APRL acquisitions, December 16, 2015–January 15, 2016. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

Barefoot, John. British Commonwealth revenues (York, [England]: J. Barefoot Ltd., 2012): 410 pages: color illustrations; 30 cm. [G5731 .R451 B248b 2012]

Beattie, Cliff A. Canadian local & national Easter seals catalog ([n.l.]: Cliff Beattie, 2004): 52 pages: color illustrations; 28 cm. [G3401 .S438 B369c 2004]

Calhoun, Linda Culp. Ducks in miniature: designs for quick and easy projects (Little Rock, AR:Leisure Arts, c1985): [4] pages: color illustrations; 30 cm. [HE6183 .B618 C15d 1985]

Grabowski, Heinz. Lufthansa spezialkatalog. (Wurttemberg: Grabowski-Verlag, 2001): 2 v.: illustrations; 21 cm. [In process 000060660] » Continue reading…

Four students helped the library prepare for its upcoming move to new space today. The students, participating in Penn State’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, moved boxes of excess material out of the library. They also volunteered in the APS Education Department, assembling youth packets for the upcoming AmeriStamp Expo and sorting stamps for educational programs.

We’ve just added a new subject guide to literature on fakes, forgeries, and counterfeits to the APRL website. The guide lists some important references on this topic, as well as tips for searching the catalog for more information. We also have guides for Machins and state revenues, and will add more.

This guide was developed in collaboration with the APS Circuit Sales Division, drawing on the knowledge of Bill Dixon and Tom Horn.

We will rely on subject experts as we expand the subject guide collection. Do you know the literature on an aspect of philately? You can help build our next guide!

To contribute, all you need to do is send me a list of what you think are the key resources on a subject. This could include handbooks, catalogs, journals, journal articles, indexes, and websites. We may add resources and library tips and will format the guide. We are happy to give credit to any subject experts who contribute.

If you are interested in contributing, contact me.

As the Postal Service handles the holiday mail, Smithsonian.com looks at the Remote Encoding Center and how its staff work to decipher addresses that machines can’t read, either due to damage or unique handwriting. Read the full article at Smithsonian.com.

APRL acquisitions, November 16, 2015–December 15, 2015. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

Ackerman, G. Adolph. Soviet Air Fleet/Osoaviakhim stamps/labels [electronic resource] (Worthington, OH: G.A. Ackerman, c2002.): 1 computer optical disk; 4 3/4 in. [JOURNAL Rossica no.44-161]

Ackerman, G. Adolph. Via the Red skies [electronic resource]: the development of Soviet air mail 1922-1945 ([Worthington? OH]: G.A. Ackerman, c2001): 1 computer optical disk; 4 3/4 in. [JOURNAL Rossica no.44-161]

Australia and New Zealand Society of Russian Philately. Pochta: the Journal of the Australia & New Zealand Society of Russian Philately [electronic resource] ([n.l.]: Australia and New Zealand Society of Russian Philately, 1986-[2004]): computer optical disk; 4 3/4 in. [JOURNAL Pochta]

» Continue reading…

Otto F. Wolke is a longtime APS member who lives about 70 miles from Bellefonte, PA. Earlier this fall, Otto brought a wonderful gift with him on a visit to the American Philatelic Center: a fresh, sound, complete copy of the Catalog of United States Perfins, edited by John C. Randall.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the gift of such a catalog is no big deal in a library with literally miles of shelves, but you’d be wrong. A current catalog is always a sought-after asset, whatever your philatelic specialty. With perfins ― the perforated initials that firms punched through mint stamps to prevent misappropriation and misuse before meters were widely used ― the number of corporations, smaller businesses, banks, utilities and government departments confirmed as perfin-users still steadily grows, year by year. » Continue reading…

Charles Adrion is a modest man. On Sept. 28, in the “Press & Publications” listings on The Stamp Collecting Forum, he informed collectors of a new “Montana Precancels – free catalog online” with this flowery announcement, printed here in its entirety:

“This book shows all known denominations precancelled in Montana. If you have any others in your collection, I’d love to hear about them.”

Perhaps he would have made a bigger deal out of the new catalog if someone else had been the author, but in fact the Montana Precancels Catalog & Guidebook was his creation.

It is not just an excellent book on an eminently collectible U.S. stamp specialty, but it is the first publication on the subject that the APRL has seen since J.C. Whitham’s 24-page Official Precancel Catalog for Montana, published in 1952. That consisted of 24 three-ring-punched 5” by 7” loose-leaf pages with reduced-size black line illustrations of the precancels only, and was available for $2.00. (Using the Consumer Price Index, $2.00 in 1952 is equal to $17.72 in 2015.) » Continue reading…

In September, the APRL Board of Trustees approved a new circulation and collections access policy for the library. The new policy makes a few updates to our book lending policy and adds a section on accessing rare books, special collections, and archives.

A researcher studies archival material in the library

Almost everything in the library is available for borrowing by APS members, either in person or by mail. The exceptions are items which are needed for reference in the library, items which are too fragile to send through the mail, or items which would be difficult or impossible to replace. In general, this means:

• the most recent edition of the Scott catalogs (unless we receive a second copy)
• the Rare Books collection
• Special Collections and Archives

Books in the Closed Stacks section are for in-library use only, but may be borrowed with permission from the librarian.

Researchers, both members and the public, are welcome and encouraged to use items from Rare Books, Special Collections, and Archives at the APRL. We ask that you follow these rules, and any special instructions from library staff, to help us protect our valuable resources: » Continue reading…

APRL acquisitions, October 16, 2015–November 15, 2015. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

Adrion, Charles. Montana precancels: catalog & guidebook [electronic resource] (Rochester, NY: Charles Adrion, 2015): 76 pages: color illustrations [Online]

Berlin-Plan, mit den Post- und Fernmeldeämtern (Berlin-Stuttgart: RV Reise- und Verkehrsverlag GmbH, 1975): 1 map; 48 x 138 cm. [G6299 .B47 G571a c.2]

Bondarenko, Stephen J. The covers of Dorothy Knapp (Harriman, NY: [S.J. Bondarenko], 1998): [115, 22] leaves: illustrations; 29 cm. [G3701 .C119 B711c 1998 CLOSED STACKS]

» Continue reading…

The Collectors Club is pleased to host a meeting of the Philatelic Librarians Roundtable in connection with World Stamp Show-NY2016. The meeting will be held at the Collectors Club at 22 East 35th St. in New York City at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day in the US). After the Roundtable meeting, all attendees will be welcome to participate in a “behind the scenes” tour of the Collectors Club library facilities.

The Philatelic Librarians Roundtable includes staff, volunteers, and board members from philatelic libraries. Anyone with an interest in philatelic libraries is welcome to attend the meeting.

The Collectors Club is located in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Midtown, walking distance from both Penn Station and Grand Central. The nearest subway station is the 33rd Street station on the 6 local line on the east side. After the meeting, the most direct way to return to the World Stamp Show will be to walk one block to 34th street to catch the M34 bus to the Javits Center.

Unfortunately, the Collectors Club is not wheelchair accessible. There are about four steps up from the sidewalk to the lobby and a further six steps to the main floor with an elevator to the upper floors.