Category: Research Opportunities

New Resources at the APRL, December 2018

Bodin, Richard. Swedish armed forces’ & military volunteers’ postal history in wars and abroad: a display at the Royal Philatelic Society London (London, UK: Richard Bodin, 2015). [IP69958]

Criswell, Grover C. Criswell’s compendium 1987: being a compendium of historical items and covering paper money, old stocks and bonds, autographs, postal history, army-navy-marine items, slavery material, customs items, books-reference works, CSA coins, medals, seals, & papers (Ft. McCoy FL: Grover C. Criswell III, Criswell’s Publications, 1987). [IP69959]

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Resource of the Month – Facit Specialized Scandinavian Catalog

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.

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Resource of the Month – Beecher and Warukiewicz U.S. Postal Rate Set

One of the recurring questions that we receive at the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) on a regular basis are inquiries about historical postal rates. Often specialized country-specific catalogues can provide information regarding rates for a particular country (the Michel Specialized German Catalogue for historical German postal rates for example) but one the best resources for both domestic and international postal for the United States are a set of two books compiled by Henry Beecher and Anthony “Tony”  Warukiewicz titled “U.S. Postal Domestic Postal Rates, 1872-2011” [G3701 .P8575 B414ud 2001] and “U.S. Postal International Postal Rates, 1872-1996” [G3701 .P8575 B414ui 1996].

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New Resources at the APRL, November 2018

Bodin, Richard. Swedish armed forces’ & military volunteers’ postal history in wars and abroad: a display at the Royal Philatelic Society London (London, UK: Richard Bodin, 2015). [IP69958]

Collectors’ Club of Akron, Ohio. Collectors’ Club of Akron, Ohio CCoA, 1935-2018, meeting 1,000:  September 18, 2018, Papa Joe’s Restaurant (Akron, Ohio:  Collectors’ Club of Akron, Ohio, 2018).  [G4084 .A3 C69c 2018]

Confederate Stamp Alliance. [Confederate Stamp Alliance archives] ([various places]:  Confederate Stamp Alliance [R9 P4 S2-4 CS2]

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New Resources at the APRL, September 2018

APRL new acquisitions for September 2018. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

Applegate, Frank L. Pennsylvania local real estate transfer stamps (Lincoln, NB: The State Revenue Society,, 1969-1970). [956.13:C1H/A7p]

Berezowski, Alexander. Handbuch der Luftpostkunde: Katalog samtlicher Marken und Abstempelungen der Luftposten (Southfield, MI: Postilion Publications, [1969]). [HE6238 .B492h 1930 Reprint 1969b]

Christmas Island. Philatelic Bureau. Information booklet (Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: Philatelic Bureau, 1981). [VF Christmas Island]

Dahle, Christopher. Plants on stamps. Volume V [electronic resource] (Carterville, IL, USA: American Topical Association, c2013). [CD American Topical Association handbook 163]

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Resource of the Month – Favorite Resources

With October being Stamp Collecting Month, what better time than this month to select not just one, but a number of special resources that can assist not only the beginner hobbyist but the experienced philatelist with their collecting.  A while back at the Columbus StampShow,  I had the opportunity to ask a number of collectors if there were one resource that they felt their philatelic library couldn’t be without, and if so, what would it be. In the process I received a number of great suggestions, here are just a few.

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New Resources at the APRL, July 2018

APRL new acquisitions for July 2018. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

Adachi, Sunao. Japanese perfins ([Delta, B.C., Canada]: [n.p.], [1972]). [IP69848]

Adachi, Tadashi. Indispensable possession pierced stamps (Tokyo: [n.p.], Showa 25 [1950]). [IP69846; IP69845]

American Philatelic Society. Getting the most out of APS Summer Seminar: includes a First Day of Issue Ceremony, June 27 at the Philatelic Center (Bellefonte, PA: American Philatelic Society, 2018). [APS Archives 2018]

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Resource of the Month – First Day Ceremony Programs

1999 Ayn Rand FDI Program

Often when we conduct postal history research we find a resource within a resource that we didn’t expect to find at first glance. Such is the case with our U.S. Stamp files. Housed in the second floor Archives area of the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL), the U.S. Stamps files archive is a collection of file folders each of which may include articles, press releases, stamp announcements, photos, serviced covers, photo essays, news clippings and other research items. The folders are arranged and labeled by U.S. Scott number and are an invaluable resource for researchers and library staff for either beginning or supplementing research regarding a particular U.S. stamp issue.

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A “feast” for literature enthusiasts, presented by the auction house of Heinrich Köhler, Wiesbaden (March 21-25, 2017)

This article on Heinrich Köhler’s upcoming literature sale was submitted by Wolfgang Maassen.

IPHLA 2012 – an unforgettable literature auction at Mainz Town Hall. Photo: Wilhelm van Loo

The Wiesbaden auction house of Heinrich Köhler has had a good reputation among philatelic literature enthusiasts, at least since the now legendary special philatelic literature auction which was held on November 2, 2012 during the international IPHLA exhibition at the Town Hall in Mainz. That auction which offered a wealth of important material, with some 1,000 lots of literary works, periodicals, and auction catalogs, such as are only encountered on rare occasions. Accordingly, there was a worldwide response, a well-filled auction room, and quite a number of exceptional results.

The catalog for Köhler’s literature sale.

Philatelic literature is still—and certainly will be in future—much valued by connoisseurs and experts. This is due to its rarity compared with most postage stamps, and because of the content that one can use for one’s own research. Many books and magazines from the 19th century are great rarities; many only exist in the form of a few copies or individual examples. Other printed items from this period may be found more frequently, but hardly in fine condition. Or they are notable for their elaborate bibliophile-type covers, which would have been costly for earlier owners. It would also nowadays be far easier to purchase one hundred beautiful “Saxony Threes” within a few years than a well maintained and well preserved library of the same number of publications from the 19th century. Continue reading “A “feast” for literature enthusiasts, presented by the auction house of Heinrich Köhler, Wiesbaden (March 21-25, 2017)”

Free resources for Preservation Week

To celebrate Preservation Week, a week dedicated to working together to preserve personal and shared collections, here are a few resources to help you preserve your collections: