several major literature competitions held every year. In this

The Great American Stamp Show (GASS) will be held August 10-13, in Cleveland, Ohio. GASS is the largest annual stamp show held in the United States, and is jointly sponsored by the APS, American Topical Association, and American First Day Cover Society. Authors and editors are invited to share their literature with the hobby’s biggest audience, and receive feedback from accredited experts. The 2023 GASS philatelic literature competition jury will be John Hotchner (chief judge), William DiPaolo and Hal Vogel.

What is eligible? Journals, books, monographs, catalogs (specialized and auction), regular columns or article series, websites, blogs, and other digital media can all be submitted. All media must have been published since January 1, 2021.

The deadline to submit a form is May 5. More information is available at www.stamps.org/GASS.

BY SCOTT TIFFNEY

“Everything you need for a better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.” – Henri Frederic Amiel

American Philatelic Research Library

Bellefonte, PA

Contact: Scott Tiffney

stiffney@stamps.org

With the coming of the new year, 2022 brought a lot of accomplishments to the APRL, many of which go unreported. One of the surprising success stories was the sale of materials from the library’s used book inventory.

At the start of 2022, with COVID-19 still a reality, the library saw fewer and fewer visitors in person to search among the shelves of the used bookstore. Potential buyers instead accessed our used book inventory via the online catalog and the results were better than expected.

Budgeted for $5,000 in sales for 2022, through the dedicated work of volunteer Karen Robbins in processing books for resale, we were able to generate slightly less than $12,000 in used book sales for the year.

Want to add a few items to your philatelic library? Our used book inventory is updated weekly so check back regularly by clicking on the “Used Books For Sale” tab at the top of the homepage of the David Straight Memorial Philatelic Union Catalog or by contacting the library at library@stamps.org.

One of the highlights of the calendar year for the library is the annual Summer Seminar, returning to an in-person event again in 2023. This year’s event will take place from June 12 to 16.

The APRL’s used book sale site found on the library section of the APS website.

During the seminar the library is filled with familiar faces doing research on their collections and for their publications. If you haven’t already registered for the 2023 Summer Seminar, be sure to look over all the great courses and electives offered on the Summer Seminar page of the APS website: www.stamps. org/SummerSeminar. If you’re attending for the first time there will be tours of the library and the American Philatelic Center as part of the event. Hope to see you there!

National Postal Museum

Washington, D.C.

Contact: Baasil Wilder WilderB@si.edu

The NPM Library Research Center has recently digitized the 1887 book, Seltenheiten und deren Preise Preis-Verzeichnis der seltensten Postmarken aller Länder / aufgestellt von Paul Lietzow (Rarities and their prices; List of prices for the rarest

postage stamps in all countries / compiled by Paul Lietzow). It is a second edition, and has 56 pages (https://library. si.edu/digital-library/book/seltenheitenundd00leit).

According to siegelauctions.com, “Paul Lietzow of Berlin was a German collector-dealer who displayed his collection in one of the first philatelic exhibitions in Germany. Lietzow exhibited his collection in July 1877 in Berlin for the benefit of wounded soldiers. His collection at the time comprised 6,200 stamps. In 1880 and 1882 he published handbooks on philately, one of which, was a precursor to the Scott catalog.”

There is a new machine in the NPM library! The library recently upgraded its microfilm reader printer from analog (the one you probably used in college), to digital/web based. And, the library has ordered a BookEye scanner, which can be used by anyone in the library, not just for staff.

The NPM Library Research Center’s new BookEye scanner.

Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library

Denver, CO

Contact: Sherri Jennings

rmpllibrarian1@gmail.com

Steve Schweighofer has been busy removing duplicate books in order to get more room on the library’s shelves. There are so many wonderful book donations that they simply won’t all fit unless there is more shelf space. He’s also finding books that are not quite where they should be; he’s keeping the librarian busy re-cataloging them.

Daryl is still busily working on the periodicals room. She is making sure that journals can be found. She’s been relabeling the Princeton files, and making sure that each one correctly indicates its contents. The periodicals room is much easier to use now.

Paul Albright has been keeping up the vertical files. He decides exactly where each article should be placed. There are files on everything from different topicals to many aspects of philately to geographic locations. Paul has sorted tens of thousands of articles. He’s been a great help.

All of these volunteers help the library run smoothly. Their assistance is very much appreciated.

We received a large donation of railroad books for the Western History and Railroads room. Lots of 385s and 625s now! (Those are British and Italian locomotives, respectively, for those who don’t speak Choo-Choo!) Stop by when you’re in Denver and check out the books.

Scandinavian Collectors Club Library

Denver, CO

Contact: Roger Cichorz rcichorz@comcast.net

The Scandinavian Collectors Club Library (SCCL) is open to club members at its location within the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library in Denver, Colorado.

The SCCL’s acting librarian, Roger Cichorz, primarily works from home, but is at the library several times a month to process donations and loan requests, and index and shelve newly acquired books, catalogs and periodicals. If you visit the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library, be sure to look at the Scandinavian Collectors Club Library holdings housed in two adjacent rooms. They contain probably the largest and most complete collection of Nordic-related philatelic information in the United States.

The SCCL continues to make its excess and superfluous items available to club members through quarterly auctions conducted via email by Roger. The club’s 65th auction closed July 31 and sold 74 of the 80 lots offered, realizing $1,502 against cumulative starting bids of $1,296.50. The 66th sale closed October 31, and sold 78 of the 80 lots offered, realizing $1,263.50 against cumulative starting bids of $1,085. These auctions are a popular SCC membership benefit, receiving much positive feedback from members.

Roger continues writing his “From the Stacks” column, a regular feature about club activities that appears in SCC’s quarterly journal, The Posthorn. A recent column discussed a result of his “limited research” performed as a service to members who submit questions.

A query about Stockholm “T.E.” circular datestamps on two Sweden 1877 ringtype stamps resulted in the information that these postmarks were used by the Stockholm main post office’s newspaper department. The most recent column discusses additional websites posting Nordic exhibits that have appeared on the internet since this subject was first presented in his column in the January 2017 Posthorn.

For more information, contact Roger Cichorz, rcichorz@comcast.net.

Vincent Graves Greene Research Foundation

Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library Toronto, ON

Contact: Willow Moonbeam library@greenefoundation.ca

As the library returns to more routine operations, both cataloging and scanning continue. In addition to scanning, the library’s technician has taken on some cataloging, such as articles in Congress books. This makes many of the articles more accessible. The classification scheme for Canada has been expanded to create a space for the stamps of King Charles III when books become available.

Although the number of visitors has increased, the library continues to respond to email research requests as many philatelists prefer to work on their collections from home or are unable to come to the library. Meetings have also restarted with the library remaining open until the start of the Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada, which now has in-person gatherings on the first Wednesday of the month. Like many organizations the group continues to have online meetings as well.

The library has returned to having open Saturdays once per month, usually on the second Saturday of the month, although it is best to check before planning to attend. Appointments are still recommended for all open days; contact Lee Ann at 416-921-2073 or info@greenefoundation.ca to set up a time.

The library continues to produce the Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library newsletter, now every two months, published in February, April, June, August, October and December. Simply email the library if you want to receive the newsletter; back issues are available online at http://www.greenefoundation.ca/library.htm#friends.

FROM THE LIBRARIAN’S DESK

BY SCOTT TIFFNEY Librarian / Director of Information Services

Digital Successes in the APRL

“A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.” –

With the upcoming Recognition issue of The American Philatelist in April and Volunteer Work Week (VWW) on the horizon in July, the library staff here has begun to turn our attention to compiling a list of volunteer opportunities at the APRL. Whether remotely or in person, we welcome and are grateful to all those who have given of their time, whether currently or in the past, to assist us with a wide variety of library projects. Those interested in volunteering for us before VWW can always contact us at stiffney@stamps.org to see what is currently available.

But with an eye toward VWW and those interested in assisting us during that time, here are a few volunteer projects in the library we’ve identified so far: shelving material, repairing materials (barcoding and labels), sorting/inventorying donations, organizing/creating space in the Archives area, scanning/ digitizing materials, processing materials for resale in our used book inventory, shelf-reading/sorting current collections, and “weeding” the journal and book collection (i.e. removing unnecessary or duplicate items).

Be sure to check back to the Volunteer Work Week page on the APS website for updates regarding the week’s events and the volunteer opportunities for attendees in other APS departments.

Charles Dickens

First quarter digitization update

Since starting Phase 1 of the APRL Digitization Plan in March 2022 the Robert A. Mason Digital Library (RMDL) has undergone considerable growth, specifically in the area of journal titles and issues now available in the database. Currently in this phase of the project the number of digital journal issues added to the RMDL is 3,682, bringing the total number in the database to 6,540. In conjunction with the number of issues uploaded, so too the number of journal titles in the database has grown from 12 to 37.

Some of the more notable journal titles added to the database in this initial phase are the Bulletin of the Polonus Philatelic Society, the Airpost Journal, El Quetzal, Tell, the British Caribbean Philatelic Journal, Post Boy, Menelik’s Journal, Cameo, Penny Post, Philateli-Graphics, the UK Log, the British West Indies Study Circle Bulletin, the Bounty, the Florida Postal History Journal, the Cape and Natal Philatelic Journal and the Pitcairn Log.

What has been equally rewarding at this stage of the project is that as the size and scope of the database has grown, so too has its use by patrons conducting their own research remotely.

Currently the RMDL is experiencing an average of 1,321 access events a month (i.e. “access events” are actions which include users access the database to search, download or print items). The number

of these access events per month in this quarter is a 59 percent increase in the same activity from 2021. In addition, the number of unique patrons or users each month (differentiated by IP address) has averaged approximately 789, a 70 precent increase from 2021’s monthly average.

As the number of database users has increased, the future challenge is to educate those users and potential users in order to make their experience with the RMDL as seamless and beneficial to them as possible. Through video sessions and tutorials in the coming months, we will create and make available specialized learning opportunities on the library page of the APS website and with remote and in-person tutorials.

Donation policy

Finally, we are currently in the process of revisiting an updated donation policy for the library. With roughly 90

percent of the collection being comprised of donations and with items arriving daily from donors, the need for a clear and inclusive policy became warranted. The policy will reflect a prudent path for the grow and maintenance the collection in order to meet the research needs of our patrons while also being mindful of the shelving and storage space we have available.

We never want to discourage those who wish to donate materials to the library, but we do want to educate donors and to make the best use of the space in the library and the storage areas that supplement the library. The donation policy will cover the types of materials that fit within the subject and format scope of the collection with the goal of providing for donors a better understanding of the donation process. We hope to present an initial version of the policy sometime in the next few months.

Review of the 2022 Postal History Symposium

By Scott Tiffney

Back on December 8 and 9, the Smithsonia National Postal Museum (NPM) in Washington, D.C. played host to the 12th Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium. Co-sponsored by the NPM, the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library, the symposium since 2006 has been a biennial event alternatively hosted at the NPM and the American Philatelic Center.

The symposium provides a unique forum for philatelists, academic scholars, postal historians, and the interested public to discuss and present research that integrates philately into the broader context of world history.

The theme for the 2022 event was “Po-

litical Systems, Postal Administrations, and the Mail.” It focused on how countries around the world, postal administrations and their missions, practices, and regulations serve as reflections and agents of state goals and ideals.

In order to further delineate specific areas of research, the symposium was divided into five distinct sessions: “The Varying Purposes of Stamp Messaging,” “Postal Networks and the Flow of Information,” “The Postal Service in American Life,” “Regimes in Flux: Their Impact on Postal Operations and Stamp Design,” and “Stamp Iconography in Fascist Regimes.”

The 2022 symposium marked a first

for the event in that it was both an in-person and virtual symposium with some attendees and presenters participating in-person at the NPM and others accessing sessions and presenting online. Following each session, speakers answered questions from attendees both on-site and online.

The symposium started with a session of three speakers that explored stamp messaging as depicted on the stamps of the Soviet Union during World War II, the United States during the space race and space exploration thereafter, and finally, the 2014 Crimea issues of Russia.

Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

The next session included presentations from two presenters joining the symposium remotely that dealt with postal administrations and the politics of mail delivery from the perspective of 19th century Brazil and the transoceanic postal communications between Europe and the Caribbean from the 17th to 19th centuries.

The first day of the symposium concluded with a session involving presentations that dealt with some of the unique aspects of postal service in America, specifically the history of Sunday mail, the National Association of Letter Carriers Ladies’ Auxiliary, and how the dramatic increase in mail volume from its inception to today has changed the postal service from a public good to a more privatized company.

Day Two of the biennial research event brought with it an examination of the effect that periods of crisis and conflict have on a nation’s postal administration. This session featured presentations regarding Finland from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, followed by a study of

The second day and the symposium concluded with three speakers in the fifth and final session in which papers dealing with fascist governments and their impact on postal administrations were presented. Studies focusing on Mussolini’s Italy from 1922-1941, Germany during the Nazi regime, and Spain during Franco’s reign were each examined.

In all, during the two days and five sessions of the symposium, 13 presentations were given by 15 speakers. The research event was well attended both at the NPM and online.

If you are interested in reading the biographies of the presenters and the abstracts of their papers as well as viewing the presentations, all are available on the library’s Postal History Symposium page on the APS website (https://stamps.org/ postal-history-symposium).

We’re looking toward the future of the Postal History Symposium when the research event will be hosted in 2024 by the APS and APRL. The theme will concern the Universal Postal Union whose 150th anniversary will be commemorated that year. For more information regarding the 2024 PHS, be sure to check the aforementioned symposium page of the APS website.

Alison Bazylinski makes her presentation at the symposium.

New Guatemala Handbook: Crowd Sourced and Brought Back from the Dead

Michael Bloom

Once upon a time, members of the International Society of Guatemala Collectors gathered knowledge from members, scoured published research materials and formed a team to prepare a set of new handbooks. That was more than 50 years ago.

During 12 years of research, collating and publishing, these handbooks became the mainstays of Guatemala phi-

lately. Printing plates were prepared. The handbooks were published in England by Robson Lowe and distributed. The original printing plates were lost or destroyed. Disorganization followed. After the initial publication of the handbooks, Guatemala-1 and Guatemala-2, society members wrote articles, monographs and books according to members’ special interests. With the exception of 1990’s

Figure 1. The handbooks were published in (from left) 1969 (54 years old), 1971 (52 years old) and 1991 (32 years old).

Figure 2. The Postage Stamps of Guatemala (2008), 15 years old; Papel Sellado (1999), 24 years old; The Postal Markings of Guatemala (2007), 16 years old; Guatemala Fiscal Handbook (2000), 22 years old; Guatemalan Telegraph Stamps (1993), 29 years old.

Guatemala Philately — 1971-90 Issues and Special Studies, often referred to as “G-3,” no effort was made to coordinate later publications with the original handbooks. Contents and style were a mishmash.

Issues arose with the G-1, G-2 and G-3 handbooks (Figure 1). The books are outdated and out of print. They are hard to find, though they may be found occasionally on eBay at more than $100 per volume. G-1 and G-2 initiated a new catalog numbering system. The system lists stamps chronologically regardless of usage. So, for example, airmail stamps are interwoven with regular issues. When G-3 was published, it continued the process by numbering the newest issues. The numbering basically ended with the publication of G-3 in 1990.

The illustrations in G-1, G-2 and G-3 were all black and white. Long sets of stamps were illustrated by showing only the lowest value of the set. To conserve paper, illustrations were consigned to “illustration-only” pages scattered throughout the chapters, making it difficult to tie text to related illustrations.

Many of the books and monographs following the publication of G-1, G-2 and

G-3 are hard to find (Figure 2).

A decision was made. The society’s Guatemala publications had clearly reached a dead end. The introduction of new technologies, such as scanning and desktop publishing, provided the tools to move forward. Over the years, the idea of capturing the existing publications and bringing the handbooks up to date had been mentioned, but no actions were taken.

About two years ago, the Guatemala Society’s board decided to tackle the project. It took approximately two years to move from concept to the first electronic publication.

This article’s goals are twofold: First, to announce the new handbook, now titled Guatemala Stamps and Postal Stationery. The second is to provide a roadmap for other specialty societies to create new handbooks that are living documents.

A close look at the society’s dead-end publications

The author is president of the International Society of Guatemala Collectors (I.S.G.C.). The I.S.G.C. was founded in 1948. As noted, its first set of handbooks took 12 years to research and publish. Much of the research took place in

Figure 3.

Guatemala and required deep searching through government documents.

The original editorial board for G1/G-2 included 39 individuals, many who were well-known Guatemala specialists of the time. Notable members included James Andrews, Leon Bilak, Roger Frigstad, Roland Goodman (handbook editor), Jack Jonza, Joseph Mandos, and Romeo Routhier. Arturo Taracena Flores, an eminent Guatemalan historian and bibliophile, unearthed much of the official documents for these handbooks from the governmental archives.

A good many of the later contributions originated from research by Cecile

Gruson, who lived in Switzerland but traveled to Guatemala to view the archives. Much of the information after the publication of the handbooks was supplied in the form of articles in El Quetzal by more recent writers such as David Lindwall, David Reitsema, and many others.

Organizing: New leadership. We seriously underestimated the resources that would be required to accomplish this multi-year project. It was important to have strong leadership. The society’s president stepped up to organize the project and, with the help of editors and proofreaders from the membership,

Figure 4. A page from the Handbook of Guatemalan Philately.

did most of the planning and execution. It is highly suggested that other societies wishing to follow our roadmap have a larger leadership core.

The process seemed daunting from the beginning. It may seem trivial to scan and capture thousands of pages of text, but it is not. Every word of captured text needed to be corrected for errors caused by flaws in optical character recognition. More than 90 percent of the old illustrations, (more than 3,000,) had to replaced with new scans. Perhaps most daunting of all was the realization that a major design error missed in the early stages might result in extensive correction in later stages.

Organizing: Working in phases. The publishing of the most comprehensive handbook on Guatemala seemed over-

whelming at first.

So the first step was to define the scope of coverage of the new volume and then separate the main tasks into phases (Figure 3).

Phase I – prep work

Text capture. Capturing text from old handbooks requires scanning and the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The scanner produces a photographic image of each page, but you will need editable text to proceed further. Shown is an image of an actual page from one of the original handbooks (Figure 4).

This page presents several challenges to the scanning/OCR process: tiny font and blurred type so that lowercase c’s look like lowercase e’s. The paper is also glossy, causing reflections that obscure the text.

The use of a book scanner is highly recommended as page-by-page scanning using a flat-bed scanner can be laborious. Book scanners, like the CZUR scanner (Figure 5), can scan open books, with rounded contour, and produce flat images. It does a laser pre-scan to model the curvature of the pages and produces flat text images. It includes OCR software to produce searchable text.

OCR produces a raw text file with LOTS of errors that will need to be manually corrected. Careful proofreading is required by multiple proofreaders. The edited text will be pasted into the desktop publishing software.

Image capture. So far, we have examined how the text is captured, but what about the images?

Images include stamps, covers, and everything except text. One of the major

Figure 5. A CZUR book scanner.

advantages of publishing an electronic version of the new handbook is that high-resolution images can be captured and the reader can enlarge the scans to reveal fine detail.

It is suggested to use a simple, inexpensive, flatbed scanner or a book scanner that can scan two open book pages simultaneously. One of each was used for

this project. Choosing the correct scan resolution from the beginning is very important. If the resolution is too low, the reader will not be able to sufficiently enlarge images. If it is set too high, the file sizes will grow to an unmanageable size. It is recommended that stamps be scanned at 600 dpi (dots per inch). The covers should be scanned at 300 dpi.

A lesson learned. When the MS Publisher document was created, all 3,000 images were embedded in the document, such that each highresolution image was part of the document.

By the time the handbook was finished and ready for conversion to a publishable PDF version, the MS Publisher file had grown to more than a Gigabyte, and Publisher nearly ground to a halt and became unusable!

Figure 6. From left, an original scanned image, a de-skewed image and the final de-skewed and cropped image.

Figure 7. Cover of the new electronic handbook.

The solution, a rather painful one, was to delete each of the 3,000 images and replace each image with a link to an image file that resided outside Publisher in a separate folder. This took hundreds of hours over a period of several months. Lesson learned: do not embed the images; embed links to the images.

De-skewing (Figure 6). Typically, stamps are inserted into stock pages and then scanned. It is impossible to insert them perfectly straight, so the images will have some crookedness or “skew” that will need to be corrected. You will need to decide on the type and color of the background. It is suggested that the background be black, to highlight the perforations, and that it be scanned with margins that can be cropped away. Cropping to the perforation tips provides stamp images that have consistent margins. Microsoft Photo does a great job of deskewing and cropping.

Phase II – publishing

Selecting a desktop publishing program. Once the text scans are complete and images have been de-skewed and cropped, the next step is to select a desktop publishing program. This is very important because the new handbook is about to become a living document! Years, maybe decades from now, the new handbook will be updated electronically. Once you choose a desktop publishing program, your handbook will live there.

Figure 8. An original Kennedy stamp page from the G-2 handbook and its corresponding page in the new electronic handbook.

It is critical that the software publisher is still in business and supporting the application. There is no way to ensure this. Choosing a desktop publishing program from a major industry player with a large user base is a good indication of a safe choice, but not perfect. For example, I used Adobe’s Pagemaker software to create albums, thinking that Pagemaker would be around forever, but Pagemaker is gone and there is no easy conversion from Pagemaker to any other desktop publishing program.

New editors will need to get up to speed quickly, so the program should be intuitive and easy to use. For this reason, Microsoft Publisher was our preferred choice.

Valuations. The original handbooks had mixed methods of valuation. Some items had fixed or “absolute” pricing. Of

course, these were obsolete as soon as the handbooks were published! Where absolute pricing was provided, the postpublishing task of updating prices became a daunting task.

In some instances, relative pricing was provided instead of absolute pricing. Relative pricing states prices as multiples of the most common variety. For example, if a variety exists once in a sheet of 100, its value would be 100x. As a practical matter, we highlighted that the absolute values had to be considered in light of the date of determination.

Publishing: Electronic vs. hard copy. Here are the pros and cons of electronic publishing vs. hard copy or book publishing. It is suggested that new handbooks be electronically published first and then in hard copy if desired.

Electronic Publishing

Pros Cons

Fully Searchable

Full color possible

Some people just love books!

Users require reader program like Adobe Enlargement of images

Easy to update

Internal links available to internal cross-referencing

Easy to create index

Inexpensive to publish

Acrobat Reader

Computer/tablet or smart phone required

Hard Copy (Books)

Pros Cons

Some people just love books! Expensive to print

“Search” by flipping pages

Ability to jot down notes

Expensive to ship

Hard/expensive to update

Heavy

Hard to index

Environmentally unfriendly

Distributing the new handbook

We needed to figure out how to distribute the new electronic handbook (Figure 7).

On the technical side, the publication’s file format must be determined for public distribution. Microsoft Publisher produces a proprietary “Publisher” file with a file extension of “.pub.” Most readers will not have access to Publisher as it is quite expensive.

The most common format for publicly readable use is the “.pdf” format made popular by Adobe with its Acrobat Reader program. While Publisher can export the publication in .pdf format, Acrobat Reader Pro should probably be purchased. There are extensions to Acrobat Pro to allow for auto-indexing the publication.

Now that we know the “what” of what is to be published, the “how” of distribution needs to be considered.

An internet host is needed to house the publication and make it accessible. This can be a website or Dropbox, or MS One Drive file storage site.

Now comes the hard question: Who should have access to the handbook?

First, we considered priorities. Which is more important: revenue for the society; growing the awareness of the specialty within the hobby; or, a combination of the two? The I.S.G.C. decided that growing

Figure 9. The original Indian Woman page from the G-2 handbook and its corresponding page in the new electronic handbook.

awareness within the hobby would produce revenue indirectly by growing the awareness of Guatemala specialty within the general philatelic community, thereby increasing membership ad income.

The final result is that after January 1, 2023 we would allow anyone to download the new 1,100-plus page Stamps and Postal Stationery of Guatemala for free. Society members will receive notices of frequent updates and be able to download them. Non-members will have to wait a full year for the publication of the annual updates. The new handbook is the most complete handbook for Guatemala ever published. Readers can download the file from this link, www. GuatemalaStamps.com.

Phase III – crowd sourcing

Once a publishing date for the new electronically published handbook was set, we felt that we might be publishing too soon; that important content was still missing, and significant errors needed to be corrected. But we resisted the temptation to delay publication. This is a living document and it will never be complete or perfect.

In the year following publication, we will look at the society’s internal publications, like our journal, El Quetzal, and external sources for content to add. Following its first publication we will begin our crowd sourcing using a Wiki-like process.

Our editors will solicit new content and select which new information to add. What better way to find new content than by going back to the society’s membership? We will ask our members to closely review the new handbook and examine their own collection and research notes for items missing from the handbook, better quality scans, and information to supplement what has already been published.

The I.S.G.C. has a special email account – handbook@GuatemalaStamps. com – to collect this crowd-sourced input. Contributors are acknowledged in the handbook.

Old handbooks and monographs vs. new handbook

Contents. The old publications covered a wide range of subjects including

stamps, postal stationery, known covers, postal history, postmarks, revenues, papel sellado (revenue stamped paper), routes and rates, first flights, ambulantes (railroads), and some pre-stamp material.

The new handbooks are organized somewhat differently. The first electronic volume – The Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery of Guatemala – covers only postage stamps and postal stationery, but nothing else. The second electronic volume, not yet begun, will include everything else.

Length. G-1, G-2 and G-3 together comprise 811 pages. The Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery of Guatemala, which omits sections of G-1, G-2, and G-3, comprises more than 1,100 pages, so far.

Page size. G-1 and G-2 pages are 7.5 inches by 10 inches. G-3 pages are 8.5 inches by 11 inches. The new handbook pages are all 8.5 inches by 11 inches. At present this is moot since the handbook will first be published electronically. However, at some time in the future the book may be published in printed format.

Image quality and quantity. More than 2,000 color images have been added, all scanned at high resolution. Instead of images being scattered, the basic stamps are located directly below section headings and explanatory images are located as close to the relevant text as possible. The changes in layout and image quality can best be understood by looking at the following versions of the Kennedy issue of 1964 (Figure 8).

Note that the page on the left covers four different issues. Only one is the Kennedy issue. The page on the right is solely for the Kennedy issue. The page on the left is confusing, with a Kennedy essay on top, a production issue at the lower left, and a souvenir sheet of another issue at the lower right.

In the new handbook, all relevant images and related test are in the following order: Title of the issue; pictures of the main issues; stamps; artists’ essays; die proofs; plate proofs; specimens; and forgeries. For classic issues, known covers are included.

Another example of the improved layout and imagery is the classic Indian Woman of 1878 (Figure 9). Only the first pages are shown. This chapter on the Indian Woman stamp is one of the most enhanced chapters. It contains an extraordinary number of essays and proofs. It goes far beyond G-1 in showing known covers, many of which were submitted using crowd sourcing and gleanings from auction catalogs.

Into the future

Reviving philatelic handbooks is no small task. It will surely occupy hundreds of hours and require the active participation of many individuals. One benefit I have not yet mentioned, however: increasing the awareness and popularity of a collecting specialty is likely to increase the value of your society members’ collections.

If you need advice on resurrecting your society’s handbook, feel free to contact handbook@GuatemalaStamps.com. Guatemala collectors, we need your help. The Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery of Guatemala was published on January 1. You can download the file from the homepage (www.GuatemalaStamps.com). Please compare the information to stamps and research notes in your collection, and feel free to offer submissions for this dynamic piece of literature. For stamps, please scan at 600dpi (300dpi for larger items) against an uncropped black background and send to handbook@GuatemalaStamps.com.

Cecil Rose and his Skullduggeries

Cecil Rose and his Skullduggeries

AAbhishek Bhuwalka

few months back, I bought a book titled Ten Under Cat (Figure 1) by one Cecil Rose. I had never heard of its author and had little idea of its contents, apart from the fact that it was the memoirs of a stamp dealer; I love such books! It turned out to be a quick read and I finished its 160 or so small format pages within a few hours.

First, a bibliography of the book: Rose, Cecil, and Edward Lanchbery. Ten Under Cat: Reminiscences of a StampDealer. London: Cassell & Company Ltd, 1958. 159 + (1) pp, numbered in Roman numerals till v, then a blank page, and then 7-159. Hardbound in dark green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Dustjacket. Price 10/6 on dust jacket front panel.

with the dust jacket

panels giving a synopsis of its contents.

Lanchbery seems to be the ghost writer as the title page says, “…by Cecil Rose as told to Edward Lanchbery.”

So, how does the book get its name?

