" XXV, Special Delivery Stamp 204 " XXVI, Newspaper and Periodical St'ps 209 " XXVII, Official Stamps 227 " XXVIII, Official Seals 249 " XXIX, Reprints 254 INDEX 267 PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENTS 275 =ERRATA.= Page 96, 3d line from top, for _25_c lilac read _24_ cents. Page 102 in lines 5, 6, 7 and 8 from bottom in last column for F^2 G^2 H^2 I^2 read F^4 G^4 H^4 I^4. Page 103 in lines 16 to 20 in second column for S^2 T^2 U^2 V^2 W^2 read S^3 T^3 U^3 V^3 W^3. Page 104 5th line from bottom, omit _u_ in "prolongued." Page 143, 9th line from top for "_follows_" read "_above_." Page 144, last line supply "_test of_" in the blank. Page 196, 4th line from top for (") read "_cochineal_." Page 196, 6th line from top, for "_12 cents_" read "_15 cents_." PREFACE. In seeking for information concerning the postage stamps of the United States, we shall turn in vain to sources which have furnished, in other countries, such accurate details in regard to the stamps issued by their postal authorities, for the stamps authorized by the United States Post Office Department are not manufactured by the government, and there is no "stamp office" to authenticate each plate, and register the number of sheets made from it, and no edict, proclamation or law informs the public of the values authorized for use, or of the designs, or other peculiarities of the stamps to be employed. The Postmaster General is authorized, in general terms of the law, to provide such stamps as he may, from time to time, judge most convenient and expedient for the collection of the postal rates fixed by other laws, and is required to have them manufactured by those who, under general provisions of other laws regulating all government work, offer to do it at the lowest price.