The Complete Illustrated Guide to Stamp Collecting

by Dr. Mackay

Everything you need to know about the world's favourite hobby and the many ways to build a collection * Featuring expert advice, vivid examples, famous issues and over 500 images of stamps from around the world.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2006

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting, and there were things that I liked. It gave good examples of themes you could start to save on, and I enjoyed the many examples of different stamps - each telling a story. I picked up several fun facts which aren't useful for much except as random trivia, but I enjoy trivia.

As far as it being a good guide for beginners, I would say that the author still assumes a baseline level of knowledge that a noob wouldn't have. Definitions of philatelic terms and made in a host of other terms that I didn't know. There's a glossary, but to look up several terms so that I'd understand the definition of yet another term was asking for more commitment than I was willing to give to a flight of curiosity.

Undoubtedly, if you are truly interested in beginning this hobby, I'm sure this would be a good read, though I still feel he went heavy on some less relevant topics and glossed over what would be more essential to a beginner. But for a passing interest, there are probably other books more generalized and easier to read.

[Yycdaisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book but not really for beginners. The author shows how to make beautiful displays and has many inspiring ideas. Lots of trivia as well.