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what seems at first view a very inconsiderable service. The task, however, was more difficult than it looks: the numerous holes are not mere punctures such as a printer might make with a series of small points, but are, on the contrary, complete circles, from which the small discs of paper have been cut cleanly out. The grand difficulty to contend with must have been the extremely narrow space between the stamps; had there been a wide margin, the printer's joiner could have supplied the means of partially dissevering the stamps in the act of printing, without having recourse to an additional process.

Let us glance now at the possible destiny of a postage stamp, and see what may be in reserve for one of these little Queen's heads. From the printer it has found its way to the Stamp Office, and thence it has migrated to the shop of the stationer or the district postmaster. There it may lie in a drawer or figure in a window for weeks, or it may be torn from the sheet to-morrow, and consigned to the pocket-book of the private customer. It is by no means certain that it will leave its owner's custody on the special mission for which it came into the world, for it may pass through the post once and again as the representative of small change-in payment of newspaper subscriptions-in discharge of a trifling debt-on an errand of charity—or as a substitute for pocket money to an absent child. The advertising columns of a newspaper will show us fifty other functions which the penny postage stamp is made to perform. Send seven postage stamps,' says one, and in return you will receive a (German) silver spoon,' a sample, of course, of an elegant service of cheap plate, which the advertiser wants to recommend. 'Send a dozen stamps,' says another, 'with a specimen of your handwriting, and I will disclose to you the mysteries of your own mind and temper, and put you in a position to make the most of the faculties you possess, and to guard most effectually against the temptations that beset you.' A third benefactor inquires if you are in want of money, and kindly adds, that you have only to send him a few Queen's heads, when, in return, you will receive a secret, the possession of which will put you in funds for the remainder of your life. A fourth, in

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return for thirteen of them, will remit you an infallible recipe, which he professes to have won by the sad experience of years of personal suffering, for the cure of nervous disorders, hypochondria, indigestion, and a long train of ills besides. Of all which professions, however, you need not be too credulous, seeing that the stamps, once out of your possession, will not come back again, and that which does come in their place is not likely, to say the best of it, to prove a monument of your prudence and discrimi

nation.

Such are some of the incidental functions of a postage stamp, and the list need not close here we have seen the Queen's heads pass instead of coppers, when the copper coin ran low-over the counter in shopsto book a parcel at the receiving houseand even, sometimes, to pay an omnibus fare. But the destiny of all stamps, at last, is to be stuck, like a limpet on a rock, on the envelope of a letter; and now it is that its travels in the world are sure to begin in right earnest. Its outset, however, is not very complimentary to its royal countenance, for the first salutation it meets with, on making its début in active life, after being fished out of the receiving-box by the district postmaster, is a violent blow in the face from an inky die, which smudges its rosecoloured beauty with a couple of huge blotty figures, and annihilates its comeliness for ever. Then it gets a ride in the postmaster's wallet to the chief office of the district, where it is pitched and tossed about hither and thither under the hands of the sorters, with a celerity that gives to the whole ceremony the aspect of some reckless frolicking game, and finally gets packed in a parcel, and tossed into a bag along with hundreds of others which have shared the sport. In the bag it rattles at a headlong pace, in a red box mounted on high wheels, helter-skelter along a mile or two of bustling streets, until it arrives at the railway station just as the mail train is ready to start. It is no sooner bundled into the mail van than the start takes place, and off it rolls on its mission-say to some small village in Northumberland. All night it goes thundering along the iron road, and just as the dawn is

glimmering in the east, it finds itself suddenly jerked out of the window of the carriage, with its companions, without the train stopping for an instant, and caught in the arms of a man in a red jacket, who was standing alone on the silent and solitary platform, on the look-out for it. The man is the village postmaster, who, having secured his charge, walks off with it to his humble cottage, and, unpacking the letters, begins to arrange them in the order of their delivery-having accomplished which, he sets out about seven o'clock upon his round.

But our Queen's head happens to be affixed to a letter which is directed 'to be left till called for,' and, beyond the name of the Northumbrian village, bears no other address. So the postman, knowing nothing of the owner, follows his usual course of proceeding in such a case, and sticks the letter, with the address outwards, into the casement of his little office, that if any friend of the person to whom it is addressed should pass that way and happen to see it, the news of its arrival may reach him. In wild, outof-the-way places, letters thus exhibited are known to remain in the postmaster's possession weeks and even months together. Perhaps the correspondent is a farm servant, who, having changed his employer and moved to a distant spot, has no time to spare to look after letters; or, he may be a navvy, in course of continuous migration from one place to another, whose letters are few and far between, and, if they reach him at all, reach him by devious and uncertain routes. But there is an end, sooner or later, to the delays and circumambulations even of such a letter as this, and it reaches its destination and falls into the owner's hand at last. And now, you will say, there is an end to the career of the little Queen's head.

Perhaps there is; but also, perhaps there is not. It is true that hundreds of millions of postage stamps are annually destroyed, and meet with the fate of waste paper; but the whims of a certain class of people, who like to exercise their industry on trifles, have decreed that vast numbers of stamps shall be rescued from the ordinary fate that awaits them, and be appropriated to a useful, if it may be so called, or a quasi-ornamental pur

pose.

As there are collectors of almost everything old under the sun, so also are there collectors of old postage stamps. These antiquaries beg old stamps wherever they go, and amass them by hundreds of thousands, for some cherished purpose of their own, on the accomplishment of which they have set their hearts. Now it is to line a work-box or a trunk, or the interior of a closet or a cabinet; and sometimes their ambition takes a still higher flight than this, and their grand design is to paper a room with the defaced Queen's heads. This has indeed been done by persevering people, and that in more instances than most persons are aware of, and is, we have reason to believe, continually in process of completion in various parts of the country. It is said that a room thus papered, when the affair is managed with skill, and the walls cleverly varnished afterwards, has a very agreeable aspect-the walls appearing to retire considerably from their actual position, and thus giving the effect of larger space in the apartment. This result is due partly to the minuteness of the pattern, and partly to the complete blending of the red, black, and white hues, and to the fact that they have lost their positive colour by the unavoidable wear and tear of their previous career.

So the stamp on the letter of our unknown Northumbrian may chance to get into the hands of a collector, and continue its existence as a permanent fixture, after its day of locomotion is gone. In this case there is no knowing how long it may continue to show a face to the world; the entire living generation may pass away and leave it still fixed to the wall, an infinitesimal fraction of a monument of industry and pertinacity.The Leisure Hour.

STAMPS LATELY ISSUED.

BY C. W. VINER, A.M., PH.D.

WE engrave in the present number three postage stamps very recently brought into circulation; a new French, anticipated in Mount Brown's Manual; the local Bavarian, erroneously described therein, from hearsay,

as blue; and the new French 15 centimes à EMPIRE FRANDAIS percevoir, issued on New Year's Day. The first of these, two centimes in value, intended for franking feuilletons, &c., as well as the 4 cen2POSTES 2 times, has been expected some

months; and, we understand, delayed, in consequence of an accident to the plate. It is coloured a rich brown, which the French call marron, like the 1-lepton Greek, and is an exquisite specimen of engraving; we opine, either by Albert Barre, whose beautiful essays of the republic were in the late International Exhibition, or by Hulot, the engraver of the faultless Grecian stamps. The design is dissimilar from that of the other French, the emperor's head being, in our idea, disfigured by a laurel crown. Imitating in this, as in other respects, his great predecessor, he forgot that what exactly suited the noble classical outline of the first Napoleon's head, does not at all accord with his own pointed beard.

We wonder the French have so recently adopted the clever invention of perforating their stamps-having done so for two or three months only; although Susse, of the Place de la Bourse, has for a considerable time obligingly had those sold at his own establishment perforated for the benefit of his customers.

The 15 centimes à percevoir will be, like its congener, the 10, employed when local letters in the provinces are insufficiently, or not at all, prepaid. These stamps are only with difficulty ob

CHIFFBE

15

CENTIMES

percevois

TAXE

tainable, and by great favour, at the postoffices, as the officials cannot legally sell them to applicants; and we know a zealous collector, visiting a provincial town, who, wishing to procure a quantity of the tens to take back to England for exchanging, wrote a letter to himself every day, dropped it into the letter-box unpaid, and received it duly ornamented by the coveted 10 centimes à percevoir !

Of like use is the Bavarian stamp alluded to, the legend of which, in plain English, is, 'Bavarian Postage, 3 kreuzer, payable by the

receiver.' These last mentioned stamps, though homely in appearance, strikingly contrast with their gailycoloured companions, and form an interesting addition to a well-arranged page.

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We may here remark that the whole of the Bavarian stamps, as well as those of most of the German States, have lately been changed in colour-following in the wake of the Prussians; and those stamps nearest in value to the English penny, twopence, and threepence, are now respectively tinted rose, blue, and pale brown; the various colours thus readily announcing their values to the postal officials.

