Guthrum

25 Mar 2019
10:14:43am

Ruth Lea's Stamps as Witnesses of History is, to quote the blurb, "not a book about the history of stamps as such. It is a book about how stamp issues... have 'witnessed' the seismic global political developments over the years. It is a guide to political philately, which aims to show how stamp issues have reflected and have related to key political events."



Well, up to a point. What it actually is, is a thorough and detailed reference book tackling the political history of all the countries of the world at least since 1840, sometimes earlier, arranged by continent and under 126 separate headings. It is an expanded version, if you like, of those brief explanatory notes that stamp catalogues give under a country heading. For those who wish to lay out their albums according to national political development, and perhaps especially those who plan to collect one stamp from every stamp-issuing entity (see the many posts and replies elsewhere in this forum), it will be mighty useful.

For example, where the SG catalogue offers "United States of America. A Federal Republic in N.America, consisting of 50 states and one federal district", Ruth Lea gives a whole page under three headings: "Independent United States of America (July 1776 - May 1865)", "Confederate States of America (February 1861 - May 1865)", and "United States of America (May 1865 - )", each noting carefully the early acquisitions and purchases, secessionist states at various stages, and further acquisitions since.

All this takes up almost exactly half of the book's 608 pages - in fact every left-hand page. Where, then, does the philately come in? There is no discussion about how any of the thousands of world political developments since 1840 affected stamp issues - in fact there are barely any references to stamps at all. What you get instead is around 304 pages of stamp illustrations. The USA gets 28 stamps, nearly all linked to political events or commemorations, concluding, perhaps cheekily, with a 1993 Elvis Presley stamp. Canada gets examples from all the constituent territories and then 14 of its own. The UK gets a penny black, then 13 more ending with the Queen's 90th birthday and four regional definitives. And so on for everywhere in the world.

It is a handsome volume - the text seems authoritative and the stamps, mint and used, are illustrated and captioned neatly and clearly - measuring slightly larger than A4 size (8.5 x 12 inches, 30.5 x 21.7cm) and printed on high quality glossy paper. It weighs a ton! But Ruth Lea, a professional economist, has really given us two books in one: an exhaustive checklist of worldwide political developments, and an illustrated book of stamps, mostly but not always on political themes, and having only incidental reference to the facts laid out on the opposite page. She does not go into the inscrutable business of how politics has influenced stamp issues, or how stamp issues have interpreted, or masked, political developments. That book remains to be written, probably on a country rather than all-world basis.

It is priced at £35, $50 and 40 euros, which is not unreasonable for a book of this size and thoroughness. Less reasonable (in my view) was the postage charge exacted by the British publisher, which raised the total cost to over £50. Goodness knows how much it would be to post this off to the USA or Canada!

For some collectors, I can imagine this will be an indispensable addition to their philatelic libraries. (Indeed for non-collectors interested in political history it would be pretty useful, and may spark an interest in stamps.) But it does not do, I think, exactly what it says on the tin.


Ruth Lea CBE, Stamps as Witnesses of History: a guide to political philately, Filament Publishing Ltd., Croydon, UK, 2018, www.filamentpublishing.com, ISBN 978-1-912635-02-3

 
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

Guthrum

28 Mar 2019
08:04:18pm

re: A Massive, but Curious, Work of Reference

Just checked on Amazon UK. If you do not have a problem with buying stuff off Amazon (and even if you do), then you can get this book new and post-paid for a mere £23. In my view, that's worth it.

 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

stockflyer

11 Apr 2019
09:20:05pm

re: A Massive, but Curious, Work of Reference

This looks awesome. A major reason I collect is the history I learn because of the stamps themselves and how they reflect the events around the time. I will need to get this book it looks like. Thanks for sharing.

John

Login to Like
this post

vinman

12 Apr 2019
06:01:47pm

re: A Massive, but Curious, Work of Reference

TuskenRaider
Thanks for the link to Thrift Books.com. I now have it book marked.
I ordered a copy of The Stamp Atlas and added a book on Blues Music, one of my other interests.

Vince

 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

musicman

APS #213005
18 Apr 2019
07:15:08pm

re: A Massive, but Curious, Work of Reference

Hey Tusken -

I just purchased the last available copy of the book you mentioned;

"The Stamp Atlas".

Looks like an interesting book and you can't beat the price!

 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

jbaxter5256

22 Apr 2019
11:38:27pm

re: A Massive, but Curious, Work of Reference

The Stamps as Witnesses of History book by Ruth Lea looks very interesting and is now on order. Thanks for mentioning it.

Login to Like
this post