The Advertisement and Other Supplements to 'The Journal' of and the Publications of The Philatelic Literature Society
Short-lived society and its publications
Some weeks back, I wrote on the auction of the philatelic library of Yves Vertommen, which took place in Brussels in June 2025.
In it, I mentioned how flabbergasted I was when that the most complete set in existence, but still missing a few supplements, of the Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society fetched just €1,800. And I was dismayed and disturbed too, since the last time the full run had come up for sale in 2016, it went for $6,250 plus 15%. The buyer was yours truly, which accounts for his state of mind!
Looking ahead, on 15 November 2025, the “PARIS” library of Tomas Bjäringer will be auctioned. This is probably the finest and most wide-ranging library of philatelic literature in private hands currently.
Of course, the Journal is one among the 1,277 lots (Figure A). After all, a philatelic bibliophile’s library is not complete unless it contains a run of this in original. The description of this particular lot reads:
The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society (1908–1918), ed. Bacon, Edward D., 5 bibliophile excellent bound half leather volumes in perfect quality, handmade paper, more than 1,000 pages. – This is one of the rarest philatelic journals ever, because the society had only 88 members at the best times. There is a reprint (2019) which is offered today for prices about 500 Euro. But this is the absolutely rare opportunity to have an original copy of the complete run. Ex Robert Blake Yardley, incl. an original letter of F. J. Peplow inside etc. – PLUS: original Statutes / List Of Members / Publications of the Society, edition 1912 (2x) and 1916, 13 + 14 pages, one with ex libris Stephen Holder/ex libris Bellamy; PLUS: colour photocopies of the presentation by Abhishek Bhuwalka about this Journal at Stockholmia 2019. Estimate: 1,500 Euro
The start price is a modest €750. I will be eagerly looking forward to see what it fetches. For selfish reasons obviously, I do hope it blasts past the estimate of €1,500!
Meanwhile, here is my article on the Journal and its supplements as well as the other publications of the Society. For republication on the web, I have re-scanned (and measured) many of the items. Further, for the first time, they can be seen in colour; the publications in which they appeared in the past were all printed in black and white.
The first part of this article was published as “The Advertisement Supplements to The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society.” Philatelic Literature Review 67 no. 3 (Third Quarter 2018).
Due to some errors, next followed “Revisions to Advertisement Supplements to The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society.” Philatelic Literature Review 67 no. 4 (Fourth Quarter 2018).
In 2019, I wrote “The Other Supplements to The Journal and the Publications of The Philatelic Literature Society.” Philatelic Literature Review 68 no. 1 (First Quarter 2019).
Finally, all of them were combined into one article and revised and corrected for the reprint edition of the Journal - “The Advertisement and Other Supplements to The Journal and the Publications of The Philatelic Literature Society.” in The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society (Vol. I – Vol XI) 1908 – 1918; edited and published by Wolfgang Maassen (2019).
The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society (JPLS) (Figure 1) is not just the most valuable1 philatelic journal that exists but is, after the Crawford Catalogue, the most important source of bibliographic information for the researcher. Within its pages are descriptions of the literature holdings of important societies and collectors; detailed bibliography of and information on some of the early philatelic books, catalogues, and periodicals sometimes accompanied by their photographic reproduction on plates; cumulative indexes; reviews of recent publications; and miscellaneous instructional articles.2
Just as Hagan (1986) was prompted to write up the bibliographic aspects of his JPLS run after a recent Roger Koerber sale containing a complete run, I decided to draft this piece after my trip to the UK in June 2018. I visited HH Sales, the preeminent philatelic literature dealer in that country, in Bradford near Leeds, and saw some sheets of the Advertisement Supplements to JPLS.3 I also noticed the Journal, handsomely hardbound in three volumes, in the library of The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) but missing the covers and Advertisement Supplements.4 After my articles (Bhuwalka 2018a, 2018b) on the Advertisement Supplements saw better-than-usual response I was motivated to write about the other supplements that were periodically issued with JPLS as well as the publications of, and pertaining to, The Philatelic Literature Society (Society).5
JPLS - A Brief History
The history of the Society and its journal has been well covered by King-Farlow (1948), Hagan (1986), and Birch (2018). In brief, the Society was formed on 18 September 1907 with the who’s-who of philatelic literature collectors as members. They included, at the beginning and in alphabetical order, P. J. Anderson, Edward D. Bacon, F. A. Bellamy, The Earl of Crawford, L. W. Fulcher, Hiram. E. Deats, Dr. Emilio Diena, Fred. J. Melville, F. J. Peplow, B. T. K. Smith, Hofrath V. Suppantschitsch, Baron Percy de Worms, and R. B. Yardley amongst others. Societies such as RPSL, The Manchester Philatelic Society, and The Junior Philatelic Society6 were also members.
