What's in your Library?

Sotheby's Auction Catalogue, October 1982
Postage Stamps of the Cape of Good Hope
The Collection Formed by Sir Maxwell Joseph

A repeat shout-out of thanks to Vince (stanley64), whose good thinking helped me to get in touch with COGH Triangle expert Richard Debney (NY, USA).  In private correspondence with Richard, he told me that the two most important references to have for COGH Triangles are the Stevenson book from 1950, which I already had thanks to Morten (classicalstamps), and this Sotheby's Auction Catalogue from 1982.

So, I had a look around, and I found several copies available on eBay.  Prices ranged from about USD $15.00-50.00.  I bought this copy at the low end of the price range, and I wish I had gone for a bit better one.  When it arrived, the hardback book was in very good condition, in fact, probably not even opened in years, if ever.  The problem was that it had a musty odor.  So, I found an online video which suggested putting the book into a Ziploc-type bag with some baking soda and placing it in the freezer for a week.

The idea is that the cold temperature will kill any active mold or mildew, and the baking soda will absorb the musty odor.  I am pleased to report that the salvage operation seems to have worked, and the book is now on my reference shelf.  It has some excellent photos showing color shade varieties of the COGH Triangles, like the example shown below which has the SG19 De La Rue 4-Pence varieties, including the elusive SG19b Slate Blue.

I have not yet fully explored all of what is in here, but it looks an excellent reference for telling Perkins Bacon printings from De La Rue, as well as for distinguishing various color shades and varieties.

Received today- accompanied with a perf gauge and a 125 anniversary stock book  ( no surprise stamps.... I already looked.  A nice large tome! Images of early stamps (in color) that are larger than actual stamps (at last- a book for old eyes!!!)  and additional detail on Types I have not previously seen!

and it does start with the first issues... not 1896!

The latest additions to my library




Not new, but rather an update to the Afinsa Portugal and Portuguese Colonies catalogs that I had.  Now under Mundifil's publication, the catalogs seem to be more extensive, and better organized (all varieties now have unique catalog numbers whereas before Afinsa just listed the varieties and priced them but did not give a unique number. Took a month to arrive from Lisbon via registered mail, but they got here safe and sound.

Now I should start thinking about putting up my older editions of the Afinsa and the Isfila Turkey I've replaced for sale.

I bumped into this book on eBay recently while searching for something totally different. It sounded really interesting from the description so I ordered a copy hoping it might answer some questions about the Royal collection from a personal standpoint. The Collection of course has been catalogued and updated endlessly but those references are typically dry and bereft of the human story which is usually messy and always interesting.

A softcover copy arrived last week and it's been in the bathroom ever since (guaranteeing a serious read). What a wonderful book it turned out to be. I assume some members are already familiar with this it having been first printed in 2010 by "The British Postal Museum Archive". I hope I'm not repeating a thread that's already been explored (searched but couldn't find one)?

The book is a depth of information, photos, and behind the scenes intrigue that's had me glued to the pages. It correlates the dry data about the stamps themselves that I'm already familiar with but then puts a face on the back story.

The last Philatelic novel that excited me as much was "Nassau Street" by Herman Herst, Jr. back in the 60s. I used to read it in bed at night with a flashlight dreaming what it must have been like to find a 55 gallon drum full of Columbians etc. etc. etc. drool... drool.... A very fun read.

I personally recommend both of these books. Anyone collecting King George V material will find a wealth of information here regarding the Issues that bore his Face.

Anyone wishing a peek into some unbelievable philatelic voyeurism will enjoy Nassau Street.

Rob

P.S. I scanned my own copy of the KGV but copied the Nassau cover from one of the books available on eBay (I couldn't find my original copy tonight but it looks just like this one from 1960).

My current reading. “Stamps: their lure and lore” by Ken Conoley.  Started it a few years ago when the husband of an old friend gave it to me. Lost it in our move. It surfaced the other day during a search for documents. I’m really enjoying the stories in it! 😄

Hi daniel,

This book has been on my radar for a couple of weeks. Thank you for highlighting it. Do you own this book? Has it been useful?

I did a little research on it and found an interesting reference in Wikipedia when searching on: "John Easton Philatelist" as follows:

"John Easton's re-working of Melville's Postage Stamps in the Making, however, has been criticised for containing serious errors in describing processes.
From a Presentation by Dr Geoffrey Eibl-Kaye FRPSL to The Royal Philatelic Society London 13 November 2008. Archived 22 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine."

I'm not sure what the errors being referred to are, they could be hair splitting or they could be egregious. In any case I like this author very much for his "British Postage Stamp Design" book.

He has another book that interests me: The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855 to 1901, Faber & Faber for the Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1958.

Rob

Hi Daniel,
 Thank you for the update. I'll put this one on the back burner for awhile. I'm more interested in his stamp specific work than the actual printing process. I'm buried in books to read, I read often and I'm a sucker for something new and interesting (history or philately) at the drop of a hat. Excitement is always around the corner in books and stamps from my perspective.

I won't read everything I want to before I pass but I'll be reading until I can't...

Rob

The other catalog to arrive was a new 2021 edition of the Sassone Specialized. I already had a volume 1, but never picked up volume 2, so decided to update the first when I got the second.



Volume 1 covers Italy to the end of the Monarchy in early 1946, plus Italian Colonies & Offices, and the issues of Trieste and Venezia-Giulia post-World War II.

Some Images from volume 1 



Still have two catalogs in the system waiting to be delivered - specialized catalogs for Slovenia and Thailand are on the way.

I am more a generalist so have not been drawn to specialist books on stamps. I do have these 2 treasures from my father's library though. The Nova Scotia Post by J.J. MacDonald is an important publication and this hardcover edition was limited to 100 signed copies. It was published in 1985. The Holmes's Specialized has lots of detail information on Canada and British North America and covers up to 1962. 

I really like it, even just having it on the book shelf. Sometimes these old catalogs have information that the new ones don't.
Don't throw it in the trash, please. He is like a family member.

A few of my recent arrivals: