>^ ^ •#'-^* %^-: '^ 7 '^:v V. -r- ^1- >h^ -'#^ >-..->«« / ->r H* " ^^. .^'. J r>3^- ii^!i^ ^-.y%-y *^^i^ w-S. :J THE POSTAGE STAMPS, ^nfelopfs, Mx^pxs, §asi Carbs/anb Cfleigraplj Stamps, THE BRITISH COLONIES IN THE WEST INDIES. TOG(ETHEE WITH BRITISH HONDURAS AND THE COLONIES IN SOUTH AMERICA. Jiffllitf) Wi)ixi}}=i\iiO Sijfrts of autotppc EKiistrationis. COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY THE PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDON. (All Eir/lds Eeserved.) LONDON, 1891. S6S 5 Copy... 0599E 20 D: 5^ PREFACE H h] Reference Lists of the Stamps of the various West Indian and other Colonies T comprised in the present work were revised and completed (so far as was possible at that time) by the Philatelic Society of London more than twelve months ago. Various circumstances have combined to induce the Committee appointed to superintend their publication to postpone the actual production of the work. The Society had recently received from Mr. Basset HuU, the manuscript of his elaborate treatise upon the stamps of Tasmania, and it was thought best to at once revise and publish his catalogue in priority to the West Indies lists, although the latter were immediately in hand at the time. The labour and expense necessary to the production of the " autotype " illustrations of the one Catalogue, would alone have occasioned delay in proceeding with the other, but this was not the only reason which has compelled the Committee to ask for some indulgence at the hands of the Society and the Philatelic public. l^one but those who have worked, and been in constant intercourse, with the late Vice-President of the Society, Mr. Thomas K. Tapling, can at aU appreciate how severe was the blow dealt, how essential the prop displaced, by his untimely death in the zenith of his career of useful labour in the pursuit of Philately. Within com- paratively but a few days of his death he was actively engaged in the final revision of the British Guiana reference list, and in elucidating the details and difficulties attaching to that Colony, which, even after the careful work of the Society, still presented themselves to the Committee. It was natural, and the Committee feel that but little apology is due for such a result, that the loss of so valuable a coadjutor, whose hand had been a master hand in this as in previous works of the Society, should delay the production of so important a treatise. The invaluable assistance rendered under the critical circumstances above referred to by the late Secretary to the Society, Mr. E. D. Bacon, deserves grateful acknowledgment by his colleagues on the Committee. His careful and untiring labours cannot be too highly appreciated, and the short " Preliminary Ifotes " from his pen, introductory to the reference list of each Colony, together with the unique example of elaborate research displayed in his Paper on the Stamps of British Guiana, must alone tend to render the present work acceptable and noteworthy amongst Philatelic publications. The method of illustration by the " autotype" process has again been adopted, and it is hoped to some extent with satisfactory results. It is obviously not equally suitable in aU cases, but it must be acknowledged that the method of reproduction, by what is practically a system of photography, of the actual stamp, is preferable to the very best illu.stration by engraving, which can only purport to depict a copy, however exact, of the original design. The majority of the stamps so I'eproduced in illustration of these lists have been, as on former occasions, lent for the purpose by the late Mr. Tapling. It may be observed, that in all cases where, throughout the following pages, dates are assigned to any issues of stamps at variance with those long recognised and accepted in former Catalogues or Philatelic literature, the grounds and authorities, on which the Society base their present information, will invariably be found in Mr. E. D. Bacon's " Preliminary Notes." When describing postcards, it should be noted that the term lic/Jit Imff is employed when the card is of a brownish hue, but the word straiv is used in contra- distinction when the card is of a lighter shade. There remains only to add that the lists wiU be found completed down to the end of 1890. DOUGLAS GARTH, Secretari/, Phil. Soc, London. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. T Top. B. Bottom. R. Right. L. Left. C. Cent or cents. d. Penny or pence. s. Shilling or shillings $ Dollar or dollars. £ Pound. Perf. Perforated. in. Inches. Mm. Millim6tre.s. ANTIGUA. PRELIMINARY NOTES. By E. D. BACOA. Beeoee making a few remarks upon the stamps of Antigua, I wish to saj' how much I am indebted to Messrs. Perkins Bacon and Co., Limited, for the information they have furnished me with, not only concerning the stamps of this Colonj^ but also respecting those of all the other islands of the British West Indies printed by their companj-. I feel under a special obligation to Mr. James D. Heath, the Managing Director, and Mr. Alfred Bacon, the Secretary, for the trouble they have constantly taken, searching through old account books, letters, &c., in order to procure me as full and complete replies as possible, to the various lists of questions I have handed them at different times. I tender these gentlemen my sincere thanks for their kindness, and I acknowledge with gratitude the invariable courtesy I have met with from all the other officers of the company I have come in contact with. Antigua has never possessed an Official Gazette, but Government notices are now published in The Gazette of the Leeward Islands, together with those relating to the other five Colonies composing that group. As the latter publication gives no postal information peculiar to the various islands, I am unable to give anj- particulars of the stamps of Antigua from that source. The plates of the one penny and six pence, constructed by Messrs. Perkins Bacon and Co., were of steel, and each contained 120 stamps, arranged in ten horizontal rows of twelve. These plates were handed over to the Crown ^.gents on the 23rd November, 1871, and afterwards given to Messrs. De la Riie and Co., who have since printed all further stamps required by the Colony. Proof impressions in black upon white card, struck from the engraved dies of the one penny and six pence are known. It is most probable that the six pence was issued some months earlier than the one penny, as the first supply of the former value was forwarded on July 1st, 1862, while the first consignment of the latter was only despatched on December 12th of that year. A note in one of Messrs. Perkins Bacon and Co.'s books states, that the first supply of the six pence printed in June, 1862, was upon plain paper, that with star tvatermarJc being used for the first time on November 7th in the same year. — A.WIGUA. REFERENCE LIST OF THE PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDOX. Issue I. 1862. One value. Printed in taille-douce, by Messrs. Perkins Bacon and Co., of London. Coloured impression on medium white wove unwatermarked paper. Yellowish gum. macliine perforated 15. Design : Diademed profile of Queen Victoria, to left. Above and below are straight labels of solid colour, which do not reach to the sides of the stamp, inscribed with the name of the Colony and the value in words, in white block letters. The background of the stamp is composed of nine vertical bands of reticu- lations in which two patterns alternate. Two plain coloured lines compose the border and complete the design. Shape, upright rectangular. (lUustration 1.) T. " AUTIQUA." B. " SIX PENCE." 6d., deep green. Issue II. January (?), 1863. Two values. Printed in iailh douce, by Messrs. Perkins Bacon and Co., of London. Coloured impression on white wove paper varying much in substance, watermarked with a six-rayed star. Yellowish gum. Both values are of the same design, which is that of issue I. (IllustraHon 1.) T. "ANTIGUA." B. " ONE PENNY." "SIXPENCE." A. Imperforate. Id., lilac-rose. 6d., yellow-green. B. Machine im-forated 14, 14^, 1.^, 1-5^ co7npou>id. Id., lilac-rose, rose, orange-vemiihon (shades of each). 6d., deep green, yellow-green (shades of each). C. Imjjerforate vertically. Id., orange-vermilion. Itemarks. —Unsevered pairs of the one penny and six pence imperforate, are known. In 1874 some correspondence took place in the columns of the Stamp Collector's Magazine, pages 63, 95, and 110, as to certain varieties of watermark that had been noticed in the early issues of Antigua. It appears that the first watermarked stamps had the " star " with one point up, and that during the issue of the one penny in orange-vermilion, the paper was watermarked with a star with two points up. Except for enabling a collector to determine the approximate date of a particular specimen, the fact appears to be of small importance. Tlie theory of " A London Collector," that there were two plates used for watermarking the paper, or that the " stars" were turned when the plates were cleaned, was conclusivel}' disproved by " A Parisian Collector," who shewed (page \\\) thai plates are never used for water- marking paper. He remarks, " the presence of a watermark in the paper is simply due to a design worked into the web of the wire network over which the pulp passes, or on which it spreads itself when in a liquid state." It is possible that there may have been two such wire frames emplo)'ed, but, in any case, these varieties, while deserving perhaps of passing mention, do not appear to the Society to be more wortli cataloguing than the numerous varieties of inverted watermarks, etc., which m.ny be found in many other countries.