Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.
Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is attributed to Robson Lowe, a professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer, who made the first organised study of the subject in the 1930s and described philatelists as "students of science", but postal historians as "students of humanity". More precisely, philatelists describe postal history as the study of rates, routes, markings, and means.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the modern Russian Federation.
In philately, a cinderella stamp is a label that resembles a postage stamp, but which is not issued for postal purposes by a government administration. There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use by businesses, churches, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa.
The British Central Africa Protectorate existed in the area of present-day Malawi between 1891 and 1907.
Parcel post is a postal service for mail that is too heavy for normal letter post. It is usually slower than letter post. The development of the parcel post is closely connected with the development of the railway network which enabled parcels to be carried in bulk, to a regular schedule, and at economical prices. Today, many parcels also travel by road and international shipments may travel by sea or airmail.
Telegraph stamps are stamps intended solely for the prepayment of telegraph fees. The customer completed a telegraph form before handing it with payment to the clerk who applied a telegraph stamp and cancelled it to show that payment had been made. If the stamp was an imprinted stamp, it formed part of the message form.
The Festiniog Railway Letter Service is an officially authorised service within the United Kingdom railway system for posting and transmission of letters, and under certain circumstances also delivering the letters directly to intended recipients. The service operates on the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales and similar services are operated on the Talyllyn Railway and other heritage railways in the UK. The service was also offered until 1984 by British Railways as successors to the many constituent railway companies that had in 1891 signed an agreement with the G.P.O. and it was BR that regulated the terms and the charges in conjunction with the post office.
In philately, an imprinted stamp is a stamp printed onto a piece of postal stationery such as a stamped envelope, postal card, letter sheet, letter card, aerogram or wrapper. The printing may be flat upon the surface of the paper, or embossed with a raised relief. An imprinted stamp is also known as unadhesive stamp or indicium.
In philately, a cut-out is an imprinted stamp cut from an item of postal stationery such as a postal card, letter sheet, aerogramme or wrapper that may have been used as a normal stamp.
Herbert L'Estrange Ewen (1876–1912) was a British stamp dealer and philatelist in Swanage, Dorset and later in Norwood, London who was an authority on railway stamps. According to Brian Birch, Ewen collected stamps at the age of ten and started his own firm, the H. L’Estrange Ewen company, on his thirteenth birthday.
David Richard Beech MBE was the curator of the British Library Philatelic Collections from 1983–2013. He is a fellow and past president of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL). In 2013, it was announced that Beech was to receive the Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award for outstanding lifetime accomplishments in the field of philately.
A meter stamp, or meter mark, is the impression made by a postage meter machine that indicates that postage has been paid on a letter or parcel. Meter stamps are widely used by businesses and organisations as they are more efficient than using postage stamps.
The story of Japan's postal system with its postage stamps and related postal history goes back centuries. The country's first modern postal service got started in 1871, with mail professionally travelling between Kyoto and Tokyo as well as the latter city and Osaka. This took place in the midst of the rapid industrialization and social reorganization that the Meiji period symbolized in Japanese history. Given how the nation's railroad technology was in its infancy, Japan's growing postal system relied heavily on human-powered transport, including rickshaws, as well as horse-drawn methods of delivery. For example, while commemorating the 50th anniversary of Japan's postal service, the country's 1921 government released decorative postcards depicting intrepid horseback riders carrying the mail. This however was done to compare postal transport in past and present, as the other card showed modern transportation viz. rail and shipping. The railroad net from the north to the south, Aomori to Nagasaki, was completed in 1889. Prior to 1920s, local delivery was mainly by men- and horsepower, not principally different to Europe.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Czechoslovakia.
The British Library Philatelic Collections is the national philatelic collection of the United Kingdom with over 8 million items from around the world. It was established in 1891 as part of the British Museum Library, later to become the British Library, with the collection of Thomas Tapling. In addition to bequests and continuing donations, the library received consistent deposits by the Crown Agency and has become a primary research collection for British Empire and international history. The collections contain a wide range of artefacts in addition to postage stamps, from newspaper stamps to a press used to print the first British postage stamps.
In philately a parcel stamp is a stamp specifically issued to pay the fee for the transport of a parcel through the postal system and usually marked as such. It is to be distinguished from a postage stamp used to pay the cost of posting a parcel, although there may no practical distinction as far as the sender is concerned. Parcel stamps issued by governments have the same status in philately as postage stamps, but parcel stamps issued by private railway companies or road carriers are regarded as cinderella stamps and many parcel stamps are also railway stamps.
The Turner Collection of Railway Letter Stamps is a collection of railway letter stamps of the United Kingdom from 1891 to the mid-1940s that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by S. R. Turner and donated in 1973.
The Ewen Collection is a collection of railway letter stamps of the United Kingdom from 1891 to 1912 that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by Herbert L'Estrange Ewen and donated in 1949 by his sister Mrs. Clement Williams.