Apart from publishing JPLS, the high point of the Society was when in 1911 the Earl of Crawford gave it the rights of publication of a special edition of Bibliotheca Lindesiana Vol VII: A Bibliography of the Writings General Special and Periodical forming the Literature of Philately7 for general issue. The Society ceased activity in 1918 and after various attempts to revive it, was finally dissolved in 1929.8
The first number of the Society’s journal came out in January 1908 and it was issued quarterly thereafter every January, April, July, and October till the end of 1918; however, the last issue is a combined July and October one. The editors were F. J. Peplow and B. T. K. Smith9 through the 43 numbers.
Apart from an additional 50 unnumbered review and specimen copies of the first issue, only 100 copies of each further issue were printed (Figure 2). Membership at its peak touched 84;10 hence numbers printed were always in excess. As evident from announcements in the last couple of issues, irregular back numbers11 were destroyed and only a few complete sets were retained (Peplow 1918a, Peplow 1918c).
According to King-Farlow (1948), complete runs12 of JPLS are “extremely scarce”. Birch (2018, 677-79) tabulates all complete and broken runs known to him; the former counts 19. Assuming a few more lying in collections incognito, about 22-24 would be the likely maximum.13
Supplements to JPLS
For ease of understanding, the various supplements and works14 are being categorised as follows:
Advertisement Supplements to JPLS
The Six Supplements to JPLS
Other ‘Short’ publications of the Society
Publications of the Society
Cumulative Index to JPLS15
1. Advertisement Supplements to JPLS
One of the objectives of the Society was, “to provide a medium for the sale and exchange of duplicates.” To further this, the Journal carried Advertisement Supplements from its first issue onwards. They were printed on light bluish-grey machine-made trimmed paper in contrast to the creamish hand-made deckle-edge paper of the main pages. The supplement was issued gratis with the journal but could also be obtained by non-members on payment of an annual subscription of 2s. 6d. Hence, apart from the January 1909 edition of the Supplement issued with Vol. II No. 1 which comprised 250 additional numbers, 100 or possibly a few more may have been printed with each other issue of the Journal.
The Advertisement Supplements never really took off from a commercial point of view. Members were charged 15s for a whole page, 7s 6d for a half page, 5s for a quarter page, and 2s 6d for one-eighth of a page, this being “practically the cost of printing” (Peplow 1908b). Nevertheless, it must have proven expensive to the advertisers. Of the 43 printed issues, only eight issues in the initial three years carried them. The sole consistent advertiser throughout was Victor Marsh (Figure 3),16 perhaps the biggest philatelic literature dealer in those times; his advertisements comprise 12 of the 29 (printed) pages.17 Stanley Gibbons also advertised the Earl of Crawford’s wants in some of the earlier issues (Figure 4).
The lack of adequate advertisers in the first four inaugural issues prompted the Council to issue a notice in Vol. I No. 4 (Peplow 1908b) that 250 extra copies of the Advertisement Supplement to the January 1909 issue would be printed “for gratuitous circulation among Non-Members of the society interested in Philatelic Literature” with the hope that this “greatly extended issue will induce members to send Special Lists of Wants and Offers, which should secure exceptional publicity among Collectors and Dealers.” While the advertising pages did go up from four to six, further “lack of support” from members made the Council decide that the Supplement would be issued half-yearly instead of quarterly, “as an experiment” (Peplow 1909b). Falling advertisement revenues18 sealed their fate and the Supplements were discontinued after Vol. III No. 4.
If we speculate that there are about 22-24 complete runs of JPLS existing, there would be just a handful, perhaps three or four, which would also have all the eight Supplements. They typically would have been discarded either by the owners themselves or more likely by the binder.19
Contents of Advertisement Supplements
It is now well recognised that advertisements appearing in journals have their own particular charm and use. They are of importance to the researcher who wants to understand the history and flavour of philately during the period when the journal was in publication viz. who were the dealers around then, what did they deal in and prices of their wares, what items were popular with the collecting public, etc. Further the bibliophile would not consider a journal ‘complete’ without all its paraphernalia such as the covers, inserts, and of course the advertisement pages.
Given the rarity of the Advertisement Supplements, I am summarizing their bibliographic details in the accompanying table in the hope that they provide useful information to the historian or researcher and prove to be an interesting read to others.
1908
1909
1910
2. The Six Supplements to JPLS
Six supplements to JPLS were issued over its 11-year existence. Their bibliography is contained in this section.
#1. Index to Philatelists’ Supplement to “The Bazaar”
Issue Number: Vol. I No. 4 (October 1908)
In early 1908, Herbert E. Weston compiled an index to the Philatelists’ Supplement to “The Bazaar”20 (Weston, 1908) (Figure 5). It was circulated to members later that year.
The work is staple bound and consists of eight numbered pages of which seven are printed. The size is 330 x 230 mm. An insert in the October issue’s advertisement supplement gives the print run as 150 and the price for additional copies as 2/6 or two shillings and six pence.
#2. Index to Bulletin de la Société Française de Timbrologie (Vol. IX)
Issue Number: Vol. II No. 3 (July 1909)
In his article (published in two parts) on the publications of the Société Française de Timbrologie, Smith (1909b) mentions that no index was published for Vol. IV (1887-1896) and goes on to give a list of contents of this volume. Later a copy of the Index was reprinted from the April issue and sent to members as a Supplement to the July issue (Peplow 1909c) (Figure 6).
The work was printed on a thin large paper in a ‘3/3’ tête-bèche position and then folded; hence it can be said to consist of eight unnumbered pages with six printed. While the print run is not known, it is likely to be 100.
#3. Supplementary Index to The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine (Vol. I)
Issue Number: Vol. II No. 4 (October 1909)
B. T. K. Smith penned an article (again published in two parts) on the philatelic publications of the pioneering dealer brothers, Alfred and Stafford Smith. One of the publications covered is The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine.21 Since, according to Smith (1909d), the original index to Vol. I is very incomplete, he compiled a supplementary index of countries referred to therein (Figure 7).
The work is self-bound and consists of four unnumbered pages with two of them printed upon. The pages measure 221 x 174 mm. While the print run is not known, it is likely to be 100.
#4. Title page and Index to La Gazette des Timbres (Vol. IV)
Issue Number: Vol. V No. 1 (January 1912)
In his article on the publications of Pierre Mahé, Smith (1912b) mentions that no title page or index was issued to Vol. IV of this journal and that this omission is being rectified as was done in the case of Bulletin de la Société Française de Timbrologie. The supplement follows as a consequence (Figure 8).
The work is self-bound and consists of four unnumbered printed pages. The pages measure 254 x 161 mm. The print run is of 100 copies.
#5. Title page and Index to The Post Office (Vol. IX)
Issue Number: Vol. V No. 1 (July 1912)
Hiram E. Deats, the great American bibliophile and philatelist, made available to the Society the reminder of an index (including the title page) to Vol. IX (the final) of The Post Office, which he had compiled and published in December 1900 (Figure 9). It is not clear from a perusal of JPLS with which issue it was sent out but King-Farlow (1948) asserts that it was Vol. V No. 1.
The work is self-bound and consists of four unnumbered pages of which two are printed. The size is 254 x 163 mm.
#6. Index to The Quaker City Philatelist
Vol. XI No. 3-4 (July - October 1918)
W. R. Ricketts, another famous American bibliophile and philatelist, compiled and Deats privately printed an index to The Quaker City Philatelist Volumes I – IX22 in 1917 (Figure 10). Deats supplied a sufficient number of copies to each member of the Society and this was sent out with the last issue of the journal.
The work is staple bound in grey oversized card covers (not in the style of the Society’s publications; the colour is green-gray here). The cover measures 260 x 181 mm. It consists of 20 numbered printed pages. 225 copies were printed of which 100 were issued as a supplement to JPLS.
3. Other ‘Short’ publications of the Society
The Society also sent out with the JPLS, and sometimes separately, ‘short’ publications; the word ‘short’ is used here to distinguish from the publications in book form, which are discussed in the next section.
