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Chats on Postage Stamps Books for Collectors - ,'*^Jt • J^- :t^% ^^ T-'vi'r -'^^*' ~^. '-i:-' '""'-^'^ 3-^? ?^ 'v^ .org/details/chatsonpostagestOOmelvrich CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS With Coloured Frontispieces and many Illustrations, Large Crown 8vo, cloth. CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON OLD PRINTS. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON COSTUME. By G. Woolliscroft Rhead. CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK. By E. L. Lowes. CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA. By J. F. Blacker. CHATS ON MINIATURES. By J. J. Foster. CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE. By Arthur Hayden. (Companion Volume to •* Chats on English China.") CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS. By A. M. Broadley. CHATS ON OLD PEWTER. By H. J. L. J. Masse, M.A. CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS. By Fred J. Melville. • Chats on Postage Stamps BY FRED J. MELVILLE PRESIDENT OF THE JUNIOR PHILATELIC SOCIETY WITH SEVENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS {All rights reserved.) PREFACE Come and chat in my stamp-den, that I may encircle you with fine-spun webs of curious and rare interest, and bind you for ever to Philately, by which name we designate the love of stamps. The " den " pre- sents no features which would at first sight differen- tiate it from a snug well-filled library, but a close inspection will reveal that many of the books are not the products of Paternoster Row or of Grub Street. Yet in these stamp-albums we shall read, if you will have the kindness to be patient, many things which are writ upon the postage-stamps of all nations, as in a world of books. It is not given to all collectors to know their postage-stamps. There is the collector who merely accumulates specimens without studying them. He has eyes, but he does not see more than that this stamp is red and that one is blue. He has ears, but they only hear that this stamp cost £1^000, and that this other can be purchased wholesale at sixpence the dozen. What shall it profit him if he collect many stamps, but never discover their significance as factors in the rapid spread of civilisation in the 242373 8 PREFACE nineteenth and twentieth centuries ? The true student of stamps will extract from them all that they have to teach ; he will read from them the development of arts and manufactures, social, com- mercial and political progress, and the rise and fall of nations. To the young student our pleasant pastime of stamp-collecting has to offer an encouragement to habits of method and order, for without these collecting can be productive of but little pleasure or satisfaction. It will train him to be ever observant of the minuticB that matter, and it will broaden his outlook as he surveys his stamps "from China to Peru." The present volume is not intended as a complete guide to the postage-stamps of the world ; it is rather a companion volume to the standard catalogues and numerous primers already available to the collector. It has been my endeavour to indicate what counts in modern collecting, and to emphasise those features of the higher Philately of to-day which have not yet been fully comprehended by the average collector. Some of my readers may consider that I have unduly appraised the value in a stamp collection of pairs and blocks, proofs and essays, of documental matter, and also that too much has been demanded in the matter of condition. But all these things are of greater importance than is realised by even the majority of members of the philatelic societies. Condition in particular is a factor which, if dis- regarded, will not only result in the formation of an unsatisfactory collection, but will lessen, if not PREFACE 9 ruin, the collection as an investment. It has been thought that as time passed on the exacting require- ments of condition would have to be relaxed through the gradual absorption of fine copies of old stamps in great collections. The effect has, however, been simply to raise the prices of old stamps in perfect condition. It may be taken as a general precept that a stamp in fine condition at a high price is a far better investment than a stamp in poor condition at any price. In preparing the illustrations for this volume I am indebted to several collectors and dealers, chiefly to Mr. W. H. Peckitt, who has lent me some of the fine items from the "Avery" collection, to Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., whose name is as a household word to stamp-collectors all over the world, and to Messrs. Charles Nissen, D. Field, and Herbert F. Johnson. I should also be omitting a very important duty if I failed to acknowledge the general readiness of collectors, and especially of my colleagues the members of the Junior Philatelic Society both at home and abroad, in keeping me constantly au courant with new information connected with the pursuit of Philately. Without such assistance in the past, this work, and the score of others which have come from my pen, could never have been undertaken ; and perhaps the best token of my appreciation of so many kindnesses will be to beg (as I now do) the favour of their continuance in the future. FRED J. MELVILLE. — —A CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE . .7 PHILATELIC TERMS . .21 CHAPTER I THE GENESIS OF THE POST . -55 The earliest letter-carriers—The Roman posita—Princely Postmasters of Thurn and Taxis—Sir Brian Tuke—Hobson of **Hobson's Choice "—The General Letter Office of England—Dockwra's Penny Post of 1680—Povey's •' Half- " penny Carriage —The Edinburgh and other Penny Posts Postal rates before 1840—Uniform Penny Postage—The Postage Stamp regarded as the royal diplomata—The growth of the postal business. CHAPTER n THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA . -77 Early instances of contrivances to denote prepayment of postage—The '* Tyio-Sous " Post Billets de port pay^— passage of wit between the French Sappho and M. Pellisson —Dockwra's letter-marks—Some fabulous stamped wrappers of the Dutch Indies—Letter-sheets used in Sardinia—Lieut. Treffenberg's proposals for '* Postage Charts " in Sweden The postage-stamp idea "in the air"—Early British re- formers and their proposals—The Lords of the Treasury start a competition—Mr. Cheverton's prize plan—A find of papers 11 —— 12 CONTENTS PAGE relating to the contest—A square inch of gummed paper The Sydney embossed envelopes—The Mulready envelope The Parliamentary envelopes—The adhesive stamp popularly preferred to the Mulready envelope. CHAPTER III SOME EARLY PIONEERS OF PHILATELY . .113 " Hobbyhorsical " collections—The application of the term *' Foreign Stamp Collecting"—The Stamp Exchange in Birchin Lane — A celebrated lady stamp-dealer — The Saturday rendezvous at the All Hallows Staining Rectory —Prominent collectors of the first period—The first stamp catalogues — The words Philately and Timbrolo^e — Philatelic periodicals—^Justin Lallier's albums- The Phi- latelic Society, London. CHAPTER IV ON FORMING A COLLECTION . -133 The cost of packet collections—The beginner's album Accessories—Preparation of stamps for mounting — The requirements of " condition "—The use of the stamp-hinge —A suggestion for the ideal mount—A handy gauge for use in arranging stamps—" Writing-up."- CHAPTER V THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION . -151 The historical collection : literary and philatelic—The quest " " for rariora—The grangerising of philatelic monographs : its advantages and possibilities—Historic documents—Pro- posals and essays—Original drawings—Sources of stamp- engravings—Proofs and trials—Comparative rarity of some stamps in pairs, &c., or on original envelopes—Coloured postmarks—Portraits, maps, 'and contemporary records A lost opportunity. — CONTENTS 13 CHAPTER VI PAGE ON LIMITING A COLLECTION . -197 The difficulties of a general collection—The unconscious trend to specialism—Technical limitations : Modes of pro- duction ; Printers—Geographical groupings : Europe and divisions—Suggested groupings of British Colonies—United States, Protectorates and Spheres of Influence—Islands of the Pacific — The financial side of the "great" philatelic ceuntries. CHAPTER VII STAMP-COLLECTING AS AN INVESTMENT . 209 The collector, the dealer, and the combination—The factor of expense—Natural rise of cost—Past possibilities in British "Collector's Consols," in Barbados, in British Guiana, in Canada, in "Capes" — Modern speculations: Cayman Islands—Further investments : Ceylon, Cyprus, Fiji Times Express, Gambia, India, Labuan, West Indies—The " Post Office " Mauritius—The early Nevis, British North America, Sydney Views, New Zealand—Provisionals : bond fide and speculative—Some notable appreciations—" Booms." CHAPTER VIII FORGERIES, FAKES, AND FANCIES . 237 Early counterfeits— and their exposers The "honest" facsimile "Album Weeds"—Forgeries classified—Frauds on the British Post Office—Forgeries "paying" postage The One Rupee, India—Fraudulent alteration of values The British los. and £\ "Anchor"—A too-clever "fake" —^Joined pairs—Drastic tests—New South Wales "Views" and "Registered"—The Swiss Cantonals — Government " imitations "—" Bogus " stamps. 14 CONTENTS CHAPTER IX PAGE FAMOUS COLLECTIONS . , . 261 The "mania" in the 'sixties—Some wonderful early collec- tions—The first auction sale — Judge Philbrick and his collection—The Image collection—Lord Crawford's "United States" and '* Great Britain"—Other great modern collec- " tions—M. la Renotiere's " legions of stamps —Synopsis 01 sales of collections. CHAPTER X ROYAL AND NATIONAL COLLECTIONS . 303 The late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a collector—King George's stamps : Great Britain, Mauritius, British Guiana, " Barbados, Nevis—The " King of Spain Reprints —The late Grand Duke Alexis Michaelovitch—Prince Doria Pamphilj —The "Tapling" Collection—The Berlin Postal Museum —The late Duke of Leinster's bequest to Ireland—Mr. Worthington's promised gift to the United States. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 333 INDEX . .351 . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT PAGE Perforation Gauge .
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