_Blücher._--The famous Prussian field-marshal. L.S., 9s. _Bonaparte, C. Louis Napoleon._--Emperor. A.L.S., two guineas. _Burnaby, Capt. Fred._--Author of "A Ride to Khiva." A.L.S., 3s. 6d. _Charles I._--King of England. D.S., £2 10s. _Cromwell, Oliver._--D.S., £9. _Dorchester, Lord Guy Carleton._--L.S., 5s. _Egmont and Horn, Counts._--Executed by Duke of Alva. L.S., signed by both. Sixteen guineas. _Gordon, General._--Killed in the Soudan. A.L.S., two guineas. _Kempenfelt, Admiral._--Perished in the Royal George. D.S., one guinea.[24] [24] H. T. Scott, "Autograph Collecting," Part iii. [Illustration: AN OLD MUG BEARING THE FAMOUS PICTURE DEPICTING "THE DEATH OF WOLFE."] CHAPTER XIV WAR POSTAGE STAMPS The earliest war stamps--Stamps used in the Crimean War--The British Army Post Office Corps--The Sudan Expedition--The South African Campaign--The Great War--Recent war stamps and post-marks--Indian war stamps--Other war stamps Among the many thousand varieties of postage stamps which philatelists treasure few can compare in point of interest with those which have carried letters from the firing line to the fireside. Such specimens are sought after not merely by the stamp-collector, but by the general collector of military curios. War postage stamps date back to the middle of the sixteenth century, their originator being a certain Johann von Taxis who, a few years before the death of Martin Luther, obtained permission to carry letters from civilians in Germany to members of a German expeditionary force then fighting in Italy. The frank marks which this royal prince applied to the correspondence entrusted to him, constitute the first war postage stamps of which we have any record. Of British war stamps, probably the earliest specimens are those which came to England on the letters written by the soldiers who fought in the Crimea. Soon after the British army was landed on the shores of the Black Sea, the Government sent out eleven postal officials, who established a head office at Constantinople and branch depots at Balaklava and Scutari. The staff was properly equipped with all the necessary impedimenta for maintaining a postal service between the expeditionary army and the people at home. Letters from England were received and transmitted to the various regimental headquarters; mails for the Mother-country were gathered in and sent on their journey westwards, whilst supplies of unused adhesive stamps were retailed to the soldiers at the three offices mentioned above. The stamps which the officials sold comprised the following then current British specimens:-- 1d. red, 1841 issue, no perforations, with small crown as watermark. 1d. reddish-brown, 1855 issue, perforated, with large crown as watermark. 2d. blue, 1841 issue, no perforations, with small crown as watermark.