Frederick John Melville

“ We cannot encourage 'exchanging foreign stamps,' for we do not see the smallest good resulting from it. This foreign stamp-collecting has been a mania, which is at length dying out. Were the stamps works of art, then the collecting them might be justified. Were they, in short, anything but bits of defaced printing, totally worthless, we would try to say something in their favour. ”

“ To the child in stamp-collecting the boundless world is small; he will seek to bring into his net stamps from everywhere, postage and fiscal, exhibition labels, trading stamps, and all that has the shape or semblance of what he conceives to be subjects for his collecting. The collector of fuller experience knows that he must make a lesser world of his own. ”

“ If we define the philatelist as a lover of postage-stamps, we may very properly express the view that his affections should be chiefly centred upon their historic and philatelic associations. Stamp-collecting for most of us is a recreation and a respite from the anxieties of the money-market, and many collectors are quite content with the joys of collation and research. ”

“ Postage to-day is as fecund of bounties as a fruitful garden, yet do we accept all as our rightful heritage, without giving much consideration to the little postage-stamp which was the seed which, planted in every civilised country of the earth, has yielded blessings in abundance. ”

“ It is not given to all collectors to know their postage-stamps. There is the collector who merely accumulates specimens without studying them. He has eyes, but he does not see more than that this stamp is red and that one is blue. ”

“ By collecting in a thorough and scientific manner, the collector will so impress on his memory the general features of the majority of the world's issues, together with the details of the safeguards afforded by paper, watermark and perforation, that the first glimpse at a forgery or fake will reveal a something which at once rouses suspicion that the particular label is not the legitimate offspring of the Post Office. ”

“ This form of collecting was "hobbyhorsical" in the extreme; it recognised no other objects than the attainment of numbers, or the production of a new form of wall-paper, using the old stamps as the tesseræ of a mosaic. At these times collecting was probably considered a test of the bona fides of philanthropic appellants, for we trace to the earliest decade of stamp issuing the popular notion that the accumulated treasure of a million of old stamps will provide an "open sesame" for an orphan into a home, or that in old age one may find a haven of rest in an asylum. ”

“ The mere vending of postage-stamps would not, I think, convert the collector into the collector-dealer, as by the ingenious and widespread system of stamp-exchanges collectors are obliged to put a price upon their duplicates, and cash is the universal medium of exchange.
In a broad sense the collector-dealer class is composed of collectors who are glad to enjoy their hobby, but are under the necessity, or have the desire, to make their hobby pay for itself, and perhaps yield an addition to their regular income. ”

“ These are the chief desiderata for the general collector. They read rather portentously; but the cult of condition comes by practice to all who have the true love of stamps, for if stamps are worth collecting at all they are worthy of our best endeavours to keep them in the pink of condition. "It is part of the decency of scholars," says Richard de Bury, "that whenever they return from meals to their study, washing should invariably precede reading, and that no grease-stained finger should unfasten the clasps or turn the leaves of a book" ”

“ It is well enough that the beginner should first flounder in a sea of stamps, to learn the first rudiments of the study. The specialist needs a general education as a groundwork in stamp-collecting, just as he does in any other pursuit. But it is almost unavoidable that the tendency must come to the advancing collector to reserve his strength in the direction which most attracts him, or for which he enjoys special advantages. ”

“ The modern collection is specialised, that is to say, it deals with the postal history of a country or group of countries, instead of being a mere accumulation of specimens of the postage-stamps of the world. The advanced collector's albums of to-day are like the "association books" of the autograph collector, and indeed there have been many successes in "grangerising" the more important specialist monographs on stamps. ”

“ Enthusiasts know how difficult it is, when on the verge of an anticipated discovery, to possess their souls in patience, hoping for at least a sight of the find; but my patience in this case was unavailing, for the next I heard of the treasured papers and the dies was—and this is some consolation—that they were in the capable hands of the Earl of Crawford, who prepared and subsequently read before the Royal Philatelic Society a scholarly reconstruction of Cheverton's plan. ”

“ Many dealers have told me that it is their experience that, if they make a fair offer for valuable stamps submitted to them by the uninitiated, they never succeed in effecting a purchase at all in these days. The hawker of "finds" visits the stamp-shops to get an idea of the value of his wares, and plays off one dealer against another, with the result that it is necessary for the seller nowadays to state his price in the first instance. ”

“ The fashion which has for many years kept the stamps of the British Empire in constantly increasing demand is rather curious, in that what may be attributed—at least partly—to patriotism at home has yet prevailed in foreign countries, where British Colonials are collected even more than the national products. In the United States, for example, the collector has until quite lately somewhat neglected the grand series of beautifully engraved stamps of the Republic and has followed the crowd of collectors of British Colonials. ”