#1. Statutes and List of Members of the Society
Issue Number: Vol. I No. 4 (October 1908)
This is a self-bound four-page unnumbered work with three printed pages. The first page consists the list of office bearers (Figure 11) and members while the second and third contain the statues (Figure 12). The list of members enumerates to 13 philatelic societies and 41 individuals. The office bearers are shown as E. D. Bacon as President, B.T.K. Smith as Vice-President, and F.J. Peplow as the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer; others in the Council are L.W. Fulcher, Herbert Clark, Herbert F. Johnson, and Fred. J. Melville. The statutes contain seven articles.
#2. A Check List of Philatelic Publications in the English Language for the year 190923
Issue Number: Vol. III No. 4 (October 1910)
W. R. Ricketts had compiled the said checklist for publication in the Stamp Collector of September 1910. Through the courtesy of its publisher, this issue of the magazine, which contained that portion of the check list containing the periodicals of Great Britain and Colonies, was sent out to members with this issue of JPLS.
#3. Statutes, List of Members, Publications of the Society
Issue Number: Vol. V No. 3 (July 1912)
A new impression of the work similar to the one published in 1908 was issued to members and for general circulation. While one cannot glean from JPLS the issue number, King-Farlow (1948) has it as Vol. V No. 3.
#4. Portrait of the late Earl of Crawford
Issue Number: Vol. VI No. 2 (April 1913)
The Earl, James Ludovic Lindsay, had passed away on 31st January that year. In memorium, a portrait of the Earl (309 x 235 mm) (Figure 13) was circulated with this issue. As per Smith (1913b) it was reproduced from an enlargement made from a photographic group that was taken by an amateur just four years earlier. The portrait had not appeared in print before and it was thought that members of the Society would prefer having a likeness of this kind to one that had appeared in the press earlier.
Further, it was suggested that the portrait should form and be bound as a frontispiece to that year’s volume.
#5. Statutes, List of Members, Publications of the Society
Issue Number: Vol. IX No. 3 or 4 (July or October 1916)
An announcement in Vol. IX No. 2 (April 1916) of JPLS mentions that a new edition of the statues is in the press and will be issued after the Annual General Meeting. It is not clear which issue of JPLS this was sent out with but it has to be either of the latter two issues of that year.
The issued booklet (Figure 14) is center sew-bound in oversized grey card covers and handmade paper; in the same style as JPLS. The covers are of size 236 x 150 mm. It consists of 16 pages, of which 14 are numbered.
The statues are as it were in 1908. The list of members shows 11 philatelic societies and 53 individuals. A section on office bearers shows B.T.K. Smith as President, L.W. Fulcher as Vice-President, and F.J. Peplow as the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer; others in the Council are C.W. Care, Herbert Clark, Herbert F. Johnson, and Fred. J. Melville. Further one page illustrates two medals received by the Society in 1913 for the Crawford Catalogue, one from Exposition Philatelique Internationale, Paris and the other from International Philatelic Exhibition, New York.
#6. Portrait of P. J. Anderson
Issue Number: Vol. XI No. 3-4 (July - October 1916)
Published in the final three issues of JPLS, Anderson (1918a, 1918b, and 1918c)24 contains reminiscences of his stamp and literature collecting from late 1861 (making him one of the first such collectors) to 1868, extracts from a diary begun by him in 1869 till 1879, and extracts from letters written to Mr. J. K. Tiffany in 1876.
As a means to honour him for his most interesting and valuable contributions made to JPLS, a portrait of Anderson (Figure 15) was issued with the intent to form a frontispiece to the year’s volume (Peplow 1918b). The size is 290 x 221 mm.
4. Publications of the Society
Three of the greatest works in philatelic bibliography and published by the Society are described below.
#1. Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of the Earl of Crawford (1911) and its Supplement (1926)
Surely this work by Edward D. Bacon needs no introduction being the pinnacle of philatelic bibliographical greatness. The catalogue of philatelic literature, Bibliotheca Lindesiana, commissioned by the Earl was to form a volume of the catalogue of his general library and printed in the same style as the other volumes of the series. Lord Crawford gave his permission to Bacon to make any arrangements for printing and publication of further copies of the work; in turn Bacon offered this opportunity to the Society, which was readily accepted (Bacon 1909).