We are in time to note, as just issued, the following stamps :-a blue Sardinian, of similar pattern to the current series, but with the hitherto unused value of 15 centesimi; and a Brunswick groschen or 5 pfenninge-device like those in use-black on green paper. There are also envelopes printed but not yet issued for France. New stamps are in preparation for Norway, and a third emission has just made its appearance in Wurtemburg.

REVIEWS OF NEW WORKS, ETC., ON POSTAGE STAMPS.

Catalogue of British, Colonial, and Foreign Postage Stamps. By MOUNT BROWN. 3rd edition. London: F. Passmore. MOUNT BROWN's Manual, lately published, claims our notice as a carefully-written, wellarranged, clearly-printed, and exceedingly useful compilation; at present deservedly ranking as the text-book of the English amateur. But, as Dr. Johnson says, The business of a poet is to examine;' and, remarks some one else, 'The business of a critic is to find fault:' so, with all the venom of a sucking-dove, here goes.

We object, primarily, to its shape which renders it with difficulty coaxed into a breastpocket, at the risk of tearing the flimsy covers to pieces each time of putting in or taking out. We would advise the purchase of the bound copies, both as likely to last out three of the others, and for the con

venience of annotating on the blank leaves. We have little else to complain of in the work. There are a few clerical errors, and some omissions, which we purpose noticing in future. We think the arrangement of the numerous United States local stamps under the heads of their respective towns would be a great improvement; and we hope the present edition will be so speedily exhausted as to call for a fourth, with the requisite emendations.

A Hand Catalogue of Postage Stamps, for the use of Collectors. By JOHN EDWARD GRAY, Ph. D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., of the British Museum. London : Robert Hardwicke.

'O fortunatam natam, me consule Romam !'— A SPECIMEN of the poetry quoted by the acute Latin satirist, as emanating from the pen of the most eloquent of orators, to prove that none should expect to be universally pre-eminent; for, as he pithily remarks, 'If Cicero's prose had been of the same calibre as his poetry, he would have died with his head safe on his shoulders.'

The manual of the talented Dr. Gray falls underthe same category as the learned Roman's poetry. The doctor stands among the foremost in so many other branches, that one cannot be surprised at his failure in the natural history of postage stamps. His work is clearly printed, but the proofs should have been revised, as doubtless the mistakes in spelling some of the German and Spanish words are not the author's. The compilation must have cost much trouble and research; but the descriptions are too vague, and the inaccuracies and omissions too numerous, to utilise it generally. *

We

think the English newspaper stamp, and the ridiculous travesties of Leech, &c., should be rejected from a collector's album, rather than the black essays, or trial stamps; for although it is true that these were unused for postal purposes, neither were the coloured ones for Paraguay, Denmark, and numerous others, which are inconsistently admitted, while the former are ignored.

Such rare stamps as the six-baj. Romagne,

Since the above was written, a new and revised edition of this Catalogue is announced, which, no doubt, will be greatly improved.

and the sevenpence-halfpenny currency of Canada are unrecorded, and the two buff local Stockholms are amalgamated. Many non-existing are adduced, as six of the Buenos Ayres, three or four Monte Video, one Mecklenburg, &c.; yet, as the author seems to have had access to some very choice collections, many individuals being introduced that have never fallen under our observation, as the green paper Guiana, &c., we may labour under an erroneous impression.

Omitting all mention of colours in description (except in reference to the St. Lucias, Ionians, and others whose hues are the sole guides to ascertain the value), we think injudicious; and the choice of the penny English red adhesive,-value one shilling on the cover, an error of judgment. We have to thank the learned doctor, however, for the first notice of the Nicaragua stamp; but we are surprised at his adopting the bear's-grease label, which figured as a rare postage stamp in Brown's first edition only. Aids to Stamp Collectors. By FREDERICK BOOTY. Brighton : H. and C. Treacher. Third edition.

