British Library Philatelic Collections

File:New South Wales 1850 Sydney View plate.jpg, Australia, with an illustration of Sydney, dating from 1850 (August). Part of the Tapling Collection.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/images/philatelic/large14964.html |title=New South Wales: 1850 (August) 'Sydney View' plate I re-engraved, 1d. carmine on bluish paper, a unique unused block of nine |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-19}}]]

The first notable philatelic donation was in 1890 by Hubert Haes of two albums of postage stamps collected by himself and Walter Van Noorden. It was donated with the request that the British Museum library (now the British Library) would create a philatelic collection.{{cite news |title=The Fiftieth Anniversary of Penny Postage.|first=Hubert |last=Haes |date=11 January 1890 |page=12 |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=The+Fiftieth+Anniversary+Of+Penny+Postage++HUBERT+HAES| newspaper=The Times |quote=It would be a very fitting celebration of the inauguration of penny postage if stamp collectors throughout the world were to combine in aiding to form a complete collection of stamps and such-like, to be deposited in the British Museum, so that England, where the great boon of penny postage originated, should have a complete record of what other nations have done, following its example... Mr. Walter van Noorden, whose intention it was that his collection of stamps, etc., should ultimately be presented so some museum instead of being broken up, gave me his collection to incorporate with mine, for presentation to the British Museum, to form the beginning of this proposed national collection.}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=262}}

The following year the collections were established with the bequest of the Tapling Collection. The probate value of the Tapling Collection was set at £12,000 but on arrival Richard Garnett (Assistant Keeper of Printed Books) estimated their value at more than £50,000 and described the bequest as the most valuable gift since the Grenville Library{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/archives/f/frederick_york,_the_grenville.aspx |title=Frederick York, The Grenville Library, a photograph |publisher=British Museum |date=2010-12-13 |access-date=2011-01-19}} in 1847.{{harvnb|Day|1998|p=205}}{{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=411}}

In 1900 the Crown Agents for the Colonies sent three albums of postage stamps made on their order for colonial governments and then sent specimens of all future stamps commissioned.{{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=562}}

In 1913, the Crawford Library was received which forms the cornerstone of the British Library's philatelic literature collection, containing about 4,500 works.Bierman, Stanley M. The World's Greatest Stamp Collectors. New York: Frederick Fell Publishers Inc., 1981, pp. 209-230. The Crawford Library was donated by the Earl of Crawford in his Will and was the foremost collection of philatelic books in the world at the time.{{cite web | title=APS Hall of Fame: 1941 | publisher=American Philatelic Society | year=1999 | url=http://www.stamps.org/almanac/alm_HallofFame_1941.htm#Lindsay | access-date=16 February 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224171021/http://stamps.org/Almanac/alm_HallofFame_1941.htm | archive-date=24 December 2010}}

In 1944 Mrs A. Cunningham donated her father's collection (Edward Mosely) of African stamps and in 1949 Mrs. Clement Williams donated her late brother's collection (H. L'Estrange Ewen) of railway letter stamps, valued at £10,000.{{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=592}} After being offered in 1942 but delayed due to the collections being in secure war storage,{{harvnb|Schoolley-West|1987|p=46}} in 1951 it was announced that Mrs Augustine Fitzgerald had donated an extensive air mail collection.{{cite news |title=Gift To British Museum; Fitzgerald Collection of Airmail Stamps |date=11 August 1951 |page=6 |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Gift+To+British+Museum|newspaper= The Times]}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Mosely and Fitzgerald collections were valued at the time at £30,000.

The Department of Printed Books had been in charge of the Philatelic Collections by default rather than design. In 1936 there was an unsuccessful proposal to move the collections to the Department of Prints and Drawings and in 1946 there was a further proposal for the Department of Coins and Medals to take charge. No decision could be agreed and Printed Books continued to manage the collections until they were passed to the newly formed British Library in 1973.{{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=599}}

From 1948, H. R. Holmes had been the curator but in the late 1950s had wished to relinquish the post. A replacement curator was not easily found and the care of the Collections was managed on a part-time basis. A security crisis in 1959 developed after it was discovered that the contents of one of the frames in the Tapling Collection was missing. In 1961 James A. Mackay was recruited as a research assistant to take care of the Collections. In 1971 the police arrested Mackay (promoted to Assistant Keeper in 1965) and charged him with stealing items from the British Museum Philatelic Collections on loan from the Crown Agents. The stolen progressive proofs (test prints of stamp designs) should have been returned to the Crown Agents for destruction and were valued at £7,600. Mackay had exchanged the proofs for Winston Churchill stamps worth £400. He was fined £1,000 and dismissed from the Museum.{{harvnb|Harris|1998|pp=631–632}}{{cite news |title=Curator and stamp dealers accused |date=23 December 1971 |page=3 |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Curator+and+stamp+dealers+accused |newspaper=The Times}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news |title=Stamp expert fined for thefts from museum |date=6 September 1972 |page=3 |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Stamp+expert+fined+for+thefts+from+museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004090419/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Stamp+expert+fined+for+thefts+from+museum|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 October 2011|newspaper= The Times}} As a result of the thefts, security was improved by recruiting Bob Schoolley-West,{{citation |last=Collings |first=T J |year=1989 |title=The Care and Preservation of Philatelic Materials |last2=Schoolley-West |first2=R F |publisher=British Library |isbn=978-0-7123-0136-7}} one of the investigating police officers. The Crown Agents withdrew their agreement for lending new stamps for display in the King's Library.

David Beech joined the British Library as a philatelic curator in 1983 and was appointed Head of the Philatelic Collections in 1991. Beech is a former President of The Royal Philatelic Society London and joint founder of the International Philatelic Libraries Association,{{cite web |url=http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_beech_intvw1.html |title=GBCC President Tim Burgess Interviews David Beech |publisher=Gbstamps.com |access-date=2011-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930043914/http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_beech_intvw1.html |archive-date=30 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/Sundman/lecture_2003.html |title=The Legendary Grinnell Missionaries |first=David |last=Beech |publisher=National Postal Museum |date=11 October 2003 |access-date=2011-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021120105/http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/Sundman/lecture_2003.html |archive-date=21 October 2012 |url-status=dead }} he retired in 2013. Paul Skinner (philatelist) was appointed Curator in 2004 and became Lead Curator on the retirement of David Beech.

Richard Morel joined as Curator in 2014.{{cite book |last1=Beech |first1=David |title=A Guide to Philatelic Research at The British Library |date=2019 |publisher=David R Beech |location=London |page=13}} He is overseeing the digitization of the Philatelic Collection’s holdings.Vieira, Scott. 2021. “The British Library’s Philatelic Collections – Interview With Richard Morel.” Serials Review 47 (2): 71–79.

The material is organized in 50 collections and archives which have been acquired by donation, bequest, or transfer from Government Departments.{{citation | last=Krause | first=Barry | year=1990 | title=Advanced Stamp Collecting: A serious collector's guide to the collection and study of postage stamps and related materials | publisher=Betterway Publications | isbn=978-1-55870-159-5 | page=[https://archive.org/details/advancedstampcol0000krau/page/88 88] | url=https://archive.org/details/advancedstampcol0000krau/page/88 }} The Collections include postage and revenue stamps, postal stationery, essays, proofs, covers and entries, "cinderella stamp" material, specimen issues, airmails, some postal history materials and official and private posts for almost all countries and periods. Philately is interpreted in its widest sense and the more unusual artefacts include original unused artwork, horse licences and the pilot's licence of Captain John Alcock.{{harvnb|Schoolley-West|1987}}

A permanent exhibit of items from the Collections is on display in the British Library entrance area upper ground floor, which may be the best gallery of diverse classic stamps and philatelic material in the world. Approximately 80,000 items on 6,000 sheets may be viewed in 1,000 display frames; 2,400 sheets are from the Tapling Collection. Other material, which covers the whole world, is available to students and researchers by appointment.{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/whatson/permgall/philatelic/index.html |title=The Philatelic Exhibition |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823052910/http://www.bl.uk/whatson/permgall/philatelic/index.html |archive-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead}}

File:Perkins D cylinder printing press in the British Library.jpg.]] The British Library Philatelic Department Photograph Collection is a collection of photographs of philatelic material not in the Library's collections. Mostly composed of material donated by philatelic auctioneers, the collection is an important resource for researchers.[http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/collectionsoverview/collectionsspecial/philcollectionsspecial.html The Photograph Collection.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121500/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/collectionsoverview/collectionsspecial/philcollectionsspecial.html |date=4 March 2016 }} British Library, 29 February 2012.