The Society advertised the work, Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of The Earl of Crawford, K.T., to consist of 470 pages,25 sized 14 by 10½ inches, and printed on double columns on specially made paper. It was bound in grey card covers similar in style to JPLS. 300 copies of this book were printed of which 100 were reserved for members.26
In 1926, the Society published Bacon’s Supplement to the Catalogue (Bacon 1926) (Figure 16) containing corrections and new additions.27 It was issued in grey card covers in the style of the main catalogue and was an edition of 200 copies.28 It measures 370 x 270 mm.
#2. Early English Philatelic Literature by P. J. Anderson and B. T. K. Smith (1912)
This magnificent work was initially serialized in Vol. IV Nos. 1 to 4 (January to October 1911) of JPLS. In early 1912, the Council decided to reissue the work in book form (Smith 1912c) for members only (Figure 17). It was published in July 1912 with the whole of the text been revised, a copious index added, together with the addition of 32 collotype plates.
As per Smith (1913a), 125 copies were printed of which 20 were given to Mr. Anderson and 5 to Mr. Smith. However, an earlier notice (Smith 1912c) and the book itself mentions that it is a run of 120 copies.29 The book was bound in grey card covers and printed on handmade paper in the style of JPLS though in a smaller format (9 by 5½ inches). The covers of my copy size 228 x 147 mm.
#3. Index-Volume to Alfred Smith & Son’s Monthly Circular 1875-1910
The index to this important magazine30 was compiled by Bertram Tapscott Knight Smith, Alfred Smith’s son (Figure 18). Smith was of course the editor of JPLS as well as the Monthly Circular at this point in time.
The book was circulated to members only in September 1915. It was advertised to contain 36 pages (10½ by 8¼ inches) and limited to a print run of 120 copies. The covers of my copy measures 263 x 210 mm.
5. Cumulative Index to JPLS
In 1948, R. King-Farlow, the then Honorary Librarian of The Royal Philatelic Society, London (RPSL), authored a Cumulative Index to the 11 volumes of JPLS (Figure 19). While RPSL is shown as its publisher, Birch (2018, 672) says that King-Farlow produced and paid for the printing and binding, donating all of the copies to the RPSL to be sold for its funds.
The work is bound with sewn signatures and wrapped in quarter cloth and boards. It contains 40 pages with 38 printed pages. The covers measures 216 x 172 mm. It is an edition of 75 copies only. As can be seen from the adjoining picture, all copies have the erroneous XVIII struck off and the correct number XI scribed by hand.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Brian Birch, Yves Vertommen, and Casper Pottle for their valuable inputs including sharing of scans and details of certain items in their collection. Any feedback or information can be shared on my email id: abbh@hotmail.com.
Bibliography
Anderson, P[eter]. J[ohn]. 1918a. “Philatelic Literature Collecting in 1864-79” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI no. 1 (January 1918): 1-6.
Anderson, P[eter]. J[ohn]. 1918b. “Philatelic Literature Collecting in 1864-79” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI no. 2 (April 1918): 17-21.
Anderson, P[eter]. J[ohn]. 1918c. “Philatelic Literature Collecting in 1864-79” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI no. 3-4 (July-October 1918): 30-33
Bacon, Sir E[dward]. D[enny]. 1909. “The Catalogue of the Earl of Crawford’s Philatelic Library” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 4 (October 1909): 65.
Bacon, Sir E[dward]. D[enny]. 1926. Supplement to the Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of The Earl of Crawford, K.T. Published 1911. London: The Philatelic Literature Society.
Bhuwalka, Abhishek. 2018a. “The Advertisement Supplements to The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society.” The Philatelic Literature Review Vol. 68 No. 3 (Third Quarter): 194-202.
Bhuwalka, Abhishek. 2018b. “Revisions to Advertisement Supplements to “The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society.”” The Philatelic Literature Review Vol. 68 No. 4 (Fourth Quarter): 278-279.
Birch, Brian J. 2018. The Philatelic Bibliophile’s Companion. Montignac Toupinerie, France: The Author. http://www.globalphilateliclibrary.org/birch/PhilatelicBibliophilesCompanion.pdf.
