[CONTENTS]

PAGE
[PREFACE][7]
[PHILATELIC TERMS][21]
[CHAPTER I]
THE GENESIS OF THE POST[55]
The earliest letter-carriers—The Roman posita—PrincelyPostmasters of Thurn and Taxis—Sir Brian Tuke—Hobsonof "Hobson's Choice"—The General Letter Office ofEngland—Dockwra's Penny Post of 1680—Povey's "HalfpennyCarriage"—The Edinburgh and other Penny Posts—Postalrates before 1840—Uniform Penny Postage—ThePostage Stamp regarded as the royal diplomata—The growthof the postal business.
[CHAPTER II]
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA[77]
Early instances of contrivances to denote prepayment ofpostage—The "Two-Sous" Post—Billets de port payé—Apassage of wit between the French Sappho and M. Pellisson—Dockwra'sletter-marks—Some fabulous stamped wrappersof the Dutch Indies—Letter-sheets used in Sardinia—Lieut.Treffenberg's proposals for "Postage Charts" in Sweden—Thepostage-stamp idea "in the air"—Early British reformersand their proposals—The Lords of the Treasury starta competition—Mr. Cheverton's prize plan—A find of papersrelating to the contest—A square inch of gummed paper—TheSydney embossed envelopes—The Mulready envelope—TheParliamentary envelopes—The adhesive stamp popularlypreferred 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 inBirchin Lane—A celebrated lady stamp-dealer—TheSaturday rendezvous at the All Hallows Staining Rectory—Prominentcollectors of the first period—The first stampcatalogues—The words Philately and Timbrologie—Philatelicperiodicals—Justin Lallier's albums—The PhilatelicSociety, London.
[CHAPTER IV]
ON FORMING A COLLECTION[133]
The cost of packet collections—The beginner's album—Accessories—Preparationof stamps for mounting—Therequirements of "condition"—The use of the stamp-hinge—Asuggestion for the ideal mount—A handy gauge for usein arranging stamps—"Writing-up."
[CHAPTER V]
THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION[151]
The historical collection: literary and philatelic—The questfor rariora—The "grangerising" of philatelic monographs:its advantages and possibilities—Historic documents—Proposalsand essays—Original drawings—Sources of stamp-engravings—Proofsand trials—Comparative rarity of somestamps in pairs, &c., or on original envelopes—Colouredpostmarks—Portraits, maps, and contemporary records—Alost opportunity.
[CHAPTER VI]
ON LIMITING A COLLECTION[197]
The difficulties of a general collection—The unconscioustrend to specialism—Technical limitations: Modes of production;Printers—Geographical groupings: Europe anddivisions—Suggested groupings of British Colonies—UnitedStates, Protectorates and Spheres of Influence—Islands ofthe Pacific—The financial side of the "great" philateliccountries.
[CHAPTER VII]
STAMP-COLLECTING AS AN INVESTMENT[209]
The collector, the dealer, and the combination—The factorof expense—Natural rise of cost—Past possibilities in British"Collector's Consols," in Barbados, in British Guiana, inCanada, in "Capes"—Modern speculations: CaymanIslands—Further investments: Ceylon, Cyprus, Fiji TimesExpress, Gambia, India, Labuan, West Indies—The "PostOffice" Mauritius—The early Nevis, British North America,Sydney Views, New Zealand—Provisionals: bonâ fide andspeculative—Some notable appreciations—"Booms."
[CHAPTER VIII]
FORGERIES, FAKES, AND FANCIES[237]
Early counterfeits and their exposers—The "honest"facsimile—"Album Weeds"—Forgeries classified—Fraudson the British Post Office—Forgeries "paying" postage—TheOne Rupee, India—Fraudulent alteration of values—TheBritish 10s. and £1 "Anchor"—A too-clever "fake"—Joinedpairs—Drastic tests—New South Wales "Views"and "Registered"—The Swiss Cantonals—Government"imitations"—"Bogus" stamps.
[CHAPTER IX]
FAMOUS COLLECTIONS[261]
The "mania" in the 'sixties—Some wonderful early collections—Thefirst auction sale—Judge Philbrick and hiscollection—The Image collection—Lord Crawford's "UnitedStates" and "Great Britain"—Other great modern collections—M.la Rénotière's "legions of stamps"—Synopsis ofsales of collections.