“ Postage-stamps, more perhaps than any other objets de collectionner, are well suited to neat, orderly arrangement and effective display, with a minimum of house-room. This very suitability and convenience make some collectors careless of the arrangement of their specimens, especially the commoner issues, but I would have everyone treat stamps rare or common with the same tenderness, and with a keen eye to the beauty of their arrangement. A rare stamp in itself has little significance ”

“ A stamp is a tender, delicate thing—especially if "chalky"—and should be handled as little as possible, whether common, scarce, or rare; in fact, the old Latin proverb, Maxima debetur pueris reverentia, might well be parodied, if one knew the Latin for stamps. Care, coolness (physical) , and cleanliness are necessary attributes of the ideal collector, and even he would do well to use tweezers instead of fingers; but if he must use a finger, let him interpose a piece of tissue or blotting paper between it and the stamp. ”

“ In the cases of stamps of the larger countries which have had a long period of currency the rise is slow, but the frequency of the occurrence of unusual circumstances which cut short the life of a stamp on the active postal list has introduced a sporting element into even the collecting of current stamps. But it is inevitable that, with the retirement of a postage-stamp from use, there must come sooner or later a stoppage in the supply at the normal rates prevailing during its period of currency. ”

“ It is in this broad field that the collector in these days gets the most enjoyment; here he may heighten the pleasures of the hunt for philatelic and associated rariora. So many wonderful tales have been told of the fabulous fortunes acquired in the finding of a few old letters bearing stamps, that many a deal is frustrated by the uninitiated owner having too fanciful an idea of the value of his goods. ”

“ To preserve the tidy appearance of a collection in a printed album one must sacrifice those portions of the margins adjoining stamps from the outer edges of the printed sheets. In most cases it serves no purpose to retain them, and they interfere with the symmetry of the pages. The collector, too, must use his judgment as to the desirability of trimming away unnecessary ragged protrusions of the perforation.
For all cleaning purposes benzine is an excellent medium, as its rapid evaporation is a convenience, and it does not injure the stamp. ”

“ For the majority, almost any form of collecting brings with it a serious problem of space, arrangement, and security. We may display our collection of old English porcelain about the house, and beautify our surroundings, but it is at the cost of no little risk from the philistine fingers of the abigail. We may bring together a great array of ornithological specimens, but the cabinet space taken up by a collection of but moderate proportions is out of all comparison to the compact album, which may contain a large and portable collection of stamps. ”

“ To the young student our pleasant pastime of stamp-collecting has to offer an encouragement to habits of method and order, for without these collecting can be productive of but little pleasure or satisfaction. It will train him to be ever observant of the minutiæ that matter, and it will broaden his outlook as he surveys his stamps "from China to Peru."
The present volume is not intended as a complete guide to the postage-stamps of the world; it is rather a companion volume to the standard catalogues and numerous primers already available to the collector. ”

“ When we come to consider the supply of old postage-stamps, we cannot but recognise a further important factor in their security as an investment. The majority of the rare, medium and common postage-stamps have been issued with the Government imprimatur; re-issues and reprintings are known, but they are the exception. Generally speaking, a stamp is no sooner obsolete than it commences to soar in the stamp-dealers' price-lists. ”

“ In whatever spirit we form our collections, and with no matter what object in view, it is but human to nourish the hope, even if some shrinking from the admission of pecuniary motives never permits us to express it, that the collection formed with loving care and a considerable expenditure of money shall not, if parted with, result in a loss, or if retained suffer a heavy depreciation. ”

“ Edward L. Pemberton, whose early writings on Philately will always be regarded as little short of inspired from the marvellous intuition which led him to the precise and the accurate, wrote a booklet on "Forged Stamps, and How to Detect Them" in 1863. Already in the history of this new hobby the forger had been at work catering for collectors; it was, of course, from still earlier times that the unscrupulous had endeavoured to relieve Governments of some portions of their revenues by counterfeiting what is a kind of paper currency. ”

“ Beyond this I can only advise the reader that, as a complete novice, he would be unwise to purchase costly rarities and valuable stamps from unknown and irresponsible persons. The novice will remain a novice in these matters, unless he acquires some knowledge of the differences (generally readily distinguishable) between a stamp that is from an engraved plate and a forgery that is, say, lithographed or from a wood-cut. ”

“ It was to this simple contrivance of a small label, issued by authority, to indicate the prepayment of postage that the practical success of Hill's plan was greatly due. The little stamps are the royal diplomata which enable us all, at a modest fee, to use His Majesty's mails, a privilege enjoyed by great and small, by rich and poor. So stamp-collectors deem the objects of their interest to have achieved a vast reform in internal and universal communications, giving a powerful impetus to social{75} progress, international commerce, and the world's peace. ”