The catalogue of François Valette--"Père Valette," as the juniors of
the time used to call him--is the most remarkable of all the early
works of this kind. It was more ambitious in its scientific treatment
of the subject. Valette, already an elderly man in 1862, was "un
érudit, un demi-savant," perhaps even a "savant tout entier." He was a
contributor to the journal _La Science_ and acting-proprietor of the
_Bazar Parizer_. His list was arranged on a synoptic basis, and his
introductory essays are the most ambitious of any of the philatelic
writings of 1862, the chapter on frauds and counterfeits providing a
most conclusive indication of the extent to which stamp collecting was
rapidly becoming a popular cult. "Old stamps having become rare, there
are those who have sought methods of counterfeiting them." Valette's
"tableaux synoptiques" are typical of the remarkable character of this
work, and may be briefly summarised here as representing three styles
of classification: (1) Genealogical; (2) heraldic; (3) systematic,
the latter being a scheme for arranging the stamps according to their
colours for comparison.
It was in Paris that the serious collectors first began to
systematically note the watermarks and to measure the perforations. The
collectors there were divided into two camps over the designation of
the new study. Dr. Legrand, a veteran collector happily still with us,
and still having a warm regard for the objects of his early studies,
led the group who preferred the style of "timbrophile," while M. G.
Herpin produced by a combination of the Greek words φίλος
("philos" = fond of), ἀτέλεια ("ateleia" = exemption from tax)
the word _Philatèle_, which was accepted by many as indicating their
interest in the little labels which denoted that the tax or postage had
been paid. For a long time there was war between the rival camps, and
to this day while Philately (ugly word as it is) is generally accepted
in English-speaking countries and in many other places, _Timbrologie_
is still preferred by many of the French collectors, and is used in
the title of the chief Parisian institution, the Société Française de
Timbrologie.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account