EDITION SPÉCIALE

Publication in May 2024

Special price EUR 69.00 if ordered by 15 March 2024, thereafter EUR 79.00

Bruce Wright, born in 1948, was born in sunny California and also completed his school career there. He started collecting stamps at the age of 10. Like anyone else who starts this hobby at a young age, Bruce was a generalist at the beginning, keeping everything that was a stamp.

Only over time did he begin to specialise, until finally he concentrated on the stamps of Germany and Austria. He was particularly fond of these areas. He studied German at school and had therefore been interested in German and Austrian history for quite a long time. His preference for classical music quickly led him to composers such as Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. The development of the German Empire from the many old German states and the changes in the Empire of Austria attracted his particular attention. In addition to his core areas of Germany and Austria, Bruce has collections of UN, San Marino and British omnibus issues.

After his school career, Bruce obtained degrees at Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). After that, the serious side of life began. He served as a US Air Force officer in the Vietnam War and had a career in oil and gas, telecommunications and semiconductor equipment. He retired at the end of 2016 after working as CFO in several high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. From then on, he was able to devote himself completely to his dream of assembling a complete collection of Germany from Old German States to Modern in unused condition.

Bruce was fascinated by these 'little works of art' from the beginning of his interest in stamps. He was particularly taken with the intaglio stamps. Stamps on stamps bother him in that he thinks the stamp distracts from the beauty of the stamp. And so Bruce has very few cancelled stamps in his collections. He only ever accepted cancelled stamps when it seemed impossible to find unused ones because they were too rare or simply did not exist. Yet a relatively large number of the used stamps in his collection are very valuable key pieces in his collections.

For some years now Bruce has been publishing short and very interesting articles about stamps from his collections and the stories around them.
In addition to stamps, Bruce collects autographs of great personalities from various eras and seminal books on history. He is also a nationally recognised online strategy gamer.

In autumn 2023, the collection of the "American", as Bruce is known in German and Austrian collecting circles, will be honoured with an EDITION SPÉCIALE.

approx. 200 pages, collection in German language

Liechtenstein may be one of the smaller European states such as Luxembourg, but philatelically it has much more to offer than some would expect. Windels, born at Schaffhausen in 1942, has concentrated since the 1980s on the Principality of Liechtenstein and its chequered history, which was strongly influenced by the former Austrian and Austro-Hungarian monarchy until the 20th century. Supported by Götz Schneider, he succeeded in initially developing a specialised collection, then he acquired the important Liechtenstein collection of Rolf Goldschagg of Munich, and thus a wealth of information came together that is unparalleled. His exhibit has won Gold and Large Gold several times and was shown in 30 frames (!) in the Court of Honour at NABA 2018 in Lugano.

Windels documents the early period of pre-philately, partly with unique covers, among them a folded letter sent by courier mail from Vaduz dated 9 June 1622, which is still the earliest known letter from Vaduz. Incoming and outgoing mail is covered, and then on over 40 pages the use of Imperial and Royal Austrian stamps used in Liechtenstein from the 1850s onwards. A documentation of Swiss postage stamps used in Liechtenstein in 1921 follows, as do chapters on Swiss postcards, postage and airmail stamps. Even military, air mail and field post in Liechtenstein between 1927 and 1948 are not left out.

The focus, however, is on Liechtenstein's own issues, which were issued from 1912 to 1953, at first in Austrian krone currency (until 1920), and then from 1921 in Swiss currency. Looking at all the essays, proofs, multiples, even sheets, as well as usages lifts up the heart, for one has hardly ever seen such a variety. If you include official and postage due stamps, there are almost 100 more pages on which unusual material captivates the viewer's eye. Proofs signed by the designers, imperforate instead of perforated issues (some of which are not yet even catalogued), "good for printing" proofs of the Vaduz souvenir sheet (this one also imperforate, of course). There is probably nothing that does not exist, at least in this exceptional collection.

This book deserves every recommendation for Liechtenstein collectors. For others who might want to follow Windels' example some day it is indispensable, for what one sees here can hardly be found in any catalogue, at least not in this variety and clarity.

