The Crawford Library is a library of early books about philately formed between 1898 and 1913 [1] by James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford. By the time of his death in 1913, Crawford was thought to have amassed the greatest philatelic library of his time. [2] Today, the library is part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. [1]
Crawford was a noted bibliophile long before he became interested in philately. The family library, the "Bibliotheca Lindesiana" located at Haigh Hall in Haigh near Wigan, had its origins in the sixteenth century and became world-famous among scholars for its scope and the many bibliographies of its stock which exceeded 100,000 volumes. [3] [4]
Not long after 1897, Crawford purchased the library of philatelic literature formed by John K. Tiffany of St. Louis, Missouri, the first president of the American Philatelic Society, [2] and which was thought to be the most complete formed up to that time. [3] Tiffany's library was particularly strong on United States philatelic journals and he was calculated to have 97% of everything published on American philately by the time of his death, including dealer's price lists, society records and even stamp related music. Much of Tiffany's library was included in the work which he produced for the Boston Public Library in 1874 entitled The Philatelical Library. [3] (Free download of The Philatelical Library here.)
The Tiffany Library was acquired for Crawford by Charles J. Phillips, then managing director of Stanley Gibbons, who viewed it while travelling in America. He informed Crawford that the condition of the library was not good and the price of $10,000 (about £2,000 at the time) was too high but Crawford told him to buy it at that price anyway. The library consisted of 909 bound volumes and 136 unbound as well as an extensive card index to its contents which was valuable in itself. [5] It was delivered to Crawford in 39 boxes at his London home of 2 Cavendish Square on 28 June 1901. Phillips charged a 5% commission for the negotiations. [5]
After the purchase of the Tiffany Library, Crawford employed Edward Denny Bacon as curator of the collection. Bacon worked from Cavendish Square, sorting and cataloguing the works and he was assiduous in tracking down missing philatelic periodicals with the help of Stanley Gibbons. [5]
A further addition was the library of the late Judge Heinrich Fraenkel of Berlin, a former librarian of the Berliner Philatelisten-Klub, [5] which included strong holdings of German literature and also incorporated the library of Sigmund Friedl of Vienna. This library totalled 39 cases of books with surplus material being donated to the Royal Philatelic Society for their library. [3]
Crawford was a trustee of the British Museum and following his death on 31 January 1913, [6] the library was donated to the British Museum by a codicil to his Will. The library was received on 17 March 1913. [3] In 1973 it passed to the British Library following a reorganisation. [1]
In 1911, a catalogue of the library by Edward Denny Bacon was published by the Aberdeen University Press under the title Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Vol VII: A Bibliography of the Writings General, Special and Periodical Forming the Literature of Philately and in 1911 the rights to the work were assigned to the Philatelic Literature Society (PLS). [2] The Society republished the work as The Catalogue of the Philatelic Library of the Earl of Crawford, K.T., [2] a work which won a Large Gold medal at the Postwertzeichen Ausstellung stamp exhibition in Vienna in 1911. [7] A supplement to the catalogue was published in 1926 by the PLS and an addenda in the March 1938 edition of The London Philatelist, both by E.D. Bacon.
In 1991, a new edition of the catalogue was published by the British Library with shelf marks and marginalia by E.D. Bacon included and a preface by David Beech.
Not all the works mentioned in these books are included in the library, as the original book was a bibliography of all known philatelic works, and not a catalogue of Crawford's library.
In 1985 a major project started to microfilm the library as many of the works were found to have deteriorated with age. This has now been completed.
In addition, by February 2011, about 80% of the library had been rebound, with and without conservation work such as deacidification and lamination.
The works may be viewed in the British Library's Rare Books & Music Reading Room.
The library includes approximately 4500 volumes [1] and is notable for containing:
Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history.
The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British royal family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces. Of major items, only the British Guiana 1c magenta is missing from the collection of British Imperial stamps.
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres, KT, FRS, FRAS was a British astronomer, politician, ornithologist, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason, having been initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge at the University of Cambridge in 1866.
L.N. and M. Williams were a philatelic writing partnership made up of brothers Leon Norman Williams and Maurice Williams (1905–1976).
The Inverted Head Four Annas of India is a postage stamp prized by collectors. The 1854 first issues of India included a Four Annas value in red and blue. It was one of the world's first multicolored stamps; the Basel Dove preceded it by nine years. However, an invert error occurred during production, showing the head "upside down."
Edward Benjamin Evans, a British army officer also known as "Major Evans", was a distinguished philatelist, stamp collector, and philatelic journalist. His philatelic specialization included Mauritius, the Confederate States of America, the Mulready envelopes, and the Indian feudatory states.
The Chalon Head is the name of a number of postage stamp series whose illustration was inspired by a portrait of Queen Victoria by Alfred Edward Chalon (1780–1860).
Sir Edward Denny Bacon was a British philatelist who helped with the enlargement and mounting of collections possessed by rich collectors of his time and became the curator of the Royal Philatelic Collection between 1913 and 1938.
James Negus was a British philatelist and book editor.
Walter Morley (1863–1936) was a pioneering English philatelist, stamp dealer and philatelic author.
Charles Nissen was a British philatelist, and stamp dealer who discovered the famous stock exchange forgery and wrote, with Bertram McGowan, the definitive book on the plating of the Penny Black.
Frederick John Melville was a British philatelist, prolific philatelic author and founder of The Junior Philatelic Society. He was also a founder in 1907 of the Philatelic Literature Society. Melville is a member of the American Philatelic Society's Hall of Fame and was a signatory to The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.
The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their names.
John Easton was a printer and philatelic author who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1960.
John Kerr Tiffany, of St. Louis, Missouri, was one of the earliest American philatelists and was regarded in an 1890 poll of philatelists as the second most important person in philately, second only to the famous John Walter Scott.
Alexander William Crawford Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres, styled Lord Lindsay between 1825 and 1869, was a Scottish peer, art historian and collector.
The Philatelic Literature Society (1907–1918) was a short-lived society to promote the cause of philatelic literature among philatelists at a time when information about philately could be hard to obtain and philatelic books expensive.
Francis Hugh Vallancey was a schoolmaster, philatelist, philatelic author and editor, and dealer in philatelic literature. His business was destroyed during the London Blitz of 1941, but he rebuilt it after the war before ill health forced his retirement.
Henry Garratt-Adams was a British philatelist, philatelic publisher and dealer in philatelic literature based in Kinnersley Castle in Herefordshire, England. After his death, a large hoard of philatelic literature was found at the castle that included many rare items dating to the earliest days of philately.
John Barefoot is a British philatelist, stamp dealer, and publisher, best known for his catalogues of revenue stamps which are known collectively as the "Barefoot catalogue".