[CHAPTER X]
ROYAL AND NATIONAL COLLECTIONS[303]
The late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a collector—KingGeorge's stamps: Great Britain, Mauritius, British Guiana,Barbados, Nevis—The "King of Spain Reprints"—The lateGrand Duke Alexis Michaelovitch—Prince Doria Pamphilj—The"Tapling" Collection—The Berlin Postal Museum—Thelate 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[43]
The Commemorative Letter Balance designed by Mr. S. King, of Bath (1840). A monument "which may be possessed by every family in the United Kingdom"[72]
Mr. King's Letter Balance had a tripod base, as in the uppermost figure, thus affording three tablets on which the associations of J. Palmer, Rowland Hill, and Queen Victoria with postal reform are recorded[73]
A Facsimile of the Address Side of a Penny Post Letter in 1686, showing the "Peny Post Payd" mark instituted by Dockwra and continued by the Government authorities[83]
Facsimile of the Contents of the Penny Post Letter of 1686[84]
The Official Notification of December 3, 1818, relating to the use of the Sardinian Letter Sheets. Described in the records of the Schroeder collection as "the oldest official notification of any country in the world relating to postage-stamps"[86]
(Continuation from previous page.) The models show the devices for the three denominations: 15, 25, and 50 centesimi respectively[87]
Proof of the Mulready Envelope, signed by Rowland Hill. (From the "Peacock" Papers)[111]
Gauge for Arranging Stamps in a Blank Album[144]
Autograph Letter from Rowland Hill to John Dickinson, the paper-maker, asking for six or eight sheets of the silk-thread paper for trial impressions of the adhesive stamps[164]
Original Sketch for the "Canoe" Type of Fiji Stamps[169]
A Postal Memento of New Zealand's "Universal Penny Postage," January 1, 1901[190]
The First Postage Stamp of the present reign, together with the Post Office notice concerning its issue on November 4, 1910[193]
The Official Notice of the Issue of the New Stamps of Great Britain for the reign of King George V.[195]

LIST OF PLATES

Sir Rowland Hill. (From the painting by J. A. Vinter, R.A., in the National Portrait Gallery)[Frontispiece]
Examples of some Philatelic Terms:—A Pair of Great Britain embossed Sixpence.—A Pair of Cape of Good Hope Triangular Shilling.—A Block of four Great Britain Penny Red.—A Strip of three Grenada "4d." on Two Shillings[25]
Examples of some Philatelic Terms:—The figures "201" indicate the Plate Number, and "238" the Current Number. The Plate Number is also on each of these stamps in microscopic numerals.—Corner pair showing Current Number "575" in margin.—Corner pair showing Plate Number "15" in margin. The Plate Number is also seen in small figures on each stamp.—The above stamps are those of Great Britain overprinted for use in Cyprus[29]
Examples of some Philatelic Terms:—A sheet of stamps of Gambia, composed of two Panes of sixty stamps each.—The single "Crown and CA" watermark, as it appears looking from the back of the Gambia sheet illustrated above. The watermark is arranged in panes to coincide with the impressions from the plate[33]
Examples of some Philatelic Terms:—A "Bisect," or "Bisected Provisional." The One Penny stamp of Jamaica was in 1861 permitted to be cut in halves diagonally, and each half used as a halfpenny stamp[37]
Examples of some Philatelic Terms:—Photograph of a flat steel die engraved in taille douce (i.e., with the lines of the design cut into the plate). The stamp is the 50 lepta of Greece, issue of 1901, showing Hermes adapted from the Mercury of Giovanni da Bologna[51]
Scarce Pamphlet (first page) in which William Dockwra announces the Penny Post of 1680[65]
A Post Office in 1790[69]
Sardinian Letter Sheet of 1818: 15 centesimi.—The 25 centesimi Letter Sheet of Sardinia. Issued in Sardinia, 1818; the earliest use of Letter Sheets with embossed stamps[89]
The highest denomination, 50 centesimi, of the Sardinian Letter Sheets.—One of the temporary envelopes issued for the use of members of the House of Lords, prior to the issue of stamps and covers to the public, 1840[93]
The "James Chalmers" Essay.—Rough sketches in water-colours submitted by Rowland Hill to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the first postage stamps[99]
Hitherto unpublished examples of the proposals submitted to the Lords of the Treasury in 1839 in competition for prizes offered in connection with the Penny Postage plan. (From the Author's Collection)[103]
The address side of the model letter which has the stamp (shown below) affixed to the back as a seal.—Another of the unpublished essays submitted in the competition of 1839 for the Penny Postage plan. (From the Author's Collection)[107]
