V. Liapin, The Catalogue of the Postage Stamps of Russia, 1856-1991

V. Liapin, The Catalogue of the Postage Stamps of Russia, 1856-1991. 720 pp, 8 3/4 x 6 ¼ inch format. Published by I. V. Balabanov Publishing House, Moscow, Russia, 2010. 2nd Edition, in English and Russian. ISBN: 978-5-91563—070-2 .

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Reviewer: Dr. Greg Mirsky, Rossica Librarian

[email protected]

Two catalogs (V. Zagorsky and V. Liapin) published relatively recently are bilingual (English and Russian) and therefore can be recommended for audiences that cannot read Russian. Unfortunately, both of them are out of print, and one – “the V. Liapin catalog” – is virtually impossible to find. V. Liapin catalog covers stamps of Russia and USSR from 1856 up to 1991 and all related areas, including Finland, Baltic States and Poland, for certain periods of time when these countries were part of tightly connected to Russia. The main strength of the catalog is Russia/RSFSR/USSR part with listing of many stamp varieties unlisted in general catalogs like Scott. It is definitely recommended for the advanced collector focusing on stamp plate and perforation varieties, etc. This catalog has prices in U.S. dollars, but with constantly changing prices of the Russian stamp market, in 2021 these prices mainly represent relative scarcity of certain issues. Real retail and wholesale prices will be dictated by actual sales at auctions and stamp bourses. My recommendation is to get this and the V. Zagorsky catalog if you collect Russian stamps and want to go beyond generic listings from generic catalogs.

There is a variety of good, specialized catalogs covering various aspects of Russian and related areas philately that were published in the last several years. Most of these catalogs are only in Russian since most collectors of Russian material are in Russia. Among these Russian-only catalogs are the excellent specialized catalogs of A. Ya. Pevsner, 2015, M.A. Kramarenko, 2017, A.V. Zverev. 2018, N. Mandrovsky, 2019, and V.Yu.Soloviev series of five volumes of catalogs published yearly.

Zagorsky V. Catalog of Postage Stamps

Zagorsky V. Catalog of Postage Stamps. Russia 1857-1917. RSFSR 1918-1922. USSR 1923-1991. 560 pp, 8 1/2 x 6 inch format. Standard Collection published in St. Petersburg, Russia, 2013. In English and Russian. ISBN: 978-5-902275-56-5.

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Reviewer: Dr. Greg Mirsky, Rossica Librarian

[email protected]

APRL Locator: [G7000 .A1 S785c 2013]

Two catalogs published relatively recently are bilingual (English and Russian) and therefore can be recommended for audiences that cannot read Russian. Unfortunately, both of them are out of print, and one – “the V. Liapin catalog” – is virtually impossible to find. The V. Zagorsky catalog covers Russia/RSFSR/USSR from 1856-1991. It is very well structured with very nice clear layout, typical for all Standard Collection publications. It has a listing of all major stamp issues with most common varieties that makes it very useful for somebody who collected stamps “by Scott” and wants to move to collecting major plate and perforation varieties. It also includes separate listings for small sheets and a very useful topical stamps index. This catalog has prices in U.S. dollars, but with constantly changing prices of the Russian stamp market, in 2021 these prices mainly represent relative scarcity of certain issues. Real retail and wholesale prices will be dictated by actual sales at auctions and stamp bourses. My recommendation is to get both this and the V. Liapin catalog if you collect Russian stamps and want to go beyond generic listings from generic catalogs.

There is a variety of good, specialized catalogs covering various aspects of Russian and related areas philately that were published in the last several years. Most of these catalogs are only in Russian since most collectors of Russian material are in Russia. Among these Russian-only catalogs are the excellent specialized catalogs of A. Ya. Pevsner, 2015, M.A. Kramarenko, 2017, A.V. Zverev. 2018, N. Mandrovsky, 2019, and V.Yu.Soloviev series of five volumes of catalogs published yearly.