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Foundations of Philately
book
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
January 31, 2023
The secret’s out, I’m a boring old stamp collector! 😊 I collect, when I can find and afford them, mint never-hinged Canadian stamps in very fine condition. (At an auction in Ontario last weekend, a lovely example of the second stamp ever issued by Canada went for $250,000.)
This is a pretty good small book covering the basics of philately. I obtained a used copy in good shape at a reasonable price from thriftbooks.com.
It has three sections. The first gives an overview of the history of stamp collecting (e.g., famous collectors and collections) and of postal services. E.g., did you know that in London in 1680 as many as ten house-to-house mail deliveries were made every day? I was surprised when reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries at how quickly mail got delivered in Victorian England.
The second section is on the practical aspects of building a collection, caring for it, and selling it if necessary. It also gives you ideas on how you can teach yourself more about philately.
The third section – which interested me most since I knew the least about it – is on the technical aspects of making stamps and processing them through the mail service. This includes various printing methods, paper types, watermarks, perforations, gums, and postal markings.
Each chapter has references for additional reading. I’d hazard to guess that anyone would learn something they didn’t know from this book. Obviously, you won’t learn about developments that occurred after 1955. On the other hand, most modern sources don’t give you detailed information about printing methods that are no longer used. It’s written in a manner I found pleasant. Plus, it’s not very long!
This is a pretty good small book covering the basics of philately. I obtained a used copy in good shape at a reasonable price from thriftbooks.com.
It has three sections. The first gives an overview of the history of stamp collecting (e.g., famous collectors and collections) and of postal services. E.g., did you know that in London in 1680 as many as ten house-to-house mail deliveries were made every day? I was surprised when reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries at how quickly mail got delivered in Victorian England.
The second section is on the practical aspects of building a collection, caring for it, and selling it if necessary. It also gives you ideas on how you can teach yourself more about philately.
The third section – which interested me most since I knew the least about it – is on the technical aspects of making stamps and processing them through the mail service. This includes various printing methods, paper types, watermarks, perforations, gums, and postal markings.
Each chapter has references for additional reading. I’d hazard to guess that anyone would learn something they didn’t know from this book. Obviously, you won’t learn about developments that occurred after 1955. On the other hand, most modern sources don’t give you detailed information about printing methods that are no longer used. It’s written in a manner I found pleasant. Plus, it’s not very long!
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review