On one page, Rose says that when he started dealing in stamps, he “… bought as one of the trade on discount terms. ‘Ten under Cat’ – ten per cent under catalogue price – the phrase rolled glibly off my tongue.” On another, he tells a buyer, “I’m charging you ten percent under catalogue price. Honestly you won’t do better. I swear it.”

To any dedicated stamp collector, such (and other) statements sound

Figure 1. Front cover of Ten Under Cat (1958) along

inside

incredulous, many of his facts and especially his numbers, which often went into many tens of thousands of pounds (the value of 1 pound then equates to about 25 today), sound fictitious. To top it all, Rose relates some dubious trans-

actions with great relish; if some of them indeed took place, why should he publish them and risk getting into trouble?

So, I went online to read more about the man. And I realized that Rose was a much more colorful character than the average stamp dealer! And, trouble did eventually catch up with him; in 1960 as he approached his late years, he was arrested, tried and jailed. Early years

Cecil Rose (Figure 2) was born c. 1903-04.1 From his book, we learn that his grandparents had fled the Continent and settled in England. Rose’s mother ran a large house of 13 in the (then) village of Salford near Manchester. Rose had three brothers and seven sisters. Rose’s father was a jeweler but was “too religious to be a good businessman.” He had no shop or office but worked from home, buying, polishing, cutting, setting stones, and reselling them privately. He later started trading in stamps in bulk.

Figure 2. Cecil Rose. From Daily Herald, December 20, 1960.

Figure 3. “Rosey” showing stamps to schoolboys. From Daily Herald, April 30, 1960.

Rose’s eureka moment was when he was 16 and wanted a bicycle. His only wealth was in stamps (which he had bought for full catalog value). He took enough stamps of catalog value to a dealer to cover the cost of the cycle. And he learned the lesson that he wouldn’t get more than a fifth of the catalog for the two or three stamps that the dealer was interested in.

Violá! Rose set about preparing approval sheets and selling stamps at catalog (though one wonders which collectors pay full catalog?) In 1926, the family moved south to be close to major stamp hubs of Europe. After operating for five years from home at Finchley, he and his father opened a shop in Oxford Street in London.

Unfortunately, Rose’s father passed away just a year later. Still young, in the following years, Rose learned the trade the hard way. He said in his book that he was often the target of “petty frauds and big-time confidence tricksters.” Nevertheless, slowly business grew, and he became known as “Rosie” to collectors

and dealers.

The advent of World War II made him deposit his best stock at the bank, close his shop, and enlist in the army. He went to the Middle East as a warrant officer in the Field Security Force. When there, he later admitted that he franked some high-value Cyprus stamps with the Middle East Field Post office Cairo number and later sold them as freaks for good money.

High Street, Eton

After the war, Rose returned to his stamp business. His Oxford Street premises had suffered in the blitz. After operating from his house at Windsor for a while, he got to know about a shop in High Street, Eton, Windsor from a solicitor friend. Rose bought the lease and opened his shop near the end of 1945.

Rose gave a talk on stamps to the Eton College Philatelic Society and soon his shop became the society’s headquarters. Due to its proximity to the college (just about half-a-mile), his shop became prominent with his wife, Mina, helping

Figure 4. A 1953 Coronation first day cover from Australia, where Collegiate’s address is shown as 123, High St., Eton, Windsor. Source: eBay (item no.: 284058764986, seller: fahlagoon). Accessed January 10, 2023.

him out. The shop was so popular that, over the following decade, he claimed he had an average of 400 college boys on his list of regular customers (Figure 3).

In his book, Rose devotes a goodhumored chapter to his dealings with Eton schoolboys. They were either looking for a bargain or trying to pull his leg by making him search for non-existent stamps or spoil his dealings with adult collectors by making comments on Rose’s unfair prices.

The bucket shop

Collegiate Stamp Co. Ltd. (Collegiate) was incorporated in April 1950 with the objective of taking over Rose’s stamp business, which it did for £10,000 (the amount was credited to Rose’s loan account in the company). Its original premises was in Rose’s High Street shop (Figure 4). The reason for the word “Collegiate” in the company’s name is obvious.

Collegiate doesn’t seem to have prospered much apparently since Eton College boys were much too knowledgeable and smart! During his trial, the prosecu-

tor mentioned that the Eton shop was bringing in only £20 a week but Rose had “ideas of becoming Britain’s No. 1 stamp broker.”

Soon thereafter, Rose started his monkey business. He opened a shop in the Strand at London, the mecca of stamp dealing, where “the net was cast wider with the object of enticing bigger fish into it.”

Apparently, Rose started sending circulars / prospectuses to rich collectors asking them to let him handle their stamp deals. His idea was to deal in stamps similar to how stockbrokers dealt in shares. His circulars read, “Do you want a tax-free investment with guaranteed capital appreciation? If so, we can give it to you.” He gave investors an undertaking to buy back stamps at an agreed increased value within a few months.

He listed the Duke of Kent and Prince William of Gloucester (a story about the latter at his Eton Street shop appears in his book) among his clients, likely so that he could entice the high and mighty to part with their money. Apparently, he could

Figure 5. The Jubilee Jamboree commemorative stamps (Scott 334-336). Courtesy APS Reference Collection.

be so persuasive as to “charm birds out of trees.” Among those seduced were a peer’s two sons (Hugh Waldorf Astor and John Astor, second and third sons of Lord John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron of Hever), a vice admiral (Sir Charles Hughes Hallett), and other wealthy men and women, all of whom put money into Collegiate.

Initially, when Rose was paying back investors, it wasn’t from profits but from other people’s money – à la a Ponzi scheme. This wasn’t, of course, sustainable. Later, when investors asked for their money and profits, he gave evasive replies. The scheme went on for about six to seven years until, on January 13, 1958, a creditor’s petition was allowed by a court which ordered the commencement of the dissolution of Collegiate; by July 1958, the company was dissolved. The statement of affairs showed a loss of £178,047 but it was thought that the

loss could well be in the region of £250,000.2

It is interesting to note that Ten Under Cat was published sometime in the beginning of January 1958,3 just as Rose’s schemes were unravelling.

I speculate that Rose could see his company and himself on the brink and he needed some positive publicity; a witty short book of his memoirs with fantastic, intriguing, uncorroborated stories of his life and stamp dealings would be perfect. And, it was a possible continuance of his shenanigans; after all, the last chapter of the book is titled “Making Money out of Stamps,” where he presents his thoughts on the subject, likely aiming at the gullible public.

For obvious reasons, Rose fails to mention his skullduggeries with respect the 1957 Scout Jubilee Jamboree. This episode raises temperatures to this day, especially among Boy Scouts.4

Scout Jubilee Jamboree and Rose’s skullduggery

After hectic lobbying by the Boy Scouts Association, it was announced in mid-1956 that the Post Office would issue a set of stamps (Figure 5) to commemorate the Jubilee Jamboree of the Boy Scouts at Sutton Coldfield5 in values of 2½ pence, 4 pence, and 1 shilling, 3 pence, for a total face value of 1 shilling, 9½ pence. They were issued on August 1, 1957.

Rose apparently wrote to the Boy Scouts Association proposing that he would supply souvenir first day covers bearing the three stamps for 6 shillings, 6 pence6 each (the initial proposed price was 6 pence), a premium of more than

Figure 6. Sir John Wilson (1898-1975), Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection. Photo taken November 4, 1965. Source: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/ Getty Images.

Figure 7. Advertisement of Mayflower Stamp Co. in The American Philatelist, April 1957. Rose opened a New York office to deal with American orders. Interestingly, while the British flyers (and presumably advertisements) showed the designs a, b, and c, this advertisement shows a, c, and d. For some reason, the Indaba Camp design was substituted by the Brownsea Island one in America.

250 percent on the face value of the stamps. Further, he estimated that 6 million covers would be sold (the number was reduced to 2 million by January 1957). A considerable profit was to be made and hence Rose promised to hand over a minimum of £50,0007 to the Boy Scouts Association.

On September 6, 1956, the Boy Scouts Association made arrangements that the Mayflower Stamp Co. Ltd. (Mayflower) be the sole distribution agent of (official) first day covers for the Jubilee Jamboree. Mayflower was specifically created for this purpose. Rose was one of the five directors, the managing director in fact, while the other four were “names which would add distinction to any board.” To bring about legitimacy to the venture, Rose cleverly invited respected gentlemen to the board, one of whom was the Marquess of Donegall. The Marquess was told that Mayfair was a partly charitable, partly profit-making concern; he was even induced to invest £500 in the company!

There was disquiet in the post office in regards to this arrangement. On November 3, 1956, the assistant postmaster general discussed the proposals regarding the Mayflower arrangement with Sir John Wilson, keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection (Figure 6). Sir John had strong opinions about releasing stamps outside the Post Office before the issue date so that Mayflower could affix them on covers.8 He also viewed involvement with the Mayflower with great concern.

The director general of the Post Office was concerned that the Post Office could come under strong criticism from other stamp dealers by giving preferential treatment to one company. He felt the Post Office would have to make it quite clear

that any person or dealer could obtain a first day cover without having to buy it from Mayflower.9 The postmaster general advised a certain amount of caution regarding the Post Office’s dealings with the company, pointing out that Rose released a figure to the national press that his company was expecting to sell 3 million first days in 1953 for the Queen’s Coronation, whereas the actual figure was 6,700 covers. And now he was now estimating a sale of 6 million Boy Scouts covers.

Notwithstanding the apprehensions, the project moved forward. Mayflower produced official first day covers in 12 designs, four of which were used for the Jamboree. Themes included the Jubilee Jamboree (gathering of Scouts), Jubilee Rover Moot (gathering of Rover Scouts), Jubilee Indaba Camp (gathering of Scout leaders), and Brownsea Island (the first Scout camp). The covers were canceled with the special postmark slogan “Jubilee Jamboree – Sutton Coldfield” and posted from the Jamboree Camp Post Office.

Mayflower advertised the offering of the first three designs widely, both via flyers as well as advertisements in the print media (Figure 7). The former, circulated among Scouting groups and others, mentioned that the cancellations applied to the covers would make them “unique” and that should cause them to “increase in value from the date of posting” (never mind the price that was more than three times the face value of the stamps!) Rose, via Collegiate, was believed to have collected more than £40,000.

It was later revealed that only 60,63210 covers were produced, a fraction of the original estimate. The high price of each first day cover would have been one of the main reasons for the poor demand,

especially from the Boy Scouts who could hardly be expected to buy them for such royal sums. Rose, via Mayflower, paid the Boy Scouts Association £95711 and pocketed the rest.12

Arrest and charges

Just before midday on April 29, 1960, Rose was arrested at his office in Gray’s Inn Road, London. The arrest was on a warrant granted to the Board of Trade, which preferred 16 charges (which increased to 20 by the time his trial ended) against Rose under the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act, 1939, the Larceny Act, 1916, and the Companies Act, 1948.

Rose was taken to the Cannon Row Police Station. When asked by Scotland Yard’s Fraud Squad if he had anything to say, Rose mentioned that the charges were untrue. In the afternoon, he appeared at the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court. He was remanded on bail in his own recognizance of £1,000 and a surety of £1,000.

The first of 16 charges alleged that on or about July 27, 1954, at the National Liberal Club, Rose induced John Astor (Figure 8) to enter into an agreement regarding the purchase of 3,000 sets of British Crown Colonies Victory stamps issue by falsely stating that the number of the issue was limited, that he could purchase and control the whole issue, and that the stamps would increase in value in short time. Two further charges alleged the fraudulent conversion from Astor of 1,511 sets of stamps, including Crown Colonies, Northern Rhodesian, Southern Rhodesian, and Nyasaland issues between 1954 and 1958.

Another two charges alleged that Rose induced High Waldorf Astor to enter into an agreement to buy five sets

of Tristan da Cunha stamps by recklessly making a forecast that they had great investment possibilities and more than 150 sets of Burma military administration stamps by predicting that they would double or triple in value. Another charge alleged the fraudulent conversion of £315 worth of St. Helena stamps from Waldorf Astor.

Four more charges involved alleged agreements or fraudulent conversion of stamps belonging to Sophie Germaine Gasner. A further charge alleged the fraudulent conversion of £600 worth of Jubilee Jamboree stamps from vice admiral Sir (Cecil) Charles Hughes-Hallett (Figure 9) in London three years earlier.

There were other charges of fraudulent conversion of stamps belonging to Alan Allen and Honor Riddell.

Rose also was charged with three offenses under the Companies Act of being concerned in the management of Collegiate and Mayflower when he was still bankrupt, and with failing to keep

Figure 8. John Astor (1923-1987).

proper books of account for Collegiate before its winding up.

Initial hearings

On June 9, 1960, opening the case for the prosecution, Sebag Shaw, counsel for the Board of Trade, accused Rose of operating his business “with the object of filching large sums of money from people whom he persuaded to buy stamps, not in the ordinary way of stamp collecting but as an investment.” He said that the accused was “conducting a bucket shop, except that his stock-in-trade was not securities in the ordinary way, but stamps.” “The pots are kept boiling and the investors are kept happy until such time as they begin to wonder if they will ever see their money,” Shaw said.

At the end of Shaw’s opening address, Gerald B. Owen, representing Rose, said, “Defendant has said all along there has been no fraud whatsoever on any of these charges.”

On the first two days as well as on subsequent hearings, witnesses reveled the shenanigans of Rose.

Appearing as the first witness, John Astor said that he agreed to buy stamps on Rose’s false assurance that he could purchase and control the whole issue, which he claimed was limited in supply. But apart from receiving £900 he never saw the balance of his money.

Hugh Astor, who was also the deputy chairman of The Times Publishing Co. Ltd., said that he paid £217, 10 shillings for some Burma stamps, being assured that in three months they should be worth double. However, he never received any money from either Rose’s company or from the man himself.

A customer named John Arnold testified that he made Rose’s acquaintance when he walked into his Eton shop in 1954

to make a simple purchase. By September, he had invested £2,200. Over time he joined Collegiate as a part-time salesman and later assisted at the firm’s Strand shop. In November 1954, Arnold was made a director of Collegiate, but he never attended a board meeting or took part in the company’s business. Over three years and before he left the company in 1958, he handed over nearly £24,000 to the company, including by borrowing money from his bank by providing as collateral rent from property he held. He got in return 5,000 shares in a stamp company; those shares were now worthless.

Yet another conned investor, Hughes-Hallett said that in the beginning of 1957 he invested £600 in Boy Scout stamps, having received an assurance that he would get back a minimum of £850. Rose had told him that he would make a probable profit of 200 percent from handling the Jubilee Jamboree first day covers. When his solicitors wrote to Rose, Hughes-Hallett received payments for £100, £50, £25, and £10 (note the sums declining with time, likely as money ran out), the last coming in a few weeks earlier.