A Postage Stamp "Chart"—one of the early forms of stamp-collecting[119]
The small "experimental" plate from which impressions of the Two Pence, Great Britain, were made on "Dickinson" paper. Only two rows of four stamps were impressed on each piece of the paper. (Cf. [next plate])[157]
The Two Pence, Great Britain, on "Dickinson" paper. The upper block is in red (24 stamps printed in all, of which nine copies are known), and the lower block in blue (16 stamps printed, of which twelve copies are known). The above blocks of six each are in the possession of Mr. Lewis Evans; the pairs cut from the left side of each block were in the collection of the late Mrs. John Evans[161]
One of the rough pencil sketches by W. Mulready, R.A., for the envelope. The "flying" figures are not shown in this sketch[165]
Engraver's proof of the Queen's head die for the first adhesive postage stamps, with note in the handwriting of Edward Henry Corbould attributing the engraving to Frederick Heath[173]
An exceptional block of twenty unused One Penny black stamps, lettered "V R" in the upper corners for official use. (From the collection of the late Sir William Avery, Bart.)[177]
An envelope bearing the rare stamp issued in 1846 by the Postmaster of Millbury, Massachusetts.—One of the stamps issued by the Postmaster of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the Civil War, 1861[181]
Another of the Confederate States rarities issued by the Postmaster of Goliad, Texas.—The stamp issued by the Postmaster of Livingston, Alabama. (From the "Avery" Collection)[183]
The One Penny "Post Office" Mauritius on the original letter-cover. (From the "Duveen" Collection)[187]
A roughly printed card showing the designs and colours for the Unified "Postage and Revenue" stamps of Great Britain, 1884[191]
The King's copy of the Two Pence "Post Office" Mauritius stamp.—The magnificent unused copies of the One Penny and Two Pence "Post Office" Mauritius stamps acquired by Henry J. Duveen, Esq., out of the collection formed by the late Sir William Avery, Bart.[225]
The famous "Stock Exchange" Forgery of the One Shilling green stamp of Great Britain.—A Genuine "Plate 6."—One specimen was used on October 31, 1872, and the other on June 13 of the next year. The enlargements betray trifling differences in the details of the design, as compared with the genuine stamp above[245]
The unique envelope of Annapolis (Maryland, U.S.A.) in Lord Crawford's collection of stamps of the United States[279]
Part sheet (175 stamps) of the ordinary One Penny black stamp of Great Britain, 1840. (From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T.)[283]
Nearly a complete sheet (219 stamps out of 240) of the highly valued One Penny black "V R" stamp, intended for official use. (From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T.)[285]
Part sheet (lacking but six horizontal rows) of the scarce Two Pence blue stamp "without white lines" issued in Great Britain, 1840. (From the collection of the Earl of Crawford, K.T.)[287]
The unique block of the "double Geneva" stamp, the rarest of the Swiss "Cantonals." (Formerly in the "Avery" Collection, now in the possession of Henry J. Duveen, Esq.)[291]
Part sheet of the scarce 5c. "Large Eagle" stamp of Geneva, showing the marginal inscription at the top. (From the collection of Henry J. Duveen, Esq.)[293]
A Page of the 5 cents. and 13 cents. Hawaiian "Missionary" stamps. (From the "Crocker" Collection)[297]
Hawaiian Islands, 1851. The 5 cents "Missionary" stamp on original envelope. (From the "Crocker" Collection)[299]
A Page from the King's historic collection of the stamps of Great Britain, showing the method of "writing up"[307]
The three copies of the unissued 2d. "Tyrian-plum" stamp of Great Britain, in the collection of H.M. the King. The one on the envelope is the only specimen known to have passed through the post[309]
Design for the King Edward One Penny stamp, approved and initialled by His late Majesty. (From the collection of H.M. King George V.)[313]
The companion design to that on [page 313], and showing the correct pose of the head, but in a different frame which was not adopted. (From the collection of H.M. the King)[315]
A Page of the One Penny "Post Paid" stamps of Mauritius. (In the collection of H.M. the King)[319]
The Two Pence "Post Paid" stamp of Mauritius. Unique block showing the error (the first stamp in the illustration), lettered "Penoe" for "Pence". (In the collection of H.M. the King)[323]
A specimen page from the "Tapling" Collection at the British Museum. Probably the most valuable page, showing the Hawaiian "Missionaries." The two stamps at the top have been removed from the cases and are now kept in a safe in the "Cracherode" Room[327]