Hagan, William. 1977. “Philatelic Literature Price Trends.” Philatelic Literature Review Vol. 26 No. 4 (Fourth Quarter): 233-236.
Hagan, William. 1986. “An Update on Prices.” Philatelic Literature Review Vol. 35 No. 1 (1st Quarter): 6-11.
King-Farlow R. 1948. The Journal of The Philatelic Literature Society. Cumulative Index. Volumes I to XI, 1908-1918. London: The Royal Philatelic Society, London.
Negus, James. 1991. Philatelic Literature: Compilation Techniques and Reference Sources. Limassol, Cyprus: James Bendon.
Negus, Ron. 1999. Our National Philatelist: Sir Edward Denny Bacon, KCVO (1860-1938). A Short Biographical Sketch. Supplement to The London Philatelist, December 1999. London: The Royal Philatelic Society London.
Negus, Ron. 2002. The Earl of Crawford K.T. A Short Biographical Sketch. Supplement to The London Philatelist, December 2002. London: The Royal Philatelic Society London.
Peplow, F. J. 1908a. “On the Binding of Philatelic Literature.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. I no. 4 (October 1908): 39-41.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1908b. “Special Notice”. The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. I no. 4 (October 1908). Carried on page xiii of the Advertisement Supplement.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1909a. “The Philatelic Literature Society: General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 1 (January): 13.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1909b. “The Philatelic Literature Society: General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 2 (April): 37.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1909c. “Notices.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 3 (July 1909): 60.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1918a. “Notices to Members.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI no. 1 (April): 28.
P[eplow]., F[rank]. J[ukes]. 1918b. “Mr. P. J. Anderson.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI no. 3-4 (July-October 1913): 29.
[Peplow F. J.]. 1918c. “Notices to Members.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. XI nos. 3-4 (July-October): 42.
Smith, Bertram T. K. Smith. 1909a. “The Publications of the Société Française de Timbrologie.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 1 (January 1909): 4-8.
Smith, Bertram T. K. Smith. 1909b. “The Publications of the Société Française de Timbrologie.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 2 (April 1909): 30-35.
Smith, Bertram T. K. Smith. 1909c. “The Publications of Alfred and Stafford Smith.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 3 (July 1909): 56-60.
Smith, Bertram T. K. Smith. 1909d. “The Publications of Alfred and Stafford Smith.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. II no. 4 (October 1909): 68-77.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1910. “Philatelic Literature Society: Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. III no. 2 (April): 31.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1911. “Philatelic Literature Society: Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. IV no. 2 (April): 39-40.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1912a. “Philatelic Literature Society: Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. V no. 2 (April): 30.
Smith, Bertram T. K. Smith. 1912b. “The Philatelic Publications of M. Pierre Mahé.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. V no. 1 (January 1912): 4-13.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1912c. “Early English Philatelic Literature, 1862-1865.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. V no. 2 (April 1909): 38.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1913a. “Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. VI no. 2 (April 1913): 19.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1913b. “Portrait of the late Earl of Crawford, K. T.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. VI no. 2 (April 1913): 25.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1915. “Philatelic Literature Society: Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. VIII no. 2 (April): 19.
[Smith B. T. K.]. 1916. “Philatelic Literature Society: Annual General Meeting.” The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. IX no. 2 (April): 22.
W.[eston], H[erbert] E. 1908. Notes: Philatelists’ Supplement to Bazaar. The Journal of the Philatelic Literature Society Vol. I no. 1 (January 1909): 10.
Schuyler Rumsey auctioned a complete run (lot no. 3276) on 25 September 2016 for $7,187.50 including buyer’s premium of 15%. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the last sale of a complete run.
My favourite in the final category is Peplow’s (1908a) On the Binding of Philatelic Literature. Apart from his estimates of binding prices, which are obviously out-dated, almost every other word holds true 110 years later.
According to its current owner, Casper Pottle, HH Sales had acquired about 15-20 copies of the Advertisement Supplements (from Vol. II No. 1 and Vol. III No. 2) when they purchased Harry Hayes’ business. He is of the opinion that these copies came from Victor Marsh’s stock (Casper Pottle, 2018, email message to author). A large part of Marsh’s (as indeed F. A. Bellamy’s) stock was acquired by Albert H. Harris (Birch 2018, 1340) and found its way, through many others, to Hayes (Bhuwalka 2018, 116).
