Philatelic Literature & Research

Celebrate National Library Week with the APRL

Happy National Library Week!

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.

The theme for the week is Libraries Transform, and libraries all around the country are sharing how they transform their communities.

Help us celebrate by leaving a comment and telling us how the APRL has made a positive impact and helped you enjoy stamp collecting more.

Throughout the week, we’ll share some of the work we do and how we enjoy connecting with you.

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Students volunteer to help APRL

The APRL has worked with volunteers from Penn State’s Circle K Club several times. Today, 5 volunteers spent a couple hours at the Match Factory as part of a day-long volunteer event.

The students, 4 of whom had volunteered at the APRL previously, moved a few remaining archival collections from the Morse Building into boxes in the new library’s closed stacks, unpacked a recent donation of Swiss philatelic literature from Edith and Dale Eggen, and moved boxes of Rob Haeseler’s philatelic library onto shelves.

Circle K is a collegiate service organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Thank you to the 5 members who worked in the library this morning!

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National Postal Museum opens Letters from World War I exhibit

On the eve of the centennial of U.S. involvement in World War I, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum opened My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I. Jay Bigalke, editor of the Philatelic Literature Review and The American Philatelist, and I were at the museum for the reception.

Dr. Doug Dechaw, Digital Humanities Librarian for Chapman University.

Marshall F. Emery, Interim Director of the National Postal Museum, welcomed the crowd, which included museum staff, noted philatelists like John Hotchner, and members of the public. Curator Lynn Heidelbaugh spoke about the exhibit, and Dr. Doug Dechaw, Digital Humanities Librarian for Chapman University, talked about the university’s Center for American War Letters and its contributions to the exhibit.

Curator Lynn Heidelbaugh speaking about the exhibit to the local NBC television station.

Andrew Carroll, Director of the Center for American War Letters and author of the new book My Fellow Soldiers: General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War, introduced a reading of letters featured in the book and the exhibit. The readings featured correspondence from soldiers and their families, a nurse, and General John J. Pershing, closing with his letter to “My Fellow Soldiers,” written in 1919.

Following the reading, Lynn Heidelbaugh gave spotlight tours of the exhibit, and the Jefferson Street Strutters provided period music.

The exhibit is open through November 29, 2018. The National Postal Museum, together with the American Philatelic Research Library and American Philatelic Society, will host a postal history symposium with the theme WWI and its Immediate Aftermath November 1-2, 2018 at the museum in Washington, D.C. Proposals for papers are due June 15, 2017.

Resource of the Month: American Topical Association Handbooks

One of the more popular types of stamp collecting, by both the first time collector and the experienced philatelist, is known as topical or thematic collecting. Topical or thematic collections comprise the selective accumulation of stamps depicting a particular subject or concept such as people, animals, events, objects, even ideas. Collections can focus on a wide range of stamps depicting certain images such as presidents, birds, holidays, ships, religion, even stamps on stamps. Here in the United States back in November 1949, teenage topical collector Jerome “Jerry” Husak founded the American Topical Association in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the idea of bringing together collectors who collected stamps by subject matter, across the usual national boundaries of simply collecting issues within a particular country. This month’s Resource of the Month are the resourceful American Topical Association (ATA) handbooks which provide published checklists for topical collectors. Continue reading “Resource of the Month: American Topical Association Handbooks”

New books at the APRL, March 2017

APRL acquisitions, March 2017. To request loans, copies, or scans, or to search our catalog, visit the APRL website.

book cover Alfano, Louis S. United States narcotic tax stamps (including marihuana tax stamps): a priced check list ([n.l.]: [n.p.], 1970). [In process 000063527]

American Topical Association. Membership directory 1990-1993 (Johnstown, PA: American Topical Association, 1990). [MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORIES]

Arveng, Knut. Fra vikingtiden til Afghanistan: Postkort med norske militærmotiver ([Oslo]: Krigs- og feltpostforeningen, 2016). [In process 000063558] Continue reading “New books at the APRL, March 2017”

New Zealand 15th National Philatelic Literature Exhibition

The New Zealand 15th National Philatelic Literature Exhibition, to be held in Christchurch, is accepting entries until June 30, 2017. For more information, see the prospectus.

New Zealand has held a philatelic literature exhibition every other year since 1989.

The Organising Committee for this exhibition also welcomes postcard literature and is actively encouraging entries of electronic media.

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Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries to Sell Recovered Inverted Jenny Stamp

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries to Sell Recovered Inverted Jenny
Proceeds of the Sale to Go to American Philatelic Research Library

BELLEFONTE, PA — The American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) announced today they have reached agreement with Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries to sell a recently recovered Inverted Jenny stamp. The stamp, Position 76 of the famous McCoy Block, stolen in 1955 at a stamp show in Norfolk, Virginia, was recovered by the APRL at a public event in June 2016 during the World Stamp Show-NY 2016.

The press event for the recovery of the stamp at World Stamp Show-NY 2016.

The APRL Board of Trustees selected Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries from eight proposals submitted since authorizing the sale in October 2016. “The Inverted Jenny is one of the most iconic stamps in the world and Siegel has been a part of many notable stamp sales from that sheet,” said Roger Brody, President of the APRL, “That history should deliver a great return to the APRL.”

“Of the many remarkable stories associated with the legendary Inverted Jenny, the theft of the McCoy block and the long road to recovery of the stolen stamps is perhaps the most thrilling,” added Scott Trepel, President of Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, “Position 76 is the third one to be found and reclaimed, leaving only one still missing. It’s a beautiful looking Jenny and has the distinction of surviving 61 years of felonious captivity.”

The return of the stamp in front of the biplane at World Stamp Show-NY 2016.

The stamp recovery press conference was held before an actual Jenny biplane in the Javits Center in June 2016. The plane was on display at the show courtesy of Siegel Auction Galleries. “This was one of the biggest moments and greatest images in the history of the hobby,” said Scott English, Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society, “By pure luck, the plane was already there to promote the sale of another Jenny and it helped make the moment special.”

Proceeds of the stamp, expected to sell between $150,000 and $200,000, will go toward the APRL’s new library facility in Bellefonte, PA. The $4 million library was completed and opened in October 2016. The facility spans 19,000 square feet in space at the American Philatelic Center and it is the world’s largest philatelic library. More information about the APRL is available at www.stamplibrary.org and you can also visit www.InvertedJenny.com to learn more about the Inverted Jenny stamps.

Philatelic Literature Review 1st quarter 2017 issue features auction catalogs and search methods

The online edition of the Philatelic Literature Review 1st quarter 2017 issue is now available to subscribers. If you are a PLR subscriber and we have your email address, you should have received an email with instructions for accessing the online edition. The 1st quarter issue features two articles on auction catalogs and an article featuring search tips from APRL Reference Assistant Scott Tiffney.

Features

President’s Message — Roger Brody
From the Librarian’s Desk — Tara Murray
Library News — Sergio Lugo
Search Methods — Scott Tiffney
Remembrances
An Oversight Corrected — Charles Freeland
Tainted Shanahan Catalogs Have Their Place — Steve Ellis and Charles Freeland

Departments

APRL New Acquisitions
Book Reviews
Dealer Directory
Index to Advertisers
New Books Noted
Philatelic Literature Clearinghouse
Philatelic Literature Contributors

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Resource of the Month: Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbooks

This month’s featured resource are the informative and highly readable Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbooks. Begun in 1983 as an offshoot of various columns in Linn’s Stamp News regarding each year’s new U.S. stamps and postal stationery, the annual Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbooks go beyond the standard, or even specialized, catalog in providing a wealth of information regarding many aspects of each year’s U.S. releases in a convenient and thoroughly illustrated format. Continue reading “Resource of the Month: Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbooks”

New book tells the story of the One-Cent Magenta

The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the World’s Most Valuable Stamp tells the story of the rare stamp that was sold at auction for $9.5 million in 2014. Written by New York Times reporter James Barron, the book was called “delightful” by a review in the Washington Post.

You can read an excerpt on Amazon.com. It is also available for borrowing from the APRL. And, if you are attending the March Party stamp show in Cleveland, you can hear a talk by the author.