Another witness, Major Martin Gubbins, company director of Trevor Wood, Ascot, said that in 1956 he had two successful transactions with Rose. Later Rose told him of his Mayflower venture, which the major thought he might make a killing in. He invested £500, and his two sisters invested £250 each. Apart from a check for £25 received 12 months prior, he had received nothing except “further promises.”

Ronald Gardner, acting on behalf for Mr. H. Sawbridge, said he had paid Rose £8,000 to buy stamps. Of this, only £2,000 was repaid and in October 1956, Gardner had threatened proceedings.

In November 1957, Sawbridge received a check for £6,911 which was postdated to March 1958. This wasn’t accepted as it was dated so far ahead and by then no more money was forthcoming.

The Marquess of Donegall, appearing as a witness, said that he accepted an invitation from Rose to become the chairman of Mayflower but that he had nothing to do with its day-to-day administration. While £50,000 was promised to the Boy Scouts Association, the Marquess said he believed some installments were paid but the reminder was not because there was no more money.

Other witnesses included Arthur Robin Hill, who said he lost £9,000, and Sophie Gassner, who invested £2,600 but recovered only £1,000.

Trial and sentencing

Rose was committed to trial at Old Bailey on 20 charges. He pleaded “not guilty” to all of them. On November 28, 1960, the trial opened and lasted three weeks.

The Queen’s counsel, Neville Faulks, brought all of Rose’s trickeries into the open. He clarified the three types of Rose’s frauds.

The “investment fraud” was getting people to buy stamps as investments by making reckless statements and promising false promises concerning the extent to which stamps would likely increase in value within a short time. The “fraudulent conversion” was the practice of inviting the public to invest in stamps that Rose would retain and sell for profit

at an opportune time. This was the fraud most people fell for. The third type of fraud concerned the Boy Scouts Jamboree, wherein Rose collected £40,000 but failed to return most of it.

The jury took four and a half hours to find him guilty on 12 counts involving fraudulent conversions, false pretenses, and carrying on business when an undischarged bankrupt. He was found not guilty on eight charges of recklessly making misleading or deceptive forecasts and of fraudulent conversion.

On December 19, 1960, Judge Aarvold sentenced him to six years in jail and barred him from management of any company for five years after the end of his sentence. He told Rose, “There was a fraud of which you were well aware

Figure 9. (Cecil) Charles Hughes-Hallett by Walter Stoneman, February 1949. (Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London.)

when you committed it. … It was varied in its design and prolonged in its operation … It involved obtaining the trust of your victims and then avoiding discovery by falsehoods, evasions and false promises. … It is obvious to anyone that you are a man in whom it is extremely dangerous to place any trust or reliance.”

Further, with reference to the Boy Scouts Jamboree, he said, “… you did not hesitate to use the fair name of the Boy Scouts Association to further your frauds.”

Epilogue

Philatelic rascals and ruffians of all sorts have been recorded since the beginnings of stamp collecting in the 1860s. Rose was not the first, and certainly not the last, who tried to scan and defraud the unsuspecting. So long as (even supposedly sophisticated and shrewd) people get carried away by greed and too-goodto-be-true schemes, conmen such as Rose will be around to dip their hands into victims’ pockets.

After the trial, one does not hear of Rose. He seems to have vanished into obscurity. If anyone has any further information, please get in touch with the editor or me.

Acknowledgement

I thank Scott Tiffney, librarian of the American Philatelic Research Library, for helping me with the scans of the philatelic articles cited below. Feedback is always welcome; my email address is abbh@hotmail.com.

Resources

“Boy Scout Jamboree,” GB Stamp Rolls, accessed January 10, 2023, https://www.gbstamprolls.com/ queen-elizabeth-ii/boy-scout-jamboree

“Current Comment: Private Jamboree.” Stamp Collecting. November 30, 1956.

“Philatelic Fortune for Scouts.” Bristol Evening Post.

March 11, 1957.

“£50,000 for Boy Scouts from Stamps.” Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. March 15, 1957.

“£95,000 loss on Scout Jamboree.” Belfast Telegraph July 17, 1958.

“Stamp Man on 16 Charges.” News Chronicle April 30, 1960.

“Stamp Dealer ‘Rosey’ of Eton Accused.” Daily Herald April 30, 1960.

“Cecil Rose Arrested and Remanded.” Stamp Collecting. May 6, 1960.

“Cecil Rose on Fraud Charges.” The Philatelic Trader and Stationer. May 13, 1960.

“Court Told of ‘Bucket-Shop by Stamp Dealer’. Express & Echo. June 9, 1960.

“‘Bucket Shop’ in Stamps, Court Told.” The Birmingham Post. June 10, 1960.

“Stamp Deals like Bucket Shop, Court Told.” News Chronicle. June 10, 1960.

“Accused Stamp Dealer: More Evidence.” The Birmingham Post. June 11, 1960.

“Cecil Rose “Ran Bucket Shop”. Stamp Collecting. June 17, 1960.

“Lord Donegall a Witness in Stamps Case.” Belfast Telegraph. September 15, 1960.

“Marquess a Witness in Stamps Case.” Express & Echo. September 15, 1960.

“Torquay Witness on Deal in Stamps.” Herald Express. September 15, 1960.

“‘Stamp Dealer could Charm Birds out of Trees’ Q.C.” The Daily Mail. November 29, 1960.

“Six Years for Rosey of Eton.” Daily Herald. December 20, 1960.

“6 Years for Rosey of Eton.” Daily Mirror. December 20, 1960.

“Rise and Fall of Cecil Rose.” The Philatelic Trader. December 9, 1960.

“Six Years Gaol Sentence for Rosie the Charmer.” The Philatelic Trader. January 6, 1961.

[Nodder, Wilf.] “A Rose by any Other Name Smells…” The Journal of the Scout Stamps Collectors Club. 5 no. 1 (January 1961): P. 33.

Page, Derrick. “The 1957 World Scout Jubilee Jamboree,” The Postal Museum, accessed January 10, 2023, https://www.postalmuseum.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/12/Stamp-History-1957Scout-Jamboree.pdf

Thomas, Gilbert. “Round the Shelves.” The Birmingham Post & Gazette. January 28, 1958.

Walker, Colin. “1957 Jubilee Jamboree ‘Official’ First Day Covers: A Tale of ‘Skulduggery’” Scout and Guide Stamps Club Bulletin. P. 63, No. 1, Whole No. 353 (Spring 2019).

Endnotes

1 At the time of his trial in 1960, newspapers reported his age at either 56 or 57. I haven’t been able to find the exact date of his birth; or death, for that matter.

2 This equates to more than £6 million in today’s numbers.

3 Reviews of the book were published in the popular press late January 1958. Since the copyright page of the book mentions the year of publication as 1958, this implies that the book came out in the beginning of January 1958.

4 The reader is directed to articles by Page and Walker and the website of GB Stamp Rolls for further information on the stamps and FDCs of the Jubilee Jamboree.

5 A Scout Jamboree, Scouters Indaba (meeting) and Rover Moot was held from August 1-12, 1958 in Sutton Park, a natural park of 2,400 acres, in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. The Jamboree marked dual milestones as it was both the 50th anniversary of the Scouting movement since its inception Brownsea Island and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Scouting's founder Robert Baden-Powell. About 33,000 Scouts from 90 countries camped for 12 days.

6 More than £8 in today’s money; a significant sum for one FDC. These official FDCs are available on eBay for a few pounds / dollars to this day.

7 This is a huge sum; about £1.3 million in today’s equivalent.

8 In a meeting dated October 24, 1956, between the Boy Scouts Association, Mayflower, and the Assistant PMG, Mayflower requested that the three stamps be given to them in advance so that they could affix them on the 6 million covers. The post office was very averse to the idea since it was impossible to guarantee that, of the 18 million stamps, none went astray. Finally, stamp affixing machines made by Vacuumatic Ltd. were purchased for this purpose.

9 The Post Office sold first day covers for 2 shillings each, but orders needed to be for no fewer than 60 covers. This meant that the only buyers would be dealers. The covers had to be provided by the customer bearing their full postal address and had to be of one of three specified sizes. Many “unofficial” FDCs were thus created.

10 Page (1992) quotes the Stanley Gibbons Specialised Catalogue, which states that 60,632 covers were “serviced.” Does this number apply only to the Mayflower FDCs or to both the Mayflower and the Post Office ones?

11 This number was revealed during Rose’s trial. Nodder (1961), however, mentioned the amount as £700.

12 In July 1958, the provisional account of the Jamboree showed a net loss of £96,500; it is not known whether this loss included the amounts not received from Mayflower. The loss could have been lower had Mayflower paid the Boy Scouts Association the minimum amount of £50,000 it had earlier guaranteed.

Belgian Philatelic Literature: A

Primer

Gregg Redner, PhD

Ihave been a collector of Belgian stamps for more than 30 years and during that time have been impressed with the great wealth of bibliography available to the collector. In fact, one could argue that next to Great Britain and France, Belgium is the home of philately, even to the point of boasting the first stamp shop in the world, which was opened in 1853, three years prior to Stanley Gibbons. This article will introduce the reader to the foundational philatelic texts of this fascinating country.

My original intention was to limit my discussion to Belgian philatelic books and catalogs written between 1860 and 1910. However, this created a conundrum, because apart from Moens, Hanciau and Herlant, the most important early Bel-

gian philatelists wrote more articles than books, many of which are difficult to access. With this in mind, I have widened my scope to also consider books written in later periods.

Jean-Baptiste Moens (1833-1908)

The first author we will consider is Jean-Baptiste Moens (Figure 1). Moens was born in 1833 in Tournai, Belgium. Moens began collecting stamps from his family's mail as a boy. By the age of 16 he had begun collecting coins and medals and had a successful shop in which to sell these. By 19, Moens was buying and selling books and stamps at the Galerie Borthier, a covered walkway located in central Brussels.

That same year, Moens’ brother-inlaw – Louis Hanciau, who we will consider separately later – asked Moens if

Figure 1. A 1973 stamp from Belgium depicts J.B. Moens (Scott 858).

he could procure some postage stamps. Moens promised to get them, but rather than giving them to Hanciau, he developed such a strong interest in the purchase that he kept them himself. Shortly afterwards, Hanciau joined Moens in forming what would become a thriving stamp business (Figure 2).

Within a decade of opening his business, Moens was publishing a stamp catalog with illustrated supplements.

In March 1862, with the assistance of Hanciau, Moens published the Manuel des collectionneurs de timbres-poste (Handbook for Stamp Collectors). This volume (Figure 3) has recently been reprinted as part of the heritage conservation policy for important works of French literature in association

Figure 2. A postal card mailed December 26, 1872 from Courtrai to Moens’ stamp shop.

Figure 3. The Manuel des collectionneurs de timbresposte, by J.B. Moens (1862).

with the National Library of France (BNF) and is available online.

The volume was the first of its kind in Belgium and only the second catalog to be published in the French language, following one from Parisian Alfred Potiquet.

Also in 1862, Moens published De la falsification des timbres-poste (On the Falsification of Postage Stamps). In this volume (Figure 4) his aim was to alert collectors to what was then an abundance of forgeries in the market. This volume has also

been reprinted as part of the BNF series mentioned above. In addition, Moens also began publishing the first French language philatelic monthly, Le Timbre-Poste (Figure 5), which ran from 1863 until 1900. This extremely popular and important journal was edited jointly by Moens and Hanciau. This fact brings up an interesting conundrum when discussing Moens. Modern scholars believe that most articles that appear under Moens’ name were, in fact, written by Hanciau.

Figure 4. The De la falsification des timbres-poste, J.B. Moens (1862).

Louis Hanciau (1835-1924)

Louis Hanciau (Figure 6) was born in 1835, and lived to be almost 90, passing away after complications from a serious operation.

Between 1862 and 1890, Hanciau issued a tremendous number of invaluable handbooks on world philately. These volumes are full of official information on each nation’s stamp designs and production. Each handbook contains invaluable

information on essays, proofs and production numbers.

Hanciau also was responsible for expanding Moens’ first catalog from one small volume to a massive three volumes. Indeed, Hanciau’s early contribution to world philately is considered so great that many later authors credit him with laying the foundations of much of later modern philatelic knowledge.

Hanciau’s most important work is the

Figure 5. The first edition of J.B. Moens’ philatelic journal, Le Timbre-Poste, published from 1863 to 1900.

Willy Balasse (1906-1991)

478-page volume, La Poste belge et ses diverses marques postales (1814-1914) (Figure 7). Published in 1929, La Poste belge is a comprehensive discussion of Belgian postal regulations, post office structure and postal markings. The volume is considered so important that it is still considered indispensable to any discussion of early Belgian philately.

Divided into two parts – the first dealing with the operation of the post and telegraph and the second with postal and auxiliary markings – La poste belge is painstakingly researched and rich with detailed information, much of it quoted directly from postal bulletins that perished during the two world wars. It can still be found for sale online, but one must be careful about condition when buying it, as the original volume was produced with paper covers and often is in poor condition.

Willy Balasse was one of Belgium’s greatest catalog producers, and also the publisher of the great Balasse Magazine (Figure 8). This journal was published from 1936 to 1986 and contains a wealth of articles on a wide variety of collecting areas.

During his lifetime, Balasse was awarded both the Officer of the Order of Leopold II and the Order of the Crown, awards which are given for professional achievement by the Belgian government. Balasse’s stature in the philatelic world can also be seen in that he served as the philatelic advisor to H.M. Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Queen Marie-Josée of Italy and Prince Charles of Great Britain. He also was responsible for executing the sale of the stamp collection of H.M. King Leopold III.

Figure 6. Louis Hanciau as he appears on a souvenir cinderella stamp from the 1990 Belgica stamp show.

Figure 7. The first edition of Hanciau’s La Poste belge er ses diverses marques postales (18141914).

Balasse is best known today for his encyclopedic catalogs, Grand catalogue des timbres de belgique et congo belge, catalogs which were published as single volumes between 1935 and 1940 and later expanded to three-volume edition in 1949 (Figure 9).

These catalogs are scientific in their philatelic approach. Their amount of detail and analysis makes them an invaluable resource for those working on issues up until the 1940s, and one would be hard put to find this information so clearly and comprehensively laid out in one place anywhere else.