WE cannot say much in favour of the Brighton publication, albeit the appearance of a third edition would seem to prove an extensive circulation-we are almost inclined to add-of ignorance. We may perhaps expose our own by avowal of never having heard of such stamps as the 1200-reis Brazilian; sixpenny square Newfoundland; fourpenny Natal envelope; eight-skilling Norwegian, &c.; and the 140-cent of Monte Video, one-kopec Russian, one-lepti Greek, one-grani Neapolitan, and un-centavos Venezuelan, may be misprints; but we are astonished an Englishman should have fallen into the continental error of quoting a halfpenny Newfoundland, and the halfpenny and twopenny of Vancouver's Island. United States locals are more hopelessly tion, who does not profess to eliminate them; jumbled together than in Brown's publicaand we are so obtuse as not to comprehend how one of the Baden three-kreuzer can be, at one and the same time, blue, and P.B. W., which we are told to interpret as 'printed in

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'LES ILLUSTRATIONS' of Moens, the prince of Belgian stamp authorities, are highly-finished lithographs of the various types described in his Manuel de Timbres-Poste,' and designed as supplementary to that work. They are, in fact, so well executed, that we would caution tyros not to be misled into purchasing some of them as essays, or black varieties of the original stamp. The former edition of the Manuel was very deficient in notices of our colonials; but the present is far superior, and almost faultless as regards continental stamps, though still not unpardonably incomplete in cataloguing the impressions of the British colonies.

The Postage Stamp Collector's Pocket Album. London: Johnson and Rowe.

THIS portable portable and elegant album is admirably adapted for the reception of duplicates for exchanging; or for a limited, but not a complete, collection, as much of the space would necessarily be rendered unavailable, unless the pages were indiscriminately filled, regardless of locality. Postage-Stamp Album, Illustrated with Maps.

By JUSTIN LALLIER. Paris: A Lenègre. JUSTIN LALLIER'S album is an elaborately designed and useful acquisition, variously priced, to suit the pockets of all classes, and an ornamental addition to any drawing-room table; a separate page, sometimes two or more, being devoted to each country, the stamps described, and spaces lined off for their reception; but, like all prepared albums, labouring under the disadvantage of excluding any stamp not launched into circulation at the time of its publication, unless placed in an anomalous position, or far removed from its kindred in the extra leaves.

THE priced catalogues of Stafford Smith and Smith, Swaysland, Perris, and numerous others, the first-mentioned being illustrated with several good cuts of rare stamps,—are of

great utility as affording a ready means of ascertaining the marketable value of desiderata, but do not of necessity pretend to any completeness; being designed merely as lists of those particular specimens offered for sale by their several issuers.

CORRESPONDENCE.

PERUVIAN STAMPS.

To the Editor of the 'STAMP COLLECTOR'S MAGAZINE.' SIR,-For the information of many of your readers, allow me to make the following remarks upon the different varieties of Peruvian stamps :-In most catalogues and collections these stamps are arranged under one type, and only mentioned as differing in the colour of the disc, and the lines of the frames. They belong to three very distinct types; the blue dinero stamp, having laurels on the side of the arms, and the red peseta one, two flags on each side of the arms; and each of these stamps differs from one another in the form of the upper wreath, the size of the letters, and the disposition of the shading; and the red one especially also in the size of the flags as compared with one another. In most of these stamps the value is in the lower margin; but in the medio peso it is on the right side of the stamp. Yours truly, British Museum. J. E, GRAY.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. J. C. W., Lansdown.-Mulready's envelopes were the first adopted; but there were others previously proposed, much more elegant in design.

A. F., Islington.-The rarest English stamp is the black official, with V. R. on the upper corners.

COLLECTOR asks how many Hamburg Boten there are. We have seen upwards of fifty.

A. F., Clifton, wishes to know where to procure a Nicaraguan stamp. We sympathise with him.

K. T.-The Hamburg Boten are postage stamps, equally with the local United States' labels.

INQUIRER, Clapham.-An album capable of containing all the known postage stamps, covers, envelopes, and their varieties, would require a hundred leaves. Our own contains eighty; but some pages are overcrowded, and room is required for more local Americans and Boten, for the expected Turkish and Hong Kong issues, and for probable additions.

TYRO.-Your stamp is not a genuine Argentine. cap of Liberty is wanting.

The

EMMA.-The threepenny English essay differs from the current stamp, in having the white ground of the latter filled with lines.

Q. Q., Bristol.-The only known triangular stamps are those of the Cape of Good Hope, and the green Newfoundland.

C. T., London.-There is a green one-franc of the French empire. We possess it, but believe it was an essay; though one has been seen that has passed the post. It is not noticed in any catalogue.

J. J. R., Bayswater.-The new Caledonian stamp is obsolete, as is also that of Reunion. Three of the latter are noted in a recent catalogue, but we opine erroneously. Both stamps are exceedingly rare.

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