Morning journal and courier., 1883-11-20
Postage Stamps.
The Mania for Collecting Them Increas-
 ing i'm Europe.

1he Mania for Collecting Them Increas- ing i'm Europe.
 From the New Orlea1s Times -Demo.rssl 1 Although the mania for collecting postage l stamps has slightly abated in this country of 1 late years, it has increased considerably in l Europe, and has called into existence new 1 arts and new branches of business, which 1 give employment to thousands of people A l great many valuable books have been written ! infinite varieties of stamp-collectors' stman- l uRls," bibliographies, catalogues, etc, but 1 there are even special periodicals devoted to 1 the subject, which have very extensive cir culation and pay their proprie' ors hand l somely. Among the works printed for the benefit of stamp collectors must be men toned a new book by Paul Endel, of Paris perhaps tho best authority in the world-of | which the preliminary chapters are being published in the Paris Figaro. At Paris
 there is even veritable ''Stamp Exchange" in which stocks are bought and sold with fu- rious excitement. but with less regard to strictRbusiness honesty than is observed in other commercial bodies similarly organized. The amount of business done by Parisian stamp merchants is far more important, however. than ths above fact would indicate.
 In 1860 Lsplante, the first French dealer in foreign postage stamps, opened house in
 Paris, and rapidly built up a fortune st the
 
 stamp merchants, wholesale and retail, es-
 tsblished in that city, not to mention those
 called specialists, who deal only in certain
 varieties. London must contain as many
 houses of this character, if not more; for
 the fashion of collecting stamps was first set
 by EDgland. It is not at all uncommon for
 Partisan dealer to sell 2,OO0, ,0O0 stamps a
 year, besides thirty or forty albums contain
 ing more or less valuable collections. One
 of these houses has daily paper of it's own,
 containing stamp-news gathered from all
 parts of the world.
 Some of these establishments resemble
 vast warehouses, employ 6 vast number of clerks, and carry stocks of incredible value.
 There are also special manufacturers of ssamr-albums, just as theYe are manufactur-
 CTS of blank books and their business Is steadily increasing. It will not be consoling
 to novices in stamp collecting to learn that
 anything like complete collection of stamps cannot be procured for less than $2O,00 at the lowest figure.
 New periodicals and reviews devoted to this subject are being founded almost every
 month. The Stamp Collectors Monitor
 published at Manchester, and Le Timbro
 phile, of Paris, arc among the best known
 but there are likewise numbers of journals
 which devote a certain number of pages or
 columns ia each issue to stamp-market re-
 ports and stamp news of all kinds. There are also guides published which inform those
 who may tire of their collections how to dispose of them, or to exchange them for others as 8 European collection might be accepted in exchange for one exclusively composed of American postage stamps; an Oriental collection might be swapped for complete set of African colonial stamps. There is even a species of Stamp Collectors dictionary, but this having been published in 1865, needs considerable enlargement and revision. The best album catalogue in exis tence ia that of M Arthur Maury, of Paris, in which postage stamps of all countries, stamped envelopes, postal cards, etc., are regularly clRssed and indexed together with their values, dates and order of emission. Opposite blank space left for the stamp or envelope is printed description of the de- sign, color and quality thereof. special volume has been published by M. LeSrand on the stamps of Japan.
 While some foreign postage stamps arc worth little more than their original govern ment value (sometimes not so muoh), others obtain fabulous prices in the worlds stamp markets. The most valuable stamp-the rara avis of the French colleetor-is that of Mau- ritius 1850. Whether blue red it is worth l ,50o francs cash to it's possessor ($300) but it is not easy to find, as all the French consuls have been looking for 1t for years. The most valuable French stamp is that one- franc stamp issued in 1S49-orange color. Unused 1t is worth &40; cancelled SIP. The first Hawaiian stamp issued, bearing figures instead of a design, is worth $2oo. Stamps of La Reunion of 1852 (15 and 30 centimes respectively printed with handpress on blue paper are worth $200. The Mexican stamps of 1867, known as the White Guad- alajara" q reaD is worth, cancelled, $50. Brii iih Guiana stamps Of 1850 Ground and either black or yellow are worth $55 can celled. Red Spanish stamps of 1851 C reals( are worth $50 unused, and $20 cancelled. These are few examples of singular values attaching to such bits of colored paper. New Orleans readers may be interested in these quotations; and some of our mer- chants may be tempted to overlook such of their foreign correspondence a9 dates from 1S49 to 1860.
 The value of certain collections is enor- nous. The most important in the world and it is not yet complete-belongs to the soa of the Duchess of Galliera. The sum paid for stamps alone-not including other large expenses-Wss upward or @3oo 0oo; But this collection consists of many hundred volumes-Rlbums containing stamps. It will take nine years more to complete the collec- tion.
 Mr. Arthur Rothschilds collection ranks next: it is worth only $50,00 or POO, ,000 francs, and comprises over 100 volumes.
 M Rothschild has founded a stamp col Iectors' society-La Societe TimbroloRique- which studies and records the history and pecuiiarities of all known stamps, in their relation to chronology, geography, finance, linRuistics and fine arts. This society holds it's meeting on the first Thursday of every month it issues a yearly bulletin, and it is preparing g sort of encyclopedia dictionary of stamps.
 Huge as the commerce in real stamps has become, with it's thousands of wholesale and retail houses in the capitals of the world, it is doubtful whether the trade in counterfeit stamps does not almost equal it. Turkish, Cinghalese, Indian, American, African, Chi nese and Japanese stamps are manufactured to order by great firms in Germany and in Belgium; the connterfeiters being careful to cancel ths stamps soon they are printed, so as to escape being prosecuted. new mania has thus been developed. Col Iectors of counterfeit stamps are numerous, and some of their collections are quite cost ly. But as the majority of stamp collectors, who care nothing for counterfeits, are per petually liable to imposition, a new profes- sion has also been created-that of Timbro- logical expert. The expert detect the best counterfeit as readily a frst-olass bank teller can detsct bad bill and his services are largely in demand. One of these exports, well known to all stamp col lsctors in Berlin, earns without sffort $10 day the year round.