(RCSD) THE WORLD'S FIRST ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE

THE STAMP COLLECTORS GUIDE - by FREDERICK BOOTY was advertised as "THE
WORLD'S FIRST ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE"

The Stamp Collectors Guide by Frederick W. Booty of Brighton, England
was first issued in April 1862. This was the world's first
illustrated catalogue and had 200 facsimiles of stamps, drawn and
lithographed personally by Booty, and printed by H&C Treacher,
Brighton.

The second edition (August 12862) had a green front and rear paper
cover with 4 pages of introduction and 44 pages of illustrations, all
printed on one side of the sheet only. Today, both are extremely rare
publications. It was sold on behalf of Christian Aid. [Booty produced
at least three editions of his Aids to Stamp Collectors. His
foundation of knowledge was probably based on a package of half a
million worldwide stamps he was given by a friend, tied in bundles of
hundreds and thousands. Williams & Williams in their work "The Postage
Stamp" state that "Specimens of "Aids to Stamp Collectors" are
extremely rare.

http://www.cavendish-auctions.com/sa...mages/2088.jpg

..... and to add to the topic, Blair,

your post of 2005 from George B Sloane

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Postage Stamp Catalogs
Since postage stamp catalogs occupy such

an important part in the philatelic hobby,

readers may be interested in learning

something of their early origin, from a

study made some years ago by the late

Fred J. Melville.

The first catalog of postage stamps was

a small pamphlet published by Alfred

Potiquet, of Paris, December 21, 1861.

He was an amateur collector, not a dealer,

and his list was largely a compilation

from lists previously privately distributed

among collectors by another amateur,

Francois George Oscar Berger-Levrault

of Strasbourg.

Potiquet's catalog was notable in that he

attempted to distinguish the various method

of printing used in the production of the

stamps he listed, and he even mentioned

those which were perforated, varieties

then much in the minority. His catalog

listed 1,080 different adhesive stamps

and 132 envelopes.

Another edition of the Potiquet catalog

carries the imprint of E. De LaPlante,

a Paris stamp dealer, probably the

earliest dealer in France. This De

LaPlante edition was protested by

Potiquet's printer and publisher,

Eugene LaCroix, as pirated from Potiquet.

The next catalog was published by

J. B. Moens, of Brussels, in January, 1862.

This also was protested by LaCroix as

a lift from the Potiquet catalog.

Moens, in his second edition, later

in 1862, replied that his first edition

was not a copy of Potiquet but one of

his own compilation and that he had

advertised its contents as early as

June, 1861, but the publication had

been delayed. None of these catalogs

priced the stamps, -- the coupling of

the listings with dealers' quotations

did not materialize until some years later.

Beginning with 1862, a number of catalogs

appeared both in Europe and the United

States, as the hobby gained momentum.

The first English catalog was published

in London, by Frederick Booty, April, 1862.

A few months later Booty turned out

another edition which was the first

illustrated catalog, the various stamps

being crudely pictured by lithography.

Two other London catalogs followed, one

by Mount Brown, May, 1862, and another

by Dr. John Edward Gray, in December 1862.

The first American stamp catalog, "The

Stamp Collector's Manual," was published

sometime in 1862, by A. C. Kline, a

Philadelphia dealer. Kline's catalog,

except for a longer listing of the U.S.

stamps, is generally regarded as the

theft of Mount Brown's London catalog.

Many other catalogs followed before

J. W. Scott got underway in New York,

first with single-sheet price lists

in 1867, and a pamphlet sized catalog

in 1868 which he called his "16th

Edition."


- George B. Sloane

Sloane's Column

Stamps

July 13, 1946

"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
...
THE STAMP COLLECTORS GUIDE - by FREDERICK BOOTY was advertised as "THE
WORLD'S FIRST ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE"

The Stamp Collectors Guide by Frederick W. Booty of Brighton, England
was first issued in April 1862. This was the world's first
illustrated catalogue and had 200 facsimiles of stamps, drawn and
lithographed personally by Booty, and printed by H&C Treacher,
Brighton.

The second edition (August 12862) had a green front and rear paper
cover with 4 pages of introduction and 44 pages of illustrations, all
printed on one side of the sheet only. Today, both are extremely rare
publications. It was sold on behalf of Christian Aid. [Booty produced
at least three editions of his Aids to Stamp Collectors. His
foundation of knowledge was probably based on a package of half a
million worldwide stamps he was given by a friend, tied in bundles of
hundreds and thousands. Williams & Williams in their work "The Postage
Stamp" state that "Specimens of "Aids to Stamp Collectors" are
extremely rare.

http://www.cavendish-auctions.com/sa...mages/2088.jpg