His Imperial Highness the late Grand Duke Alexis Michaelovitch was a member of the Philatelic Society. His early death lost to Philately a collector with a keen sense of the beauty of condition. Although only nineteen at the time of his death, he had been engaged for some years on a semi-official work on the history of the postal issues of Russia, and his collection was strong in the stamps of his own country and in Russian proofs and essays. His collection covered a very broad field, and he acquired the Peru section of the Koster collection _en bloc_. When the first Castle collection of Australians came on the market, the young Grand Duke acquired a number of its choicest copies, including some plated items. Some of the rarities he showed in London on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Philatelic Society (1894) were brilliant used copies of the 2 reales Spain of 1851 and 1852; the Poste Locale of Switzerland unused; the "1 Pranc", error for "1 Franc", on the 37½-centime bistre, Luxemburg; the Hanover 10 gr. used; Oldenburg ¹/₃ gr. black on green; Nevis 6d. lithographed (in two shades); Trinidad 1858 6d. and 1s. unused; Uruguay, Diligencias 60c. and 80c. unused; entire sheets of Bergedorf essays in green of all values; and a beautiful and much admired group of thirty-two Russian essays. Prince Doria Pamphilj, of Italy, is another of the devotees of the "royal" hobby of stamp-collecting, and his British Empire collection contained an Archer roulette and many choice items in English and colonial stamps. Of the stamps of other countries he has also had a very comprehensive collection; and at the Manchester Exhibition of 1899 he displayed some rarities of these, including the United States 1861 30 cents with grille, and the 1869 15 cents with frame inverted; the 5 cents Confederate local of Petersburg; Spain, 1851 10 reales unused and 2 reales used, 1865 12c. with inverted frame; France, 1849 1 franc vermilion; the double Geneva, types of the Zurich, the 4c. Vaud and the Poste Locale 2½ rappen with cross unframed in used condition. The Prince has made a speciality of the Italian States. Although His Royal Highness sold his chief collection in 1904 for £2,000, he is, I understand, still to be numbered amongst the active philatelists. [Illustration: A SPECIMEN PAGE FROM THE "TAPLING" COLLECTION AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Probably the most valuable page, showing the Hawaiian "Missionaries." The two stamps at the top have been removed from the cases, and are now kept in a safe in the "Cracherode" Room.]