Lucien Herlant (1903-1981)

Colonel Lucien Herlant (Figure 10) is known as the great postal historian of Belgian pre-philately. He was a founding member of the Belgian Academy of Philately. During his lifetime he received numerous honors and awards, including the Belgian Award for Philatelic Merit in 1945 and the National Literature Prize in Philately from the Cercle de Paul Smeth (1953).

Figure 8. The Balasse Magazine from the 1930s.

Figure 9. Willy Balasse’s Grand catalogue des timbres de belgique et congo belge 1940.

Herlant published very important monographs on pre-philatelic postal markings of each of the provinces in Belgium (Figure 11). These individual provincial studies were eventually consolidated into one volume in 1982 as Les marques postales prephilateliques de la belgique. This monumental study gives a listing of cancellations and auxiliary markings for each city in Belgium beginning as early as the 17th-century. The volume is scientifically researched and laid out in a manner that makes it infinitely useful.

The groundwork for Herlant’s later work on pre-philately was laid by his earlier monograph, La Poste aux Lettres et les Marques Postales en Belgique de 1648 à 1849 (Figure 12), which was published in 1946. This volume goes into great detail on the development of the early post in Belgium, as well as the postal markings used in larger locales. It is an excellent introduction to the topic.

Marcel Denoumostier (19262003)

Marcel Deneumostier was born in 1926 in Modave, Belgium and died in 2003.

A lifelong interest in philately led him to form several very important collections. These included collections of Belgian postal stationery, official stamps and stamps from the Fine Barbe issue of Leopold II. During his lifetime he was a regular contributor to a variety of Flemish philatelic journals, including Info-phila, the journal of the Phila-Club Flemalle, for which he also served as editor for more than 21 years. Over the course of his career, he received numerous honors

Figure 10. Lucien Herlant.

Figure 11. Herlant Brabant’s study.

for his literary work as well as his philatelic publications.

However, it will be for his contribution to philatelic literature that Deneumostier will be best remembered.

In 1977, at a time when new literature on Belgian philately was rarely being produced, Deneumostier began a series of monographs on a widely divergent array of subjects, beginning with Volume 1 on the Ostende-Dover Line and culminating in 2002 with Volume 44 on the Internal Postal Tariffs of Belgium. What makes Deneumostier’s monographs particularly interesting is that they tend to concentrate on single issues, thereby supplying a very deep reading of the subject under consideration. Many of his monographs were produced in collaboration with his wife, Eliane, herself a noted philatelic scholar.

A list of Deneumostier’s books includes the following (see previous page), a record of incredible variety and breadth.

While each volume is individually structured, there is a common approach that pervades many of them. This can be seen by examining his 1982 monograph on Belgium’s 1915 King Albert I issue (Figure 13). The monograph begins with an introduction to the historical period and follows with an extensive discussion of the official documents that pertain to the stamp’s pre-production. This section is extremely comprehensive and presents much more extensive documentation than other general publications on a given issue.

Next, a typical Deneumostier mono-

Figure 12. La Poste aux Lettres et les Marques Postales en Belgique de 1648 à 1849.

graph will discuss the original art and essays for the issue, including the work of the final designer and engraver chosen to produce it. The author then moves on to the generalities of the issue’s printing, including information on die proofs, color proofs, the order in which the stamps were issued, and the values produced. Deneumostier usually concludes section one with a consideration of the issue’s length of production and the numbers produced for each value.

In section two, Deneumostier generally moves on to discuss the various printing details for each individual stamp. Included in this is a discussion of plates, perforations and varieties. In the case of the monograph on the Albert I issues of 1915, this section runs to 35 pages.

The third part of the monographs often covers the varieties of postal stationery issued and overprints and surcharges, should they exist. Last of all, section three concludes with a discussion of back of the book issues, such as postage due stamps issued during the period.

The final part of each monograph is often dedicated to a discussion of the known cancellations and the post offices that issued them as related to each value issued. This is followed by a list of known examples of parcel post and telegraph cancellations on the issue, as well as the stamp’s uses on interesting documents. All Deneumostier’s monographs are liberally illustrated in black and white to supply corroborating documentation to further enrich the text.

The monographs of Marcel Deneu-

mostier are among the most important in a bibliography of Belgian philately published during the past 50 years. They can often be found used on a variety of philatelic e-commerce platforms. They are models of philatelic writing and research that deserve to be better known among the North American philatelic community.

Conclusion

This has been an introduction to some of the most important texts on Belgian philately. There are, of course, many other important authors and these include the works of Leo De Clercq, Albert De Greef, Willy Grubben, Jacques Stes and Jacques Stibbe among others. Indeed, the rich history of philatelic literature in Belgium justifies its place as one of the most important of philatelic study areas.

Figure 13. Marcel Denoumostier’s study in 1915.

A Hidden Gem:

The Philatelic Library of Hamburg

Istudy and collect the postal history of the consular post offices of Egypt.

In the 19th century, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire permitted the governments of a number of European countries to establish post offices in the chief cities of Egypt in order to facilitate commercial and governmental communications. These post offices were typically located in government consulates, hence were known as consular post offices.

At present, I am conducting research into the Austrian consular post offices of Egypt and the conveyance of mail from and to these post offices by steamships.

There is a phrase that I find apropos to the detailed sort of research I enjoy: It takes as long as it takes. We researchers can identify our topic, define the scope of our project, and outline our work, but it is inevitable (and, in my view, delightful) that the research will take us in directions we cannot anticipate. These detours and rabbit holes mean that the work will take longer than we expect,

and that it will lead us to resources which we did not know existed.

In this very way, in June 2022, I found myself at the Philatelistische Bibliothek Hamburg (PBH) – the Philatelic Library of Hamburg, Germany, in the hope of tracking down information in support of my research.

An owl is part of the logo for the Philatelic Library of Hamburg.

Christopher C. Smith

Long before I arrived at the library, I had planned a trip to Tanzania and Germany as part of volunteer work for a non-profit. About three months before my departure, I learned of a resource that likely corroborated a conclusion which I had reached in my research. This book-length resource is a compilation that was self-published, a characteristic of many philatelic publications.

Henri Tristant’s book on the packetboats of the Mediterranean is a good example of such self-published work.1

For students of French postal history, especially the postal history of the French post offices in the Levant, Tristant’s book is an indispensable, if difficult to obtain, resource.

My search for the book of interest to me initially took me to the APRL's David Straight Memorial Philatelic Union Catalog, a resource providing access to multiple important philatelic libraries. That search yielded no results, perhaps not surprising for a self-published book printed in a very limited edition. (The

A partial view of library holdings.

book is: Wolfgang Schubert, Einschreibevermerke (+ sonstige Klebezettel) der Österreichischen Levantpost, Schriftenreihe Rekommandation 1. Teil, self-published, 2005. If I am ever fortunate enough to own the book, I am donating it to the APRL – I will still be able to access it there, but then so will you.) A wider search also yielded no results. Until, that is, I discovered that the PBH had a copy on its shelves. The stars were aligning! I could add a side-trip to Hamburg during my time in Germany.

After consulting the library’s website, I contacted the library’s chairman, Herr Oliver Weigel, to learn whether the library would be open during my time in Germany. Herr Weigel put me in touch with the volunteer librarian, Herr Axel Faust. Herr Faust assured me that the

library would be open and even offered to open the library earlier than usual for my convenience. He informed me that he would put aside the book I sought so that it would be ready when I arrived. With that reassurance, I added transportation to Hamburg as part of my itinerary.

The PBH is located in a neighborhood of industrial buildings. There is no indication that the plain brick building, six stories high with rows of closely spaced windows, contains a library on one of its floors.

Arriving at the front door, I pushed the button next to the name of the library. Herr Faust answered and told me to go around to the back of the building to find the entrance. He met me even before I was halfway back and led me up

Axel Faust, the enthusiastic Librarian of the Philatelic Library of Hamburg, Germany.

the stairs, and there it was: a fine library, with abundant shelves of books and work tables. You bibliophiles know the sensation: you feel right at home tucked in among all that knowledge just waiting to be discovered.

Before I could even ask, Axel put the book I sought into my hands. He then asked me about the focus of my research. I gave a short description, and he was off! Within 10 minutes he began to place other resources on my work table.

After reading and taking notes about the pertinent section of the book I came to review, I began to read through the other resources Axel had identified. Before long, I was surrounded by three or four growing stacks of books. At the end of 90 minutes, I had reviewed well over 20 additional volumes which I had not even planned to consult. From four of these I was able to corroborate several other points in my research. It was a worthwhile stop, indeed. The bigger bonus was meeting a new friend in Axel

Faust.

The PBH is truly a hidden gem. There among neighborhood warehouses and mechanical shops was a repository of philatelic knowledge. And, of course, Axel adds such value to the library. He is knowledgeable, passionate, and dedicated.

I only wish that the books, journals, and collateral material of the PBH were included in a larger searchable online catalog of philatelic resources, like the David Straight catalog. Still, the extensive holdings of the library are searchable on the PBH website. Also, the library is included in the list of libraries accessible through the website of the library of the Royal Philatelic Society London, but search capacity through that portal appears limited.

My experience at the PBH prompted the question: how many other philatelic libraries around the world are out there waiting to be discovered?

Every quarter, the Philatelic Litera-

A special commemorative cover created in 2021 for the Hamburg Philatelic Library's 50th anniversary.

Primary sources are the best! Axel put this pile of Austrian post and telegraph archival material on the author's worktable for review.

ture Review includes a section hosted by APRL Librarian and Director Scott Tiffney called “Library News” in which various philatelic libraries provide updates on their holdings and activities. I am familiar with most of the libraries that offer a report. Is there a list, online or otherwise, of other, less well-known philatelic libraries? With that list in hand, imagine the fruitful philatelic side

Endnotes

trips you could have when travelling on vacation or for business in the U.S. and internationally. Language limitations did not seem to matter when I visited the PBH. My high interest and Axel’s enthusiasm overcame any language barriers. I highly recommend a visit to the Philatelic Library of Hamburg.

1 Henri Tristant, Les lignes régulières de paquebots-poste du Levant et d'Egypte 1837 –1851 (Paris, the Author, n.d.). Available from the APRL.

Essential Literature for Collectors of Czechoslovak Philately

James A. Buckner

Acollector in any area of philately needs information, specifically information on the stamps, covers, and ephemera of their collecting area. For those interested in the area of Czechoslovak philately, we at the Society for Czechoslovak Philately have put together a list of essential literature you can utilize to make your collecting efforts more enjoyable.

The first suggestion is for those unfamiliar with the area. The Philately of Czechoslovakia for Beginners, by Phil Freer (Figure 1) is published by the Society for Czechoslovak Philately (APS Unit 18 – more on them in a moment). This short survey discusses all the areas of Czechoslovak philately in detail so that the uninitiated can easily make decisions on what areas to focus their efforts.

The major difficulty for English speakers while collecting stamps from a country with a language other than

Figure 1. The Philately of Czechoslovakia for Beginners, by Phil Freer.

English is the difficulty of translating catalogs. For ease with this, our second suggestion is Glossary of Philatelic Terminology (Figure 2), also from the Society for Czechoslovak Philately. No mere dictionary, this handy volume translates the typical terms one would find in a Czech or Slovak language catalog from Czech or Slovak to English and vice-versa.

For English speakers, we recommend the two most well-known catalogs in English, those from Scott and Stanley Gibbons. Either catalog will give a sound basis for further research by collectors.

The Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic and Slovakia sections in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue cover all the basics and then some. The catalog covers Czechoslovakia from its inception (1918) through to the present with all the political changes that occurred.

Figure 2. The Glossary of Philatelic Terminology, from the Society for Czechoslovak Philately.

Figure 3. A selection of POFIS catalogs.

Stanley Gibbons issues catalogs in this area that are full of information and are quite thorough and well-illustrated.

For additional detail, the catalogs published by POFIS (from Prague in the Czech Republic) are very thorough, but one faces a language barrier using these catalogs. This is where the previously mentioned Glossary of Philatelic Terminology comes in handy.

POFIS (Figure 3) publishes separate catalogs on the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939), the Protectorate of Bohemia & Moravia (1939-1945), the Second Czechoslovak Republic (19451992), and the Czech Republic (1993 to present).

Slovakia (1939-1945 and 1993 to present) is covered by two publishers in Slovak: Slovensko 1993-2017 Specializovany Katalog by Zberatel in Bratislava, 2018, and Slovensko 1939-1945 Katalog

znamok a celin by Filatelia-Numizmatika Album, in Bratislava, 2019.

Also in Czech, Merkur-Revue (from Brno, Czech Republic) publishes a threevolume set that covers the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939) thoroughly and is well-illustrated (Figure 4).

For a truly deep dive into all phases of Czechoslovak philately, it is worth mentioning the Monografie series. This series is really for the specialist. Published beginning in 1971 and continued to the present, this series of hardback volumes (Volumes 1-5, 7, 9, 11, 13-17, 20, 24-25, and 40 published thus far) start with the earliest issues and include all manner of topics, from the stamp issues themselves to a history of post offices, postal uniforms, production techniques, and forerunner stamps (those issued primarily by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and used in what became Czechoslovakia and later

Figure 4. A volume on the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939) from Merkur-Revue.

Figure 5. The Monografie series offers several volumes of specialized material.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic).

While the earlier issues of the Monografie series (Figure 5) are no longer in print, used copies can be had by contacting the Society for Czechoslovak Philately (SCP; www.csphilately.net). The society is an 83-year-old international organization based in North America devoted to the collecting, study of, education, and publicizing all aspects of philately relating to the geographical areas now called Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Since its founding in 1939, the SCP has continuously published a journal in English, The Czechoslovak Specialist (Figure 6), which provides continuous detailed updates for all new issues as well as original articles with original research about almost every conceivable specialty area. In addition, the SCP also has access

to monographs on various Czech and Slovak topics published in English by its sister society, the Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain.

This is not a complete list of essential literature, nor is it intended to be. We merely wanted to present a starting list for collectors to use while collecting this area.

Stamp collecting and philately are very popular pursuits in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia today. For those who are new to philately in general or for those who are experienced but who may be looking for a new area to collect, may we suggest the philately of Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia)?

Figure 6. An early and recent volume of The Czechoslovak Specialist from the Society for Czechoslovak Philately, which was founded in 1939.

AUTHOR'S INQUIRY

If you are a philatelic author seeking assistance with your research, drop us an email (LetterToTheEditor@stamps.org). Include “Author’s Inquiry” in the subject line. Please keep your message to under 100 words. These will be published on a space-available basis and at the discretion of the editorial department.