This run is No. 2 and was earlier in William Hagan’s library. He purchased it in the third literature auction of The Friends of The Western Philatelic Library on 27 Aug 1977 for $220 (Hagan 1977, 233). Hagan (1986, 9-10) describes the set as “…bound in three red buckram volumes with gilt edges”. Birch informs me that he bought Hagan’s copy and presented it to the RPSL when their set, no. 16, went missing; no. 16 was the Society’s subscriber number (Brian Birch, 2018, email message to author).
Many of these supplements and ‘short’ publications are rare and missing from most complete runs of JPLS. Hence, I believe, an article that describes them all in one place is warranted.
The Junior Philatelic Society was established by the journalist, Fred. J. Melville, in 1899. It is now known as the National Philatelic Society. They still issue their journal, Stamp Lover, which was first published in 1908.
The Bibliotheca Lindesiana was distributed free to public libraries. This volume was an edition of 200 copies. It was hardbound in black cloth with the Earl’s device on the front and back covers.
While the Society’s activities ceased after the last issue of JPLS, an attempt was made in 1922 to revive it and it led to the publication of the Supplement to the Crawford Catalogue in 1926. The Society was finally dissolved in 1929 when the balance of the funds in hand, £118, was divided equally and presented to the Royal Philatelic Society, London and the Junior Philatelic Society, for use in maintaining and improving their respective libraries. After copies of the Crawford Catalogue and its supplement had been presented to libraries across the world, the remaining stock of publications was handed over to the Royal for sale or presentation (King-Farlow 1948, Negus 1991).
King-Farlow (1948) mentions that F. J. Peplow was the editor of the Journal. However, the editorship was likely shared as follows: (a) 12 issues from Jan 1908 to Dec 1910 were edited by F. J. Peplow, (b) 25 issues from Jan 1911 to Jan 1917 were edited by B. T. K. Smith, and (c) Peplow took over the editorship again for six issues from Apr 1917 to Jul/Oct 1918. I reach this conclusion by checking the last page of each journal which mentions the person to whom communications concerning the journal should be sent to. For some reason, the name of the editor was never explicitly mentioned.
The list of members was very frequently printed in the Journal and I made a manual count of each. The maximum number I could find was in the January 1914 issue; a total of 83, including 18 Societies. On the other hand, minutes of the Annual General Meetings for the years 1911 and 1914 mention membership as 84 each at the end of those two years (Smith 1912a, Smith 1915). I have preferred to use the higher of the two numbers. A total of 111 members in all ever joined the society (Birch 2018, 679). Incidentally the Society saw a sharp decline in membership in 1915 as nine members (including one society) and eight enemy members (including four societies) were removed for non-payment of subscription dues (Smith 1916).
As per Birch (2018, 679), when a member joined, he or she or it was assigned a number that was likely not reallocated when that member resigned, died, or was removed for non-payment of subscription dues. This explains the existence of irregular back numbers as well as issues numbered beyond 100 (the highest number recorded by Birch is 107). Unnumbered issues (usually Vol. 5 Nos. 1 & 3 and Vols. 6 to 11) exist since peak membership never exceeded the copies printed (and also possibly since the printer always produced some extra copies in case of imperfect ones). Recently, Ross A. Towle of San Francisco wrote to me mentioning that he holds a complete run that is numbered 105 till Vol. 5 No. 2 and unnumbered thereafter. Such a high number for the initial issues is surprising. One explanation is that the original owner joined the Society late but wanted the past issues which were then numbered for him.
What constitutes a “complete run” of a journal? The usual acceptance is the availability of all printed numbers, preferably in its issued state. A stricter definition would be not just the existence of the printed issues but also of the covers and advertisements. The strictest would be the addition of all other supplements issued with the journal. In the case of JPLS, I would say that a set containing the journal’s covers, it’s advertisement supplements, it’s six supplements, and the other supplements would comprise a “complete run.” To the best of my knowledge there is no such run existing. However, there is one run, no. 53, in the library of Yves Vertommen of Luxembourg which contains all the advertisement supplements and most of the six main plus other supplements. Further all his issues are unbound, uncut, and in the same state in which they were sent to the original subscriber, W. S. King Esq. (Yves Vertommen, 2018, email message to author).
