Evening star., 1936-07-26

paper maker, he has reason on his
side.
THE most difficult aspect Of all
collecting is that of its financial con-
siderations. It Is right and inevitable
that where there are collectors there
will be professional dealers who legit-
imately expect to make profit
on their business, and further that
the collector himself, who may sup
port his enthusiasm with considerable
sums of money, should regard his in
vestment as being secure against un-
reasonable loss At the same time,
what is most needed for the whole
some development of collecting as a
pursuit among intelligent people is
that the collector should on no &C.
count regard his collection primarily
as a speculation Once this bad habit
is acquired. the enlightened zeal of
pure collecting, which is charming
activity of the mind, disappears, to be
replaced by the greed and caprice Of
the stock market, which are not
charming at all.
1T means, for example, in the world
of philately that the rich collector
who is afflicted by this infirmity con-
centrates his attention and his money
on stamps that recommend themselves
to him chiefly because they are gilt
edged securities on the market, and
this is followed by corresponding
neglect of much rare and interesting
material that is not attractive to the
speculator because it is not widely
known. It discourages research and
scholarship which should be the
adcrnments of the collectors instinct.
1t tends to deprive collecting OF per-
sonality and reduces it to the level
of huckstering. When this condition
prevails in any collecting market the
collector of taste and enterprise. who
wants to bring learning and judgment
to his hobby, is at a serious disad-
vantage, and this to some extent
means the sterilization of the whole
field of philately Such a collector
too often finds that his needs can be
supplied only at price far above
dAls IIlAIlS IlldI 1iC SuAA AiOPC " lCCOfCls
MY advice to the stamp collector
would be this: Let the beginner,
whether he be young or not so young,
lay some foundations of philatelic
knowledge with small general COL
lection that can always be acquired
at a modest figure. Then as soon as
possible let him choose some phila-
telic subject of his own fancy, and
make up his mind to cultivate it at
a cost which he can afford to write
of as being paid outright for his
pleasure. If the necessity arises and
he is lucky, it will no doubt prove
to be better than that, but it is
sound resolution to make at the out
set. Then let him, under the guild
ance Of his own taste. work out
scheme for his collection that shall
reflect his personality and add some
thing to the common stock of phil
atelic knowledge.
ION these lines the collector can
provide himself with a pursuit Of
never-failing interest and genuine
intellectual refreshment. I have no
respect for a collector because he
owns three stamps, each of which can
be matched only by two other known
copies in the world, but I have
great deal for the collector who can
show me an album in which by his
own knowledge and curiosity he has
illustrated some branch of the postal
enterprise that is so vital a feature
of our civilization. The former
achievement is open to any one who
has enough money, the latter only to
the man with a particularly attrac-
tive kind of intelligence. 1t is an in
telligence that can be exercised on
quite small scale and with quite
small purse, but without it collect
ing is waste of spirit, however sub
stantial its profits may be-"
The mail chute, installed in Office
buildings, hotels and apartment houses
for the convenience of tenants, was
designed by James Goold Cutler, arch
itect, for the Elwood Building, Roches-
ter, N. Y, and patented September
II, 1883. Later, improvements were