— Wolfgang Maassen (AIJP)

size 25,5 x 34 cm, 216 pages, numerous color illustrations, hardcover with dust jacket, bilingual German/English, collection pages in German only.

The triangular stamps of the Cape of Good Hope are among the earliest stamps ever issued and have always fascinated collectors. The shape, design and printing of these stamps, which were issued from 1853 onwards, have contributed significantly to their popularity, which remains unbroken to this day. So it is hardly surprising that almost all of the world's major stamp collectors also had a collection of "Cape triangles".

This also includes the owner of the collection documented in this new book in the EDITION SPÉCIALE series, who wishes to remain anonymous and who presents his Cape collection under the pseudonym "Besançon". He pursues a traditional collecting approach, not so much a postal history one. The book presents the individual series, beginning with rare proofs of the 1853 issue (1d. and 4d., each on blued paper in their many different colour shades), first printed by Perkins Bacon in England. The 1d., 4d., 6d. and 1s. values on cream-coloured to white paper followed In 1855/63, also again with many shades.

The so-called "woodblocks", which the local printer Paul Salomon produced with a simple design in 1861 due to a shortage of the 1d. and 4d. stamps, are well-known - they looked as if they had been produced from wooden printing blocks. Their errors of colour, which today are among the most famous in philately and are very rare, are almost legendary. All these issues can also be found in the "Besançon" collection, again in their various colour shades.

In 1863/64 the Perkins Bacon and Salomon printings were replaced by four values produced by the De La Rue printing company in England. Specimens of various kinds are documented in this collection as well as the various colour shades of these stamps, some of them differing quite markedly from the previous issues. The last part of the collection is devoted to an excellent documentation of the first rectangular series ("Hope Seated"), which was also produced by De La Rue from 1864/67 and a great variety of whose subtleties and rarities can be found in this collection - the design was used for various issues over a period of almost 30 years.

Although all the issues are only briefly described, the beauty of the stamps, all of which are in first-class condition, is what appeals to the observer. Some rare large multiples can be found as well as stamps in pristine condition with wide margins. In this form and with this kind of charisma, the sheer beauty of early classic stamps can come into its own.

— Wolfgang Maassen (AIJP)

128 pages, hardbound with dust jacket, in English

Every collector of Central and South America probably knows the name of the professional philatelist Brian Moorhouse. As a dealer, expertiser and publicist he was for decades of international renown. Less well known was his own passion for collecting many areas, in which he alone put together 14 exhibits, some of which went down in the history of philately with high honours and awards. Two of them are documented in this comprehensive, well-written work.

The name "Tierra del Fuego" - known to many as the "Land of Fire" and the southernmost province of Argentina - is inextricably linked to that of Julius Popper (1857-1893), a Romanian-born Jewish freemason and adventurer who came to Argentina in 1885 in search of gold. A year later he found gold-bearing sand on the beach at Paramo, a peninsula of Tierra del Fuego. A short time later Popper produced large quantities of gold. This enabled him to establish his own "empire" with his own gold coin currency and his own local stamps, which from 1891 were sold by a postal service in Ushuaia. Two years later Popper died unexpectedly and his own kingdom quickly perished with him.

Moorhouse tells this story in much greater detail in his collection and provides stamp issues with an abundance that is unparalleled - but cannot be found, as he himself has acquired most of the material that still exists. His collection is the best and most extensive ever in this field. One learns from it all the subtleties of these local issues, which one previously knew at best from hearsay.

With the second collection, on what was probably the bloodiest war in South America, the Chaco War of 1932-1935, Moorhouse also demonstrates his expertise in philately and postal history, which he acquired over many years thanks to his excellent historical and literary knowledge. This military conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay was about decades-long territorial claims on the Gran Chaco, a rather deserted and seemingly economically uninteresting region, which ultimately led to a war. In 1938, Paraguay was able to claim victory and in a peace treaty gained control over the larger part of this area for itself.