I purchased a complete run in the above-mentioned Rumsey auction. It is ex Dr. Stanley Bierman and Robert Masters. While Vol. I is hardbound, the other volumes are unbound and uncut with the original grey card covers, advertisement supplements, and most of the six main and other supplements. The flipside is that the numbering is not uniform with some issues being unnumbered.
All publications of the Society above were sent gratis to members; the advertisement supplements, of course, were an integral part of each issue of JPLS.
While this work was not published by the Society, it is being covered here for the sake of completeness.
Victor March was the trade name of Herbert Edgar Weston, stamp and philatelic literature dealer from London (Birch 2018, 1339). Weston was also one of the founding members of the Society and a frequent contributor to the Journal.
Supplements to Vol. I No. 2 contain only two printed pages of advertisements and the other two pages are blank and unnumbered. So is the case with Vol. III No. 4. Further, Vol. II No. 1 has six printed pages of advertisements and two blank unnumbered pages. Finally, Vol. I No. 4 contain three printed pages and one blank page. The total number of printed (29) and blank pages (7) number 36.
From an income of £9-7-6 out of a total income of £66-11-6 (or 14%) for the year ending 31 December 1908 (Peplow 1909a), advertisement revenues fell to £7-11-0 of £93-14-11 (8%) in 1909 (Smith 1910) and further dwindled to £3-16-0 of £109-11-10 (3%) in 1910 (Smith 1911).
Apart from the advertisements, binders of that age would typically discard the card or paper covers of publications; they would also trim the edges. This monstrosity continues, in certain cases, even today. You just cannot emphasize enough to them that everything needs to be bound in and edges should not be trimmed!
The Philatelists’ Supplement to “The Bazaar” was issued at intervals during the season. Seven volumes came out between 1895 and 1900 (sometimes twice a year), each comprising between two and seven issues. Incidentally an index to Vol. V was originally given in Vol. VI.
The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine (SCM) is the second magazine in the world devoted to stamp collecting. To give some perspective of how early this is, at the time, the word “philately” did not exist! Georges Herpin proposed “Philatélie” in the 15 November 1864 issue of Le Collectionneur de Timbres-Postes, almost a couple of years after the first number of SCM came out in February 1863.
The Quaker City Philatelist was a monthly journal published by The Quaker City Philatelic Publishing Co. Ltd., Philadelphia, over 103 issues from January 1886 to July 1894.
While strictly not a ‘short’ publication of the Society, it was a philatelic work that was circulated to members and hence I have included it in this section.
The three parts were subsequently privately printed for the author as a pamphlet of 47 pages. It is bound in the same style as most of the other Society publications i.e. oversize grey card covers and handmade paper. It was issued in print run of 30 copies only and hence is exceptionally rare. It includes a copy of Anderson’s portrait.
The pages in the Catalogue are not numbered; each column is. Hence the work consists of (x introductory pages + 924 columns) i.e. 472 printed pages.
It was distributed free to members and sold for £1-11s-6d if members wanted extra copies. Non-members could buy it for two guineas or £2-2-0.
The two catalogues combined attempt to describe every philatelic work ever published, whether contained in the Earl’s library or not. The time period covered is to the end of 1908 for Part I (Separate Works) and to the end of 1906 for Part II (Periodicals). In the supplement, Bacon (1926) laments that he was not able to update the bibliography up to the present year and all that he could do was to update the information on such periodicals that were current at the end of 1906 but had ceased publication thereafter to their final issue.
To complete the picture, it is worth mentioning that a work titled Addenda to the “Supplement to the Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of The Earl of Crawford, K.T.’ was published by the Royal Philatelic Society, London as a supplement to the London Philatelist of March 1938. It contains corrections and additions to the Catalogue. It consists of eight printed pages and is staple bound.
I would prefer to place reliance on the former number of 125, which is mentioned almost a year after the work was printed and is likely to be the correct one. Note that many of the existing copies are unnumbered (Birch 2018, 650) likely because the book was never put on sale and copies printed exceeded the then number of members.
Alfred Smith and Co.’s The Stamp-Collector’s Monthly saw its last issue come out in December 1874. Thereafter they started publishing Alfred Smith and Co.’s Monthly Circular from January 1875; it was renamed as Alfred Smith and Son’s Monthly Circular from the January 1894 issue.