As many collectors and experienced philatelists are well aware some of the more specialized stamp catalogues provide a greater level of detail when it comes to the stamps and other philatelic items for a specific country. Two of the most common and oft used here in the library are the Michel specialized catalogues of Germany and the Yvert-Tellier and Maury catalogues for France and French Colonies.
One of the lesser known specialized catalogues, but certainly not to the collectors of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland are the Facit specialized catalogues. Recently in answering a question regarding the specific engravers of a variety of Scandinavian issues, the Facit Frimararkskatalog Special 2015 catalog [G6910 .A1 F142s 2015] came in very handy in identifying the engravers for the requested issues.
This Scandinavian specialized catalog includes listings and more specific philatelic information for the stamps and other postal items from all of the aforementioned stamp issuing entities as well as those of the Faroe Islands, Aland Islands, Danish West Indies and Greenland. Included in the listings of the geographically divided sections of the catalog is information regarding the regular stamps, franking labels, official stamps, postage due stamps, stamp booklets, revenue stamps, local issues, postal stationery, postcards, first day covers, reply stamps, and in some cases Christmas seals.
Included along with color illustrations in each listing are the standard valuations (mint with or without gum, used, cancelled, on cover, etc.) and date of issue, as well as information regarding the designer, engraver, printing process, watermark and paper type. The majority of the catalog is in various Scandinavian languages (mostly Swedish) but does include a significant number of English translations and transcriptions throughout that make it a very valuable resource for even the English-speaking collector of these Scandinavian issues .
The Facit specialized catalogs are an excellent resource for the collectors of Scandinavian and can be borrowed by contacting the APRL at library@stamps.org.