Moorhouse documents the stamps, postmarks, military mail and censorship systems of both countries involved at that time, and he has even taken into account propaganda postcards and labels, as well as the prisoner-of-war mail of both sides. The abundance of the material shown is almost overwhelming and extremely depressing, reflecting the events of the time in an incomparable way. This collection is a history book of a special kind and goes far beyond a purely philatelic exhibit.

— Wolfgang Maassen (AIJP)

196 pages, hardbound with dust jacket, in English

168 pages, of which 157 are full-colour plates showing pages from the collection, hardbound with dust jacket, in English

New!

This Kersti and Bertil’s postage due collection is a treasure trove not only for postage due collectors, but also for any one collecting mail to foreign destinations from any other collectible area! Unbelievable the number of covers from the period when the postage was marked by hand and as impressive the quantity with the postage due marked by postmarks and postage due stamps!

The inland part of this section shows so many very rare and early usages as probably no second collection does!

Kersti and Bertil I. Larsson RDP are members of the Swedish Postal History Society (SSPD) since decades. Their research and knowledge is internationally acknowledged and Bertil is signatory of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP), the most important and honourable award a philatelist can receive in life.

As a team, Kersti and Bertil have share their knowledge with the entire philatelic world by publishing articles in philatelic publications. Their outstanding and extremely well written up exhibits are a source of information not only for collectors of Swedish postal history, but also for passionate collectors of all philatelic collectible fields.

Kersti and Bertil have – since their beginnings – always relied on primary resources and have visited and exploited postal and postal museum archives in Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Paris. They have worked through historical documents from the Swedish National Archives from 1636 to 1892 and make use of the acquired knowledge in all their publications and descriptions in their collections.
They have exhibited their collections worldwide since 1991 and have been awarded all levels of medals including International Large Gold 1997 in San Francisco, 1998 in Milan, 2008 in Bukarest, 2010 in Lisbon, 2012 in Jakarta.

According to Patrik Larsson, – Kersti and Bertil I. Larsson are such outstanding postal historians because they have the four characteristics needed to form and display great collections:

Knowledge of the postal history and the history of the country or area concerned,
A good eye for the Quality of the material,
Completeness of the material to show the central idea of the story told
The feeling for the Control of focus in publications and collections.

We are proud and honoured to present both of the collections of Sweden - Postal History until 1880 & Sweden - Postage Due Mail until 1892 in two EDITION SPÉCIALE.

170 pages, full-colour plates showing pages from the collection, hardbound with dust jacket, English

New!

The collection spans more than 400 years of Swedish postal history. A regular postal service between Stockholm and Hamburg was established in 1620, but it took 16 more years before an actual postal administration was founded in 1636. This introduction of the organized postal System in Sweden is documented in the collection by two tremendous Gems of Swedish postal history: The Royal Decree ‘Postbaden’ of 1636 ans A letter of 1636 forwarded by this newly formed organization, the POST.

More than 200 years later, in 1855 a uniform postage rate domestically for Sweden was introduced with the system based on weight and using postage stamps, as was being done since 1840 in Great Britain.

The following offer includes key pieces of the collection, from the pre-stamp period including rarest cancellations and most important documents of Swedish postal history. Of course you will also find mail to foreign destinations with wonderful frankings starting with the first stamps of Sweden.

Kersti and Bertil I. Larsson RDP are members of the Swedish Postal History Society (SSPD) since decades. Their research and knowledge is internationally acknowledged and Bertil is signatory of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP), the most important and honourable award a philatelist can receive in life.

As a team, Kersti and Bertil have share their knowledge with the entire philatelic world by publishing articles in philatelic publications. Their outstanding and extremely well written up exhibits are a source of information not only for collectors of Swedish postal history, but also for passionate collectors of all philatelic collectible fields.

Kersti and Bertil have – since their beginnings – always relied on primary resources and have visited and exploited postal and postal museum archives in Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Paris. They have worked through historical documents from the Swedish National Archives from 1636 to 1892 and make use of the acquired knowledge in all their publications and descriptions in their collections.
They have exhibited their collections worldwide since 1991 and have been awarded all levels of medals including International Large Gold 1997 in San Francisco, 1998 in Milan, 2008 in Bukarest, 2010 in Lisbon, 2012 in Jakarta.

