At the same time we must recognise for the specialist two schools of collecting; one is concerned with the collecting of purely philatelic items, the other devotes itself to the formation of an historical as well as philatelic collection. The former does not require much writing-up on the pages. The latter advocates a good deal of it, and it is this form of collecting--the highest exponent of which is the Earl of Crawford--that allows of the most free scope for the individuality of the collector. It is in the collection which aims at a complete history of the stamps of a country, with all the associated circumstances leading up to their issuance and connected with their use, that the highest summit of philatelic pleasure and culture is attained. In writing-up, there are several details about a stamp, some patent and some latent. To complete the history of a particular stamp, every collector ought to know and to inscribe in the proper place in the album these points, so far as the information can be obtained from reliable sources, and so far as it may be applicable:-- Date of issue. Artist. Engraver. Printers. Mode of production. Paper, including watermark. Perforation. Date of supersession. In a more elaborate form the writing-up will develop into a full manuscript history--not too diffuse--of the postal issues of a country. The record of each stamp or issue will extend over several pages, interspersed with the collector's specimens, proofs, &c., appropriately inserted at points where they will be explanatory to the text and make a valuable, readable, and individualistic volume. To indicate succinctly the range of the more comprehensive writing-up, it would be the student's endeavour to show and explain the circumstances leading up to the necessity for the stamp; its creation by act, decree, or order; advertisements or requests for designs, tenders for manufacture, &c., with results; a note as to some of the principal essays; the chosen design, with name of artist and source of his inspiration; the engraver; the maker of the plate and the process of printing adopted; the number of stamps on the plate and their arrangement and marginal inscriptions; the varieties (if any) on the plate; how such varieties arose and how frequently they occurred; the paper used--mill-sheet, printing-sheet and post-office sheet--and its watermarking; the printers; the colour, gum, and perforation of the stamps; the quantities printed; the notices to the Post Office and the public of the impending issue; the date of issue; the duration of use; the withdrawal, supersession, or demonetisation; the quantity of remainders (if any), and what became of them. V THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION CHAPTER V THE SCOPE OF A MODERN COLLECTION