The Quarter 1 Philatelic Literature Review is available to read at stamps.org/services/library for PLR subscribers. This issue celebrates some of the whimsical and fantastical stories that can be found in our hobby.

First, from Richard Morel (of the British Library), “Do Martians Collect Stamps?” As it turns out, they used to – or at least they did in the philatelic science fiction written by stamp collectors over the years. Morel digs into the diverse array of philatelic literature featuring science fiction motifs, published all around the world. With examples from the U.S., India, Australia, the Netherlands and England in the 20th century, we see stories of Martians, a space-faring Queen Victoria, aliens evolving to look like stamps with perforations, and more.

Next, from Brian Birch, “The Secret History of Philately.” In this article, Birch dives into a section of the Royal Philatelic Society London’s archives that have been untouched for years – the council minute books from every council meeting from 1876 on, “a continuous record of well over 100 years of philately.” Birch organizes his notes on these minutes by biography, highlighting important names in philately that show up again and again, donating material, arguing over financial matters, and making decisions that would shape the Royal over the years.

Finally, from Abhishek Bhuwalka, a very exciting discovery: “Frank Bellamy and the Catalog of his Philatelic Library.” Frank Bellamy’s philatelic library was one of the largest private philatelic libraries in the world in the 1930s; his index, an attempt to catalog “a full bibliography of separate articles and notes published… on the subject of stamps”, was never published and presumed lost… until Bhuwalka located it in the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. He was able to acquire a digitized copy of the catalog and shows many pages for the first time here.

Read the PLR

Subscribers to the print PLR are advised that the printing and mailing of this issue was delayed due to circumstances outside of our control. We apologize for the extended delay. Please expect the issue within the next two weeks (in the U.S.). In the meantime, a full color version of the issue is available at stamps.org/services/library.

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