According to Patrik Larsson, – Kersti and Bertil I. Larsson are such outstanding postal historians because they have the four characteristics needed to form and display great collections:

Knowledge of the postal history and the history of the country or area concerned,
A good eye for the Quality of the material,
Completeness of the material to show the central idea of the story told
The feeling for the Control of focus in publications and collections.

We are proud and honoured to present both of the collections of Sweden - Postal History until 1880 & Sweden - Postage Due Mail until 1892 in two EDITION SPÉCIALE.

170 pages, full-colour plates showing pages from the collection, hardbound with dust jacket, English

If you hear the name Eduard or Jack Luder, the experienced philatelist will immediately think of Corinphila. Over a period of eight decades, from 1925 to 1992, father and son Luder have made the nowadays oldest Stamp Auction House in Switzerland to an embodiment for Philately and Stamp Auctions. What many do not know: Over many years in secrecy Jack Luder has built up a fabulous collection of Old Switzerland from 1843 – 1863 as well as cancellations from 1850 – 1854. Only a few friends and acquaintances knew about this collection. Jack Luder who died in 2015 had shown only very few collectors his philatelic jems.

The extensive history of Eduard Luder, Jack Luder and Corinphila as well as the Collection of Old Switzerland of Jack Luder himself push the boundary of a publication in one volume. Thus, the editor Corinphila together with the family Luder have decided to publish the history as well as the big collection in two volumes.

Volume I of the collection of Jack Luder shows the traditional collection of the cantonal and national stamps of the years 1843 to 1863. Also in this volume you will find the history of Eduard Luder and Corinphila from the beginning in 1919 until his sudden and unexpected death in 1967.

Apart from the wonderful Old Switzerland collection both volumes also tell the history of Eduard Luder, Jack Luder and Corinphila in the years between 1919 and 1992. The well-known philately-historian and journalist Wolfgang Maassen RDP, FRPSL, has complexly looked into this voluminous history and told the story. At the same time, the family Luder was able to contribute numerous contemporary photographs and illustrations.

If you hear the name Eduard or Jack Luder, the experienced philatelist will immediately think of Corinphila. Over a period of eight decades, from 1925 to 1992, father and son Luder have made the nowadays oldest Stamp Auction House in Switzerland to an embodiment for Philately and Stamp Auctions. What many do not know: Over many years in secrecy Jack Luder has built up a fabulous collection of Old Switzerland from 1843 – 1863 as well as cancellations from 1850 – 1854. Only a few friends and acquaintances knew about this collection. Jack Luder who died in 2015 had shown only very few collectors his philatelic jems.

The extensive history of Eduard Luder, Jack Luder and Corinphila as well as the Collection of Old Switzerland of Jack Luder himself push the boundary of a publication in one volume. Thus, the editor Corinphila together with the family Luder have decided to publish the history as well as the big collection in two volumes.

Volume I of the collection of Jack Luder shows the traditional collection of the cantonal and national stamps of the years 1843 to 1863. Also in this volume you will find the history of Eduard Luder and Corinphila from the beginning in 1919 until his sudden and unexpected death in 1967.

Apart from the wonderful Old Switzerland collection both volumes also tell the history of Eduard Luder, Jack Luder and Corinphila in the years between 1919 and 1992. The well-known philately-historian and journalist Wolfgang Maassen RDP, FRPSL, has complexly looked into this voluminous history and told the story. At the same time, the family Luder was able to contribute numerous contemporary photographs and illustrations.

After several decades of collecting Kees Vlot has build up an extraordinary collection that is now first shown to the public.

The book has 170 pages with unique items, such as proofs and colour trials, cancellations, perfins and covers of this beautiful issue.

184 pages, full-colour plates showing pages from the collection, hardbound with dust jacket, bilingual in Dutch and English