Looking Back #9 - Early Stamp Catalogues

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