A Student of Stamps

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 526, 1 December 1928, Page 26

A Student of Stamps

New Zealand’s Prize Collection Housed In Parnell Home . . .

NTCE upon a time there lived an old lady whose hobby was philately. To her, a stamp album was more interesting than a hand-worked table „„„ tweezers much more useful than knitting needles. Unfortunately, however, her geography was weak. To a philatelist this is a grave handicap, for unless one is reasonably familiar w-ith the countries of the world and their ■whereabouts, it is exceedingly difficult to sort out stamps with any real accuracy. So she sought an assistant. She appealed to a young friend who was keen and equipped mentally for - any philatelic task. The friend called regularly, and the two studied and worked together, arranging and sorting the collection. Gradually the newcomer found her interest in stamps quickening and deepening. Hexfriendly assistance was becoming an absorbing hobby, the magnitude oi which challenged her capacity foxachievement. Thus Mrs. E. H. Kendex-dine, of Parnell, Auckland, became a philatelist. Her response to an old friend’s appeal led her to a hobby that was to bring her international fame as the possessor of one of the finest and most valuable collections of New Zealand and New Zealand dependency stamps in existence. This happened 20 years ago. Today Mrs. Kenderdine is one of the leading philatelists of New Zealand and Australia. As aq authority on the stamps of Tonga—an island that has made almost a business of stamp issuing—she has no peer, and her knowledge of New Zealand stamps and their histories is unique. Her search for the stamps in which she specialises has been world-wide. She has combed New Zealand from the North Cape to the Bluff, and hexfriends include Dominion collectors and connoisseurs whose names are household words. She has correspondents in Australia and the South Seas, and agents in America and England. Thei-e has been nothing spasmodic about Mrs. Kenderdine’s hobby, nor has her wonderful collection been built up by a series of lucky “windfalls." It is too big, too comprehensive for that. It represents an unremitting search of 20 years—a search Inspired by the mastering passion of the collector born, and sustained by a determination to x-ise above mediocrity and achieve all that is to be achieved. When Mrs. Kenderdine took over the collection that introduced her to the philatelist’s fascinating hobby, she realised at once that, in stamps, specialisation is essential. It would be beyond practical bounds to secure anything approaching a complete collection of the stamps of qvery country. She decided to explore one field thoroughly, and selected New Zealand and its dependencies as her special study. The result is embodied in 10 big albums —brimming caskets of philatelic Jewels —which fill a steel safe in her Parnell home. From the point of view of the true collector the set is pi-iceless. It has never been estimated in terms of prosaie £ s. d., but there is no doubt that a fortune is represented by the beautifully mounted and carefully catalogued squares of coloured paper. *lt is difficult to probe the extent of Mrs. Kenderdine’s philatelic work and knowledge, for she is a modest collector, unwilling to dwell on her achievements and successes. “These are my treasures,” she told ait interviewer who called during the week. “They repx-esent a tremendous expenditure of time and labour in research and careