List of Figures

1. Inca courier

2. Franz von Taxis (1450-1517), postmaster general of

3. Benjamin Franklin, first

4. Sir Rowland Hill, creator of the first postage stamp.

5. The British Tax Stamp

6. The "Penny Black" of Great Britain issued on May

7. Mulready envelope, symbolizing the far-flung British Empire.

8. One of the many Mulready caricatures.

9. Dr. Heinrich von Stephan, father of the Universal

10. Stamps of Nigeria, Indonesia and San Marino com-memorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union.

11. Stamps of Argentina issued for mailing of recorded messages.

12. The first general issue of the United States

13. Canada marked her 1851 stamps' centenary with a reproduction of the "Three Penny Beaver."

14. United States Centennial envelope, the world's first commemorative stamp.

15. Stamps

16. Graf Zeppelin stamps.

17. Marquess of Pombal.

18. Attractive stamps of tiny Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.

19. H. M. Armed Vessel "Bounty" on a stamp of Pitcairn Islands.

20. Stamps of countries born since 1948. From left to right: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Israel, Ryukyu Islands, Indonesia, Libya.

21. Different kinds of stamps issued by the United States.

22. Crowds waiting for doors to open at CIPEX 1947.

23. "/

24. Stamps of the "Presidential Series."

25. The Fipex Issue celebrated the Fifth International Philatelic Exhibition (April 28 to May 6, 1956). Stamp, photography and auto exhibitions, held simultaneously, opened the newly completed Coliseum at Columbus Circle, New York, facing Columbus Monument.

26. Fipex

27. View of an American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) show.

28. View of the Gimbels famous stamp department in New York City

29. Young stamp collectors in Gimbles famous stamp department in New York City.

30. The New World-Wide Outfit

31. Stamp collecting

32. A printed album page. In addition to illustrations, descriptions indicate locations of stamps in more elaborate albums.

33. Stamp tongs.

34. Perforation gauge. The stamp measured has a vertical perforation of 101/2.

35. Watermark shows against black background of a atermark tray.

36. Stamp mounted in a protective mount.

37. A magnifier with handle.

38. A battery-illuminated magnifier for close examination of detail.

39. A pocket magnifier

40. The Master Global Album

41. The Supreme Global Stamp Album

42. United Nations Album, Vatican City Album

43. The All American Stamp Album.

44. The American Plate Block Album.

45. Blank albums.

46. A de luxe sheet album. Sheets of stamps are kept in clear acetate pockets.

47. WORLD-WIDE POSTAGE STAMP CATALOG

48. Minkus New World-Wide Stamp Catalog

49. Minkus New A merican Stamp Catalog

50. A packet with a fine collection of 10,000 different postage stamps of the entire world.

51. A packet with stamps of Iceland.

52. The first issue of the Kingdom of Laos. A stamp issuing country since 1951, the Kingdom was formerly part of French lndo-China.

53. Stamps sent on approval.

54. Stamps of Austria mounted on a page of

55. Fourdrinier machine.

56. "Dandy roll".

57. Watermarks used for 19th century U.S. envelopes

58. Watermarks on stamps of Great Britain and Commonwealth

59. Tools used for the preparation of a steel plate:

60. The layout of a 400 subject rotary plate showing electric eye guides for the perforating machine in center and at left.

61. A plate block of four stamps.

62. Large rotary press.

63. Hawaiian "Missionary" stamp.

64. Some of

65. Canadian "Seaway" stamp

66. Comb perforation.

67. Electric eye perforator.

68. ROULETTES.

69. "Socked on the nose."

70. "Running chicken."

71. Modern cancellation.

72. Odd cancellations.

73. New York foreign mail cancellations.

74. Steamboat postmarks. Pony express.

75. Page from a grand-prize winning collection. This page is part of a collection that won gold medals for Mrs. Ethel B. McCoy. Note concise explanations on page.

76. Twenty-four-cent inverted air-mail.

77. One-cent British Guiana, the rarest stamp in the world.