Huguenot-Walloon issue help

I am doing research on the 5-cent Huguenot-Walloon issue of 1924. My focus is on the relief breaks that occur on plate 15754. This is the plate that contains the “broken circle” relief break among others. I am seeking a full sheet or large multiples that I can have photographed. I can be reached at patricklemon@pslassociates.com. Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide.

Patrick Lemon

Ethiopia Philately Census

At the Ethiopian Philatelic Society we have taken a path to disseminate the research published in our quarterly newsletter, Menelik’s Journal, since 1985, by producing a memory stick. It has all issues in searchable pdf format and in color that is available for purchase.

We also distribute Menelik’s Journal to select libraries at no cost (APS, RPSL, National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C, and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) to ensure the research is available for future collectors.

We also have an ongoing census in place for three decades, initiated by Luciano Maria, a member in Italy. It has allowed us to make a remarkable amount of new findings about Ethiopia’s pre-UPU postal history (1895-1909) by collecting scans of covers and cards. We estimate in excess of 90 precent of all mail preserved from that period has now been recorded. One of the key findings is how rare the early Ethiopian postal history is as illustrated in the table.

Note: 1909 is January and February only.

Steps like those mentioned are easy to implement for small, specialized societies with limited resources and members willing to put in the many, many hours needed to produce a handbook.

As our census continues. I would appreciate if any reader who has Ethiopian covers from the census period could send scans to ulindahl@optonline.net to potentially add more items.

Ulf J. Lindahl President, Ethiopian Philatelic Society

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The opinions expressed in a Letter to the Editor are those of the author and not the Philatelic Literature Review or APRL. We do not publish or accept requests for the publication of anonymous letters.

To allow more Letters to the Editor, you are respectfully requested to limit submissions to 500 words or less. If your submission is longer, the editorial team will ask you to resubmit a shorter version, or provide you with a copy of an edited version to review prior to publication.

Submit your letters to plrarticle@stamps.org, subject line “Letter to the Editor” or mail a typewritten copy to Letter to the Editor, The Philatelic Literature Review, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte PA 16823.

Donate to the APRL

The APRL welcomes donations of philatelic literature and materials (please include an itemized list) as well as monetary contributions to secure the growth and maintenance of library services. Two specific APRL funds need your financial support. Contributions to the Building Fund are used to pay for the physical plant that houses both the APS and the library. Donations to the Acquisitions Funds are used to purchase additional resource material, whether new or used, for the library. Please send your inquiries to Scott Tiffney at stiffney@stamps.org.

CHICAGOPEX 2022

November 19, 2022

Literature Palmares

We are pleased to publish the results of the Chicagopex 2022 literature competition.

John Kevin Doyle Grand Award

The United States Fourth Bureau Issue

1922–1938

Jay Stotts

Reserve Grand

New York Stamp Taxes on Bonds, 1910–1920. A spectacular philatelic sub-field hidden for a century, (Second Edition)

Michael T. Mahler

Postal History Society Medal

U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights, Second Edition

Cheryl Ganz

Large Gold

The United States Fourth Bureau Issue

1922–1938

Jay Stotts

The Foreign Mail Issue of Mexico 1879–1883

Richard T. Daffner

U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights, Second Edition

Cheryl Ganz

The Civil War Cigar Stamps: A Philatelic Detective Story, A Treasure Trove of New Discoveries

Peter Schwartz

New York Stamp Taxes on Bonds, 1910–1920. A spectacular philatelic sub-field hidden for a century (Second Edition)

Michael T. Mahler

Airpost Journal

Vickie Canfield Peters, Editor

The American Revenuer

Michael T. Mahler, Editor

The Philatelic Exhibitor

Martin Kent Miller, Editor

Gold

Philatelic Royalty of the 20th Century

John Hotchner

Hubbard L. Hart’s Influence on Stage Coach and Steamboat Travel and Commerce in Central Florida

Thomas Lera

From Duplex to Mechanical: The evolution of experimental and early machine postmarks worldwide in the 19th and 20th centuries — a primer

Jerry H. Miller

Tobacco Stamps of 1868–1869 and African American Portraiture

Peter Schwartz, Calvin Mitchell

La Posta: The Journal of American Postal History

Peter Martin

NJPH, Journal of the New Jersey Postal History Society

Peter Martin

Mexicana

Michael D. Roberts, Editor

USCS Log

Richard D. Jones, Editor

First Days

Martin Kent Miller, Editor

Large Vermeil

The Connecticut Tercentenary Issue of 1955

Peter J. LaPlaca, Anthony F. Dewey

Letters from Home

Peter Thy

Florida Postal History Journal

Steve Swain, Editor

The Israel Philatelist

Donald A. Chafetz, Editor

Vermeil

St. Joseph, Florida

Jack Malarkey, Pat Malarkey-Stallard

Large Silver

The 50th Anniversary of The Match of the Century: A Philatelic Look

Michael Schumacher

Bronze Scott 323, My First Hickey?

Terry Kurzinski

CHICAGOPEX 2022 Literature Jury Members:

Patrick Walters, Jury Chairman CO

Dr. Akthem Al-Manaseer, Judge CA

Ken Trettin, Judge IA

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviews are written by PLR readers and contributors. We welcome new authors to write reviews of books (or other resources - articles, journals, monographs, videos and more). Contact Susanna Mills at smills@stamps.org to learn more and discuss parameters, or the PLR editorial team at PLRarticle@stamps.org to submit a book review.

EXHIBITING

Award Winning Philatelic Treatment and Presentation: A Guide to Display, Thematic and Topical Exhibits for Exhibitors, Collectors and Judges by Edwin J. Andrews. 8½ inches by 11 inches, 180 pages, perfect bound with card covers or hardbound, Exhibitors Press, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2021. ISBN 9798454594732, available from Amazon, $40 softcover, $55 hardcover.

As a winner of many gold and large gold medals as well as show grand awards, Ed Andrews has achieved success in philatelic exhibiting. In this handbook he shares some guidelines for exhibitors at all levels. His focus is on topical and thematic exhibits as well as display exhibits that are similar to what are known as open philately in the international shows.

He emphasizes that exhibitors need to be aware of the APS Manual of Philatelic Judging and Exhibiting, 7th edition, that is free from the American Philatelic Society. The manual points out that 20 percent of the evaluation points used by judges deal with treatment, and 5 percent with presentation. Thus, the

two features account for one quarter of the exhibit evaluation.

The author describes the differences between the three types of exhibits — thematic, topical, and display. However, he also shows how a philatelic item could be used in all three types. It is how they are treated that makes the difference.

The title page of the exhibit is an important component of treatment and succinctly states the purpose and scope of the exhibit. Treatment or the flow of text in developing the storyline of the

exhibit is spelled out in general terms. Treatment is further refined for the three kinds of exhibits in a chapter devoted to each type.

The selection of the philatelic items is important and each piece should help tell the story of the exhibit. The organization of the exhibit is emphasized so that the story is comprehensive without duplication or overcrowding. The page headings and subheadings help with the organization and flow. Andrews includes do’s and don’ts every step of the way. He reinforces his text with many illustrations of pages, not only from his own exhibits but also from award-winning displays by others.

Although presentation accounts for only 5 out of 100 points, Andrews points out “… the importance of making an exhibit appear neat, attractive, and inviting to the viewer.” First impressions are very important.

The author lists the tools that exhibitors need to prepare exhibit pages, including ruler, razor knife, mounts, matting material, computer templates, transparencies and other items. The color of the exhibit page paper should be attractive and not detract from the material mounted on the page. Special techniques are described for mounting non-philatelic elements needed for display exhibits.

Judges also will benefit from this handbook with the author’s guidelines for evaluating topical, thematic, and display exhibits, as well as an expanded version of the exhibitor evaluation form.

A bibliography lists articles, handbooks, and websites for more details on treatment and presen-

tation as well as exhibiting in general. An extensive list of terms reveals the wide variety of philatelic elements that can be used in the three types of exhibits. Exhibitors are also warned to avoid countries that purposely release created varieties or errors as well as canceled-toorder (CTO) stamps.

Reviewed by Alan Warren

FORGERIES

Peter Winter’s “Swansong”: Memories of an Artist and “Forger” by Wolfgang Maassen. 8 inches by 10¾ inches, 192 pages, buckram clothbound, in English. Published by Philatelic Bibliopole, Louisville KY, 2021. Also CD addenda, “A collection of Peter Winter Forgeries.” ISBN 978-0-917528-21-7, $65 plus postage from Philatelic Bibliopole, PO Box 36006, Louisville KY 40233, or www.pbbooks.com.

Author Wolfgang Maassen personally knew the subject of this profile, PeterHeinz Albert Winter (1941-2018). Thus, he draws not only on his interview with Winter in 2005, but also an extensive correspondence between the two over many years.

Collectors are likely familiar with the forgery work of Jean de Sperati and François Fournier. However, this new profile brings to light a modern day “artist” who was also a showman as well as a creator of “imitations” of famous stamps. Maassen’s book was originally published in German, and this version is an English translation.

While his stamp “art” was quite credible, Peter Winter was less lucky in preparing documents that he hoped would enable him to escape from East Germany. However, he was found out and did two and a half years in prison. Winter also was a serious music student and became an accomplished tenor, singing opera at the German National Theatre in Weimar. In 1975, he found the opportunity to flee to the West with his wife and son.

Winter became quite the traveler, performing more than 2,000 times in Europe, North and South America, many Asian countries, and even on cruise ships. He acquired his first stamp collection in his late 20s or early 30s. Since a friend asked if the 1850 3-pfennig red of Saxony was among them, he decided to create one. Peter did not consider himself a forger, but rather an artist who made replicas. However, some of his subjects included the “Post Office” Mauritius, the inverted Jenny, and even the 1-cent Magenta British Guiana.

One of his first clients asked Winter to make replicas of the 1933 Germany

Emergency Aid souvenir sheet, which he proceeded to do. However, his client did not honor the agreed price and also sent checks that bounced. So Winter made a few sheets and altered the text in the designs in amusing ways. He sent “normal” sheets interspersed with the doctored ones to the client, as payback.

He then sent replicas of stamp rarities to buyers, but they were not marked as “faux” stamps. The German Stamp Dealers Association filed a complaint. Winter then established a business called ProPhilForum and issued a catalog of world rarities, “From the treasury of philately.” In addition to stamps he also offered imitation covers. ProPhilForum took a booth at the 1986 international stamp fair in Essen. Linn’s Stamp News ran an article about Winter’s offers, cautioning buyers to be aware!

Author Maassen continues with more chapters about Peter Winter’s operations, including sales by third parties and unlawful use of stamp photographs from the British Library. Winter used his imagination as well as his skills to create fantasy stamps and even had them cancelled on “first day” covers!

One of the more bizarre stories is that Winter found a second 1-cent Magenta British Guiana, which he obtained from a Romanian dancer. It was declared genuine by one expert but declared not genuine by the Royal Philatelic Society London. It was offered on eBay in 1999, but not sold, and it was exhibited at WIPA 2000 and at London 2000.

He studied the famous inverted center of the 1918 U.S. Jenny stamp and in 1978 printed a number of copies. Even credible-looking blocks of four, signed by Winter on the back, are known. He later

destroyed his printing plates and many of the stamps. However, not before he created used copies with postmarks – a forgery on a forgery.

Winter admitted that he was not a good marketer of his own goods. He once tried another business and opened a gambling hall, but it failed. His stamp replicas are sought by collectors who specialize in counterfeits and forgeries when they come up at auctions.

The second half of Maassen’s book is a photographic record of some of Winter’s material. This section includes reproductions of his ProPhilForum catalog of 1985 and House of Stamps catalog of 1988 of both stamps and covers, and 10 album pages that were displayed at his booth at the Essen international stamp fair of 1986.

The book concludes with a wonderful selection of Winter creations, enlarged and in color, of stamps and covers from Germany and German states, Finland, France, Great Britain, Liechtenstein, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Hawaii, and the United States among others. It is a veritable showcase of philatelic eye candy.

Leonard Hartmann, publisher of this English language version, includes a special bonus with the book. It is a compact disc with 69 pages imported from Dropbox. Most of the pages are Hartmann’s exhibit of Winter’s creations. Many pages include notes that help distinguish the Winter materials from originals.

Maassen and Hartmann have documented the work of Peter Winter with this book and the accompanying CD. Better proofreading would have prevented several inappropriate end-ofline hyphenations, and the book would

have benefitted from an index of proper nouns.

However, the authors’ contributions to the literature of forgeries record an interesting chapter in the history of philately and should arm collectors with the knowledge needed in the marketplace.

Reviewed by Alan Warren

GREAT BRITAIN

The Great Post Office Scandal. By Nick Wallis. 527 pages, 6¼ inches by 9½ inches, hardbound. Published by Bath Publishing, Bath, United Kingdom. Price $34.50. Available on Amazon.

We’ve all had problems with computer systems supposedly designed to help us and make transactions easier and more transparent. We’ve all suffered from software written with no concept of how it would be used by real people in the real world. We’ve all been on the “not-verydamn-helpful” help line staffed by people who are either untrained, uncaring or both.

Now, imagine that your livelihood depended on a financial accounting system that was 100 times worse than any that you ever encountered. Further, the software behind the system was so badly written that it made random errors, sometimes in your favor but usually against you. When you did follow the directions given to you to correct it, the error against you would sometimes increase, sometimes even doubling.

Finally, even though the errors were not yours, but a result of bugs in the system, you were legally liable to make up the errors, often amounting to thousands of dollars, and there was no appeal to the authority that had imposed the system on you in the first place.

That authority continued for two de-

cades to insist publicly that there were no problems at all with the system and that no one else had reported any problems, in spite of the fact that they knew full well that there were numerous problems with the system and that these problems, not the individuals using it, were the causes of the financial discrepancies for which they were charging the users with criminal offenses.

It sounds like something out of a dystopian science fiction novel.

But this was the position tens of thousands of subpostmasters in Great Britain were in when, in the early 21st century, Britain’s Post Office Limited, the branch of government that ran the post office system, “upgraded” its old paper accounting system with a much ballyhooed “state-of-the-art” online system to manage the accounting of every local post of-

fice in Britain.

The system was called Horizon and was produced by Fujitsu. The system turned out to be riddled with software errors that neither Post Office Limited nor Fujitsu would acknowledge, even though they were aware of them. Rather than doing so, they tormented, persecuted, and prosecuted subpostmasters instead of simply admitting that there were serious errors within the Horizon system and fixing those problems.

The misdeeds by Post Office Limited included withholding relevant and exculpatory documents from court proceedings when subpostmasters tried to challenge the charges against them.

The process of becoming a subpostmaster in Britain is different from becoming a local postmaster in the United States. In the U.S., local postmasters are now members of the Civil Service and are full-time employees of the U.S. Postal Service. In Britain most post offices are found in small private mom-and-pop-type shops run by private owners. Having a post office brings in additional business as well as a separate salary from Post Office Limited.

In this regard, the situation in Britain is like that in the United States in the 19th century when small storekeepers were often postmasters for much the same reasons and were also not government employees. In Britain, when the owner of a store retires or leaves the business for some other reason, the store and the post office must be purchased by any new owner with their own funds. The new owners do have to be vetted by Post

Office Limited.

The book was published in October 2021. By that time, the subpostmasters were starting to see some justice done. In April of that year the Court of Appeal quashed numerous convictions of subpostmasters.

Speaking for the Court, Lord Justice Holyroyde concluded that the actions of Post Office Limited were “so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the ‘Horizon cases’ an affront to the conscience of the court” Post Office Limited paid £58 million in compensation to subpostmasters in December 2019.

There is still the question of punishment for Post Office Limited officials who knowingly conspired to cover up their malfeasance. Paula Vennells, the Post Office chief executive during the period in question, resigned as CEO in February of 2019. She also resigned from other public facing positions she held. But the offenses of Post Office Limited officials at the highest levels seem to cry out for criminal prosecution.

The story of the “post office scandal” is a long and complex one. Investigative journalist Wallis tells it very well. He alternates chapters telling of individual subpostmasters being subjected to truly vile treatment by Post Office Limited, with chapters describing more global events in the story.

This is the story of an important episode in the history of the British postal system. Wallis makes the complex legal proceedings clear although since these took place in British courts some of the terminology will be

unfamiliar to U.S. readers. Happily, there is an excellent glossary that will help in this regard.

There is a 13-page “Who’s Who” that assists the reader in keeping track of the numerous characters that appear in the book. That this section is so long testifies to the complexity of the story. A useful timeline of important events also is included. The book has many qualities of a mystery thriller. There are villains to be sure but heroes as well. It certainly kept this reader’s attention throughout.

Reviewed by Terence Hines

NORWAY

Alliert feltpost i Norge etter den tyske kapitulasjonen 8. Mai 1945 (Allied Field Post in Norway after the German Capitulation May 8, 1945), articles com-

piled by the War and Field Post Society of Norway. 112 pages, 8¼ inches by 11¾ inches, card covers, perfect binding, Oslo, 2022. Details from the society at www.warandfieldpost.com

This book is the sixth collection of articles related to field post mail of Norway in World War II. Most of the articles are in Norwegian with a couple in English. The authors are recognized names in this field and include Bjørn Muggerud, John Torstad, Edward Proud, Egil Thomassen, Frederic Brofos, Trond Schumacher and Alec Davies, among others.

Topics addressed include “Operation Doomsday,” markings on this type of mail, British field post during the war in Norway, British and American field post offices in Oslo, handstamp markings on mails such as “By air to England” and “By Air to USA,” and related matters. There are 17 articles reproduced here.

Although it is convenient to have these articles bound together in one book, the original sources are not clearly identified. Those articles that contain bibliographic references reveal at least their authors’ citations.

Other resources are indicated for a series of appendices at the end of the monograph. These include postal circulars, some instructions from General Eisenhower for Allied POWs and citizens, and items from postal museum or government archives. A few of the reproduction pages came from faded originals. However, most of the materials are quite legible and some of the more recent articles include color illustrations.

Members of the Norwegian War and

Field Post Society receive the four quarterly issues of the journal as well as these monographs. Many of the books are also sold independently. Information about joining the society or buying copies of their monographs will be found at its website listed at the beginning.

Reviewed by Alan Warren

UNITED STATES

The Postal History of Douglas County, Kansas by Jeff Lough. 8½ inches by 11 inches, 88 pages, perfect bound.

Published by La Posta Publications, 2022. $37.95 plus $5 shipping to USA addresses, La Posta Publications, PO Box 6074, Fredericksburg VA 22403, or www.lapostapub.com.

This monograph is the fourth in the current series of focused studies by the U.S. postal history publisher La Posta. Previous works were Independent State

Mail and Confederate Use of U.S. Postage, How Secession Occurred, by Patricia Kaufmann; 19th Century American Genre Paintings: Reading Newspapers in Tavern Post Offices, by Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris; and The Postal History of St. Simons Island, Georgia, by Steve Swain.

The latest volume is a detailed discussion and listing of the post offices in Douglas County, Kansas, which is also the home of the University of Kansas. The details include the post offices that have operated in the county over the years with dates of opening/closing, name changes, and the postmasters by town.

Author Jeff Lough resides in Douglas County, but he is engaged in the study of the postal history of the entire state. He presents a short overview of the history of the state and then focuses on the postal operations in Douglas County, named for U.S. senator Stephen A. Douglas. The first chapter lists 25 pioneer post offices of the county in operation during the period from 1855 to 1861. Of these, only three survive today: Eudora, Lawrence, and Lecompton.

Each of the 10 current townships is examined with a study of the post offices in alphabetical sequence. A short history of each facility is revealed using maps, photographs, and sometimes mail with the appropriate postal markings. In many cases author Lough points out that no mail survives from some of the early offices.

Railroads were established in the 19th century that ran through Douglas County and railroad post offices (RPOs) are mentioned. One chapter is devoted to the five post offices that operate in the county today: Baldwin City, Eudora, Lawrence, Jayhawk Station, and Lecompton. Their

ZIP codes, current photographs, operating hours, and postmarks are shown.

Some 22 endnotes supplement the text. One appendix lists all of the Douglas County post offices from 1854 to 2021 together with the names of their first postmasters. Another appendix lists the towns alphabetically with the names of all of the postmasters, and the dates they were appointed, in chronological order. Post office name changes and those dates of change are included. An extensive bibliography and list of acknowledgments identify information sources.

The text is very legible, and the illustrations are nicely placed. This monograph is an example of county post office history that sets a standard for such studies. Presumably the author can use the same approach for other counties in his home state.

Reviewed by Alan Warren

UNITED STATES

The Post Offices of Maine 2022. By the Maine Philatelic Society. Hudson, Maine: Moosehead Communications, Inc. 280 pages, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, unbound and three-hole punched. $35.

It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with trends in postal history that local postal history has become a major collecting approach. “Local” can encompass collecting of a single town, a set of related towns, a county or even a full state.

For collectors of more than a single post office, a vital resource is a list of the post offices in the state of interest. Such a listing should be more than just a list of towns that have, or have had, post offices, but the dates of operation of each office as well as considerable additional information that will be important to collec-

tors.

It might seem to be an easy matter to compile a list of the post offices in a state. Couldn’t one just copy a list of town names and be done with it? No way! Town names change. There can be more than one post office in a specific town. Post office names also change and often those name changes are not recorded in any easily accessible location. Then there are stations, branches and other smaller postal locations.

All these problems confront anyone who aims to compile a complete list of post offices in a state. The Maine Philatelic Society’s new publication, an update of its 1995 Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide, surmounts all these problems.

This 280-page book’s lists are extensive and include “named post offices, named stations and branches, named rural stations and branches which are now called community post offices (CPO), named

and numbered contract stations and branches, named and numbered money order units (MOU), carrier annexes, mail processing annexes and plants, military post offices located in Maine” and “a few unofficial post offices.”

Not included are military post offices not part of the U.S. postal systems, railway post offices, private express mail, temporary special stations such as those found at stamp shows. Interestingly, specifically not included are village post offices, “a new category of contract outlet with such limited services that, despite the name, cannot be considered post offices by any standard definition.”

Each entry contains the name of the post office, the town in which it is (or was) located, a scarcity rating, the historic county and current county (county boundaries changed) where the office is/was located and the dates when the office was opened and closed, if it is no longer in operation. Finally, there is a field for notes about the office.

The book begins with a 22-page introduction that explains in detail what is and isn’t covered in the book, definition of terms and what the many abbreviations mean. Covers showing types of postmarks are shown, all in color.

Following the introduction there are two “tables.” Table one lists post offices alphabetically and runs from pages 23 to 143. Table two runs from pages 144 to 262. This table is a nice innovation. It lists post offices first by county and then by town. This allows the collector to find out all the post offices that exist or existed in a particular county and then in a specific town in that county. Thus, we find that in

the current Piscataquis County there are nine entries for the town of Brownville and in that town there were seven different named post offices.

After table 2 there are several appendices. Appendix A contains lengthy notes about specific offices too long to have been included in the tables. Appendix B describes “listings from the 1995 edition not included in the 2022 edition” and why these were eliminated.

Appendix C, only two paragraphs but still very interesting, describes the summer post office in South Chatham, New Hampshire from 1964 to 1972. This office had previously been administered as a New Hampshire post office. In 1964 in became a rural station under the control of the Fryeburg Maine post office. As such, its postmark apparently had Maine in the text even though the office was in New Hampshire. I wonder if this is the only case of mail from a post office in one state bearing a postmark from a different state.

Appendix D covers military post offices in Maine. Appendix E, “stations, which were not stations,” covers a type of station

I’d never heard of; they were “accounting mechanisms listed as stations” (p. 271). Most of these were C.O.D. stations and “all were branches of New York,” but apparently had “Maine” in their circular date stamps. To my knowledge, this is the first time such postal markings have been described. It is here that this volume breaks important new postal history ground. These stations were eliminated in 1951 “when the Post Office Department switched to a new money order system” (p. 271).

Finally, there is a valuable two-page description of the sources used to produce this volume. Since the 1995 volume, the availability of online information for postal history has greatly increased. In addition to listing traditional sources, links to these online sources are provided.

This book is a masterpiece of state postal history. The amount of time and effort that obviously went into it was extensive, to say the least. It will be a model for how any state postal history society should go about organizing a list of their state’s post offices.

Reviewed by Terence Hines

NEW BOOKS NOTED

The PLR publishes information received about new philatelic publications. For inclusion in future issues, send information about recent or upcoming publications to Scott Tiffney at stiffney@stamps.org or to 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. The descriptions of publications listed below are compiled from source material and often are directly taken from these source descriptions.

Airmail

Air Crash Mail of The World edited by Ken Sanford. USB drive, 2,000-plus pages (USB), ISBN: 0-9-39429-31-4.

Published by the American Air Mail Society, 2023. $32 in U.S., $34 to all other countries at Ken Sanford, 613 Championship Drive, Oxford, CT 06478-3128 or kaerophil@gmail.com.

This compilation is a complete revision and update of Recovered Mail by Henri Nierinck and the American Air Mail Catalogue, Sixth Edition, Vol. 1, “Interrupted Flights” section. Covers all known air crashes from which mail has been recovered and is recorded by collectors. More than 2,000 pages and 1,600 illustrations of cachets, labels, post office memos, and crash markings, many in full color. Valuations have been brought up to date, to reflect the current marketplace.

Australia

Bushranging: Crimes Against the Postal Service by Jane Comollatti. Softbound, 142 pages, 6 inches by 9 inches, ISBN: 9-78-1922727-66-4.

Published by Linellen Press, 2023. $10 at amazon.com

This work begins with the exploits of Henry Hunter (1866) and William Madden (1871), who took advantage of the isolation west of the lower Dawson River, Central Queensland, using it to successfully rob mailmen who journeyed

on horseback along the dray roads. These and others like them were pursued by teams of police officers, including SubInspector George Elliott, who eventually patrolled these byways.

This book describes the experiences of these postal “bushrangers,”, including Frank Gardiner, Frederick Ward and James Alpin MacPherson, detailing the reports of their deeds that were published in newspapers across the colonies. This true account, gleaned from historical records and the author’s family history, is a tribute to the dedication of the police in apprehending those responsible for the crimes against the postal service.

Discovering Australia’s Historical Post Offices and Red Pillar Post Boxes

by Robert Crofts and Sandra Crofts.

Softbound, 426 pages, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, ISBN:9-78-1669830-76-4.

Published by Xlibris AU, 2023. $71 at amazon.com.

The central purpose of this book is for readers to gain a better understanding of the historically important role postal services made to contemporary Australia. Specific attention is given to an appreciation of the architectural styles of the country’s historically significant postal buildings and red pillar post boxes. The book begins with a brief history of Australia’s postal services dating from the establishment of the first post office in 1809 up to the present day.

Information on significant communication strategies such as the Cobb & Co. Mail Service and the Overland Telegraph Line are also included. Furthermore, the book provides biographies of some of the more important contributors to the history and development of Australian postal services. Chapters are organized

state by state from Queensland to the Northern Territory, describing sample post offices and red pillar post boxes in each state.

Civil War

Delivered Under Fire: Absalom Markland and Freedom’s Mail by Candice Shy Hooper. Hardbound, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, 352 pages, ISBN: 9-781640124-48-6. To be published by Potomac Books, March 2023. $37 at amazon.com.

During the Civil War his movements from battlefield to battlefield were followed in the North and in the South nearly as closely as those of generals, though he was not in the military. After the war, his swift response to Ku Klux Klan violence sparked passage of a landmark civil rights law, though he was not a politician. When he died in 1888 newspapers reported his death from coast to coast, yet he’s unknown today. He was the man who delivered the most valuable ingredient in U.S. soldiers’ fighting spirit

during those terrible war years — letters between the front lines and the home front. He was Absalom Markland, special agent of the United States Post Office, and this is his first biography.

Nearly every biography of Lincoln, Sherman, and Grant includes at least one footnote about Markland, but his important, sometimes daily interaction with them during and after the war has escaped modern notice, until now. Absalom Markland is often a forgotten figure, but this upcoming work tells his amazing story.

Contracted Mail

When Bad Men Combine: The Star Route Scandal and the Twilight of Gilded Age Politics by Shawn Francis Peters. Hardbound, 376 pages, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, ISBN: 9-780807179-00-0. To be published by LSU Press, March 2023. $50 at amazon.com.

The Star Route scandal captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade,

with newspapers throughout the United States characterizing it as an unprecedented case of Gilded Age graft. This latest work provides a glimpse into this uniquely tumultuous period marked by brazen greed and duplicity. In the first book to offer a full recounting of the Star Route maelstrom, which roiled American politics during the 1870s and 1880s, the author reveals how postal service corruption resulted in a remarkable legal case that featured jury bribery and document theft. The book follows the saga to its culmination as two sensational criminal trials presented evidence implicating some of the most prominent men in America.

Forgeries & Forgers

Francesco Percivalle: Il Falsario Dei Due Mondi: Da Amantea a Buenos Aires e Ritorno (Francesco Percivalle: The Forger of Two Worlds: From Amantea to Buenos Aires and Back) by Luca Eugenio Baratta. Softbound, 128 pages, 22 centimeters by 30 cen-

timeters (8.5 inches by 11.5 inches), Italian text. Published 2022 by Associazione Filatelia Italiana Specializzata. €35 (approx. $38 U.S.) plus shipping at vaccari.it, code: 2813E.

This monograph examines in detail all the known forgeries by Francesco Percivalle, those used postally used and those unused. This account of Percivalle’s dubious works includes new details taken from actual letters of the prolific forger of Italian issues.

India

The Struggle for Dominance on the Indian Subcontinent: History and Postal History 1494-1819 by Eric Scherer. Softbound, 272 pages, 22 centimeters by 30 centimeters (8.5 inches by 11.5 inches), English and French text. Published 2022 on the occasion of Monacophil 2022. €80 (approx. $86 U.S.) plus shipping at vaccari.it, code: 2827E This new book sheds light on the history and postal history of the Indian subcontinent in the years of conquest and

struggle for dominance among European powers up to the establishment of British rule. It focuses primarily on the pre-philatelic history of India while comprising a comprehensive view of the historical developments of all the European nations and their interactions, closely tying history with postal history.

Starting with the battle of Plassey in 1757 and settling with the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the subsequent peace negotiations until around 1819, India transitioned from a multipower country to one of British rule. The British realized early on that putting up a reliable postal system was a significant means of consolidating power. They were successful in establishing post offices and postal services even in the settlements of other European nations.

The year 1819 marks the end of this period of struggle and sees Britain as the leading power in India as well as the sole provider of domestic postal services even on the territory of the remaining European powers, which were left with no political or economic importance.

The book contains many significant philatelic objects gathered from collectors all around the world. Among them there are several items from archives which have never been shown before.

Italy

1770-1850 Trentino Alto Adige Catalogo Delle Timbrature (1770-1850 Trento Region andSouth Tyrol Postmarks Catalogue), by Federico Borromeo. Hardbound, 206 pages, 22 centimeters by 30 centimeters (8.5 inches by 11.5 inches), Italian text. Published by Post Horn, 2022. €80 (approx. $86 U.S.) plus shipping at vaccari.it, code: 2819E.

This catalog of the postmarks of the

Trento and South Tyrol regions is aims to illustrate in concise form, the political and postal histories of the Trento and South Tyrol regions of northern Italy now known as Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.

The first part of the book provides detailed listings of the postmarks found on mail processed by the region’s 52 post offices. Another section delves into the mail and the complex postal history during the Napoleonic military campaigns that ravaged the area from 1796 to 1813.

A final section includes information on the region’s postal history: rates and postmarks; postal routes; the various phases of history; detailed listings of handwritten place of provenance information on the address side of the outgoing mail; free-frank handstamps accompanied by a detailed and informative listings in alphabetical order; registered mail and its auxiliary postmarks used during the various administrations with a listing in alphabetical order; and also an exhaustive listing of the various postmarks utilizing a rarity scale from very rare to very common.

Topical Collecting

Postmarked Picasso: His Paintings on Stamps by Donald D. Spencer. Hardbound, 116 pages, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, ISBN: 9-78-0764365-84-3. To be published by Schiffer, May 2023. $30 at amazon.com.

This work celebrates the artist’s bestknown and little-seen paintings, reproduced on stamps from around the world. Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved international renown and success for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, becoming one of the most recognizable figures in 20th-century art. Many countries have honored Picasso by using images of his paintings on postage stamps — the results are miniature works of art for everyone to appreciate and enjoy.

Vatican City

Classificazione Dei Francobolli Con Filigrana Lettere Della Citta’ Del Vaticano (Classification of Postage Stamps with Watermark Letters of The Vatican City), by Giovambattista

Spampinato. Softbound, 44 pages, 2nd edition, 22 centimeters by 30 centimeters (8.5 inches by 11.5 inches), Italian text. Published by Associazione Filatelia Italiana Specializzata, 2022. €10 (approx. $11 U.S.) plus shipping at vaccari.it, code: 2812E.

This catalog classifies the stamps of Vatican City from 1933, with the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI, up to 1963, including airmail issues. The author describes every characteristic in as much detail as possible, including the two types of the “crossed keys” watermark, with the relevant positions of the handle and any position different from the normal one, as well as the different height of the letters, and the side where they are positioned.

GREAT AMERICAN STAMP SHOW 2023

CLEVELAND AUGUST 10-13

Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland

Don’t miss the biggest stamp collecting show of the year!

Co-hosted by the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association, and American First Day Cover Society. Sponsored by the United States Postal Service. Featuring 100+ dealers of stamps and covers, hundreds of frames of exhibits and rarities, and can’t-miss seminars and presentations from experts in the hobby. FREE admission.

Visit www.stamps.org/GASS

PHILATELIC LITERATURE CONTRIBUTORS

As a specialized library with a collection that is comprised of roughly 90% donated materials, your charitable and thoughtful contributions of literature help the APRL to grow the size and scope of the collection for members and library patrons. This continued growth enables us to maintain the APRL as the world’s largest and most complete worldwide collection of philatelic literature. If interested in donating literature to the library, please contact us at library@stamps.org.

The following individuals and institutions made donations of philatelic literature to the American Philatelic Research Library in the fourth quarter of 2022 (OctoberDecember).

Robert M. Benninghoff, Thomas H. Bieniosek, Jay Bigalke, Andrew Boyajian, Martin P. Bratzel Jr., British North American Philatelic Society, Richard A. Colberg, Lawrence R. Cotter, Barry Cousins, Joe H. Crosby, Richard E. Drews, Stephen Ferguson, Gerald Frazier, Royal W. Gelder, Curtis E. Gidding, Wayne W. Henderson, Michael A. Hengst, Terence M. Hines, Richard Judge, Keith P. Klugman, Thomas M. Lera and Dean W. Mario.

Also, Archibald S. McKee, Ralph H. Nafziger, Eric M. Neishloss, Peter R. Newroth, Drew A. Nicholson, Lawrence K. Oliver, Arvind Rangaswamy, Dennis L. Ridings, Bruce I. Roberts, Melanie G. Rogers, Stephen B. Rohrbaugh, Robert C. Rudine, Dean Sioras, Robert M. Skirvin, Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, David Spivack, Ivo J. Steijn, Stephen T. Taylor, Darryl L. Templer, Peter Thy, United States Stamp Society, United Postal Stationery Society, David R. Warfel, Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz, Thomas F. Willer and Bernard M. Wojnowski.

What’s YOUR favorite philatelic publication? We invite PLR readers to share their favorites with fellow philatelic literature enthusiasts. The publication can be old or new, common or rare. What is important is that you deem it worthy of inclusion on your bookshelf. Please contact Susanna Mills at 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823, by e-mail smills@stamps.org, or by telephone 814-933-3803, ext. 207 with any questions or to submit your essay.

PHILATELIC LITERATURE CLEARINGHOUSE

The Clearinghouse lists philatelic literature for sale or wanted by PLR readers. The number at the beginning of each item identifies the prospective seller or buyer. The names and contact information for the sellers and buyers appear at the end of the Clearinghouse. Please write directly to the buyer or seller, not to the APRL, unless the APRL itself is the seller/buyer.

Pricing: The cost for each item is $3 per listing with a maximum of 10 listings per submission. Items selling for greater than $100 are $7 per listing. Please list only one book or periodical title per item; however, several issues of one journal or auction catalog may be listed as one item. PLR reserves the right to reject or edit any listings submitted.

ABBREVIATIONS: HB - hardbound, SB - softbound, PB - paperback, PC - photocopy, LL - loose-leaf, CB - comb bound, CC - card cover, DJ - dust jacket, w/PR- with prices realized, MO - make offer, OBO - or best offer, POR - price on request.

Send Clearinghouse listings to Scott Tiffney, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823; or email Clearinghouse@stamps.org. The deadline for each quarter’s issue is the 15th day of the first month of the quarter: January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15.

Philatelic Literature for Sale

1. The United States Postage Stamps of the 20th Century, Volume 1 1901-1922, by Max Johl. Revised and Enlarged Edition, March, 1937. Signed by the author. Eleven chapters covering the Pan-American issue of 1901 through the Pilgrim issue of 1920. Extensive Chapter 5 on Washington and Franklins. HB sound condition, minimal wear. $35

1. US Definitive Series 1922-1938 by Martin A. Armstrong. Second Edition 1980. 115 pp.Informative coverage of definitive stamps as flat plate, rotary, imperforate, coils, booklets, varieties and errors Kansas-Nebraska and Canal Zone of this period. PB Gently Used. $14

1. Linn’s United States Stamps 1922-1926 by Gary Griffith. 1997. 390 pp. Informative coverage of Definitive sheets, coils, booklets, imperforates and coil waste, Commemoratives, airmails, special delivery, special handling and postage dues issued during this period. PB Like New. $12

1. United States Savings Stamps the Postal and Treasury Savings Stamp Systems of the United States by Harry K. Charles Jr., Ph.D. 2012. 245 pp. Published by the United States Stamp Society. Extensive coverage and color illustrations of US Savings stamps. PB Like new. $14

1. U.S. Booklets and Booklet Panes, 1900-1978, Volume 1 Flat Plate Regular Issues, (Issues from 1900-1923) by Donald B. Littlefield and Sam Frank. 264 pp. plus Appendix A and B. Excellent source of identification and position of booklets produced during this period as well as plates assigned and varieties. PB Very Gently Used. $10

1. Scott Identification Guide to U.S. Stamps, Regular Issues 1847-1934, by Charles N. Micarelli. 6th Edition 2013. A major work for identification of Regular Issues from this period. PB Gently Used. $18

1. Insights into U.S. Postal History, 1855-2016 by Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz. 2016. Published by the American Philatelic Society. 234 pp. Extensive work in 13 chapters and two appendices covering short paid, dead letter office, undeliverables, forwarding, auxiliary markings, business mail and non-denominated stamp use on international mail. HB New. $25

2. The Local Posts of London, 1680-1840, with a Description of the Postmarks Used Therein by George Brumell, 2nd edition, 1971. Includes posts and their postmarks with a description of the postmarks used. HB, new. $15

2. Chicago Blue Postal Markings, 1870-1877 by Paul K. Berg, 1992. A chronologic history of the Chicago blue cancels. Includes updates and revisions to the circle date stamp (CDS). SB, like new. $15

2. The Stamp Collector’s Guidebook of Worldwide Watermarks and Perforations –From 1840 to Date by Ervin J. Felix, 1966. Excellent reference for collectors for identifying watermarks on their stamps. HB, new. $15

2. Stamped Envelope and Wrapper Specimens of the United States by Dan Undersander, 2nd edition, 2013. Excellent reference resource w/ color illustrations. SB, like new. $30

2. Roosevelt, de Gaulle and the Posts: Franco-American War Relations Viewed through their Effects on the French Postal System, 1942-1944 by D. M. Giangreco. 1987. Comprehensive narrative of the French postal system leading up to World War II. SB, like new. $5

2. The Variant Color Datestamps of Japan (1904.12.25 - 1934.06.21) by A. L. Charles. ISJP Monograph 19, 2005. Thorough study of the known VCDs for this period. SB, some cover wear. $10

2. The Shanghai Postal System: The Stamps and Postal History by Charles Dougan. APS Handbook Series, 1981. Includes illustrations and descriptions with photos of covers, stamps, cancellations etc. Excellent reference resources. HB, new. $25

2. Seychelles: Postage Stamps and Postal History by H. V. Farmer. 1955, w/DJ. Thorough account of the postal history, stamps issued and used with photos of stamps, covers, postmarks, watermarks, cancellations, etc. HB, like new. $5

2. Stamps of the Polar Worlds, 1900 to 2012 by Frank Michel. 5th edition, 2012. Worldwide listings with color illustrations and used valuations. SB, new. $10

2. U.S. Domestic Postal Card Regulations 1874 to 1885 by Robert Stendel. 2010. Includes post office rules and regulations relating to domestic usage of the second design of the U.S. postal card, S3 (UX4), S4 (UX5) and S6 (UX7) in use from October 1875 to 1885. Excellent reference resource with color illustrations. SB, like new. $20

Members Using the Clearinghouse

1. Page Berry. Contact at moffitt4@earthlink.net to inquire about availability and postage.

2. American Philatelic Research Library, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. Phone: 814-933-3803 ext. 240. Email: library@stamps.org. Shipping extra.

Using the American Philatelic Research Library

The APRL is the world’s largest — and most accessible — philatelic research library, with over 90,000 volumes and special collections housed in a state-of-the-art facility in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

The collection includes books, journals, auction catalogs, government documents, price lists, new issue announcements, show programs, copies of exhibits, and more. The collection’s coverage is worldwide and the library collects material in any language.

The library is open to the public and accessible around the world via reference, photocopying, and scanning services, and a growing online collection. Normal operating hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time. Visitors are welcome.

Subscriptions to the library’s quarterly journal, the Philatelic Literature Review, include associate membership in the APRL. Members of the American Philatelic Society are full members of the APRL.

Services & fees

Library fees help to offset the cost of providing services. There is no charge for the initial consultation and we will send you an itemized bill for fees when services are provided. Additional donations are welcome.

Book loans by mail

Full members (North American addresses only) may borrow books directly from the library.

Base fee: $10 per shipment (includes up to 15 minutes of staff time)

First book: $5

Additional books (up to 5 per shipment): $1

Photocopies or scans with a book loan: $.25 per page

Photocopies

$10 ($15 for non-members) includes up to 15 pages and 15 minutes of staff time; $.25 per page for additional pages.

Scans

$5 ($10 for non-members) for the first page; $.25 per page for additional pages.

Research assistance

After 15 minutes of staff time, research assistance is billed at $20 per hour in halfhour increments.

Robert A. Mason Digital Library

Members can access the APRL’s growing digital collection. Download, print and fulltext search journal issues, books, exhibits, maps, and digitized archival material.

Contacting the library

Search the library’s catalog and explore our collections at stamplibrary.org. To request book loans, photocopies, scans, or research assistance: library@stamps.org • 814-9333803 (press option 4)

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PHILATELIC LITERATURE REVIEW

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American Philatelic Research Library

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