As well as these collections, the library actively acquires literature on the subject. This makes the British Library one of the world's leading philatelic research centres.

The Collections include a unique proof sheet of 26 Revenue 1765 Newspaper and Pamphlet one penny impressions showing the registration certificate, held in the Board of Inland Revenue Stamping Department Archive. These were issued to apply the Stamp Act 1765 intended to raise taxes to fund the defence of the American Colonies from the French. The tax applied to legal documents, licences, newspapers, pamphlets and almanacs in the American Colonies, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Florida, the Bahamas and the West Indian Islands. The taxes resulted in public protest and rioting. The tax was abandoned after a few months due to its unpopularity but the political damage contributed to the War of Independence in 1775.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/a/010us000rev1765u00001000.html |title=America: Revenue 1765 Newspaper and Pamphlet One Penny. A proof sheet of 26, showing the registration certificate. Unique thus |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16}}

File:Stamp Jamaica 1956 unissued 1sh.jpg, the first stamp designed for Queen Elizabeth II. Held in the British Library Crown Agents Collection.{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/collectionsoverview/collectionsgeneral/philcollectionsgeneral.html |title=Philatelic Collections: General Collections |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630103038/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/collectionsoverview/collectionsgeneral/philcollectionsgeneral.html |archive-date=30 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}]]

The largest object in the British Library is the Perkins D cylinder press developed by Jacob Perkins and patented in 1819. This press was one of several used to print the first postage stamps of Great Britain and Ireland which were issued in 1840. The press was used for printing many early stamps for British Colonial territories from 1853 including for Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Mauritius, St Helena, Trinidad, Western Australia, Ionian Islands, New Brunswick, New South Wales, New Zealand and Victoria.{{citation |author1=David Beech |author2=Paul Skinner |author3=Bobby Birchall |author4=Catherine Britton |url=http://shop.bl.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/BritishLibrary/ISBN_9780712309530/353759 |title=Treasures in Focus - Stamps |publisher=British Library |access-date=2011-01-16 |ISBN=978-0-7123-0953-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317061325/http://shop.bl.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/BritishLibrary/ISBN_9780712309530/353759 |archive-date=17 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}

The £1 stamp issued in Jamaica (1956–1958) in the reign of King George VI shows Tobacco Growing and Cigar Making. The first stamp for Queen Elizabeth II was to be in the same design (chocolate and violet) but was abandoned after printing. There are only seven examples in existence.{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/j/010jm0001938s58u00001001.html |title=Jamaica: 1956–58 £1 chocolate and violet, unissued |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16 |archive-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101134947/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/j/010jm0001938s58u00001001.html |url-status=dead }}

The cover of the British Library pocket guide Treasures in Focus - Stamps features the 1913 King George V seahorse master dye proof, part of the Harrison Collection. The engraver, J.A.C. Harrison, took proofs during the creation of the die of which this image is one. The engraving was used on the high value stamps 2/6, 5/-, 10/- and £1.{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/articles/articlesharrison/articlesharrison.html |title=Philatelic Collections: The Harrison Collection |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124162805/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/articles/articlesharrison/articlesharrison.html |archive-date=24 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}

The Collections feature these rarities which demonstrate international scope:{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/index.html |title=Philatelic Rarities |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-15}}

• Gold Coast: 1883 (May) 1d on 4d magenta, unique{{cite web|url=http://www.stamp2.com/articles/david/david2.asp |title=Gold Coast 1883 1d on Fourpence Magenta |access-date=2011-01-15 |publisher=The London Philatelist|volume=96|date=September–October 1987}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/g/010gh0000001883u00001000.html |title=Gold Coast: 1883 1d. on 4d. magenta, used |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020212851/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/g/010gh0000001883u00001000.html |archive-date=20 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}
• India: 1854 4 annas blue and pale red, error head inverted, two used on a cover, unique.{{citation|url=http://www.geocities.com/mjshah.geo/articles/classic_error.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021212034600/http://www.geocities.com/mjshah.geo/articles/classic_error.html |archive-date=2002-12-12 |first= E. A. |last=Smythies |title=A Classic Stamp Error |journal=American Philatelist |pages=59, 60 |year=1950}}
• Mauritius 1847 1d red used on cover and 2d blue, the "Post Office" issue 1d. orange-red, used on cover. The first British Colonial postage stamps were issued in Mauritius in 1847.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/m/010mu0000001847u00001001.html |title=Mauritius 1847 "Post Office" 1d. orange-red, used on cover |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16}}
• New South Wales: 1850 1d and 3d essays of the Sydney View issue. The first stamps of New South Wales, being 1d, 2d and 3d values, were issued in 1850.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/n/010au000nsw1850u00001001.html |title=New South Wales: 1850 1d and 3d essays of the Sydney View issue |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16}}
• Spain: 1851 2 reales, error of colour, one of three known.{{citation | year=1863 | title=The Stamp-collector's Magazine | publisher=E. Marlborough | page=125 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6awEAAAAQAAJ }}{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/s/010es0000001851u00001001.html |title=Spain: 1851 2 reales blue, error of colour |publisher=British Library |date=26 March 2009 |access-date=2011-01-27 |quote=Only three copies of the stamp are recorded to have survived and this one was the first to be found. It was subjected to a test for genuineness sometimes made in the nineteenth Century – it was boiled. This treatment removed almost all of the postmark of which only a smudge remains today.}}
• St Helena: 1961 Tristan Relief Fund 5c.+6d., 7½c.+9d., and 10c.+1/-, used on a postcard. Only the Colonial Office in London could authorize new stamps, a fact clearly unknown to the Governor, and the issue was withdrawn. These are among the rarest of modern stamps as only 434 sets were sold.{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/s/010sh0000001961u00001000.html |title=St Helena: 1961 Tristan Relief Fund 5c.+6d., 7½c.+9d., and 10c.+1/-, used on a postcard |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924015241/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/s/010sh0000001961u00001000.html |url-status=dead }}{{citation | last=Mackay | first=James | author-link=James A. Mackay | year=1988 | title=The Guinness Book of Stamps: Facts & feats | edition=2 | publisher=Guinness Books | isbn=978-0-85112-351-6 | page=118}}
• Switzerland: Zürich: 1843 4 rappen, the unique unsevered horizontal strip of five.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/s/010ch0000001843u00001000.html |title=Switzerland: Zurich 1843 4 rappen, an unused horizontal strip of five |publisher=British Library |date=2003-11-30 |access-date=2011-01-16}}
• Uruguay: 1858 120 centavos blue and 180 centavos green, in tête-bêche pairs,In philately, tête-bêche (French for "head-to-tail") is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. two of five known.
• Western Australia: 1854-55 4d blue, error frame inverted.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/w/010au0wa1854s55u00001001.html |title=Western Australia: 1854–55 4d blue, error frame inverted, used. |publisher=British Library}}
• United States of America - Inverted Jenny, one of a set of 100 postage stamps first issued on May 10, 1918, with probably the most famous error in American philately and one of the most expensive stamps ever produced[https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/united-states-of-america-1918-24-cents-inverted-jenny British Library collection]

• List of philatelic libraries
• National Philatelic Collection (United States)
• Philately
• Royal Philatelic Society London

References

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Sources

• {{citation |last=Day | first=Alan Edwin | year=1998 | title=Inside the British Library | publisher=Library Association | isbn=978-1-85604-280-2}}
• {{citation |title=A History of the British Museum Library, 1753–1973 |first=Philip Rowland |last=Harris |publisher=British Library |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7123-4562-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbritish00harr }}
• {{citation|title=Stamps |first=R. F. |last=Schoolley-West |publisher=British Library |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-7123-0127-5}}

{{Commons category|British Library Philatelic Collections}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100329190938/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/philatelic/philateliccollections/philateliccollectionsintroduction/philatelicintro.html British Library Philatelic Collections introduction]

{{British Library Named Collections}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Philatelic libraries

Category:Philatelic museums

Category:Postal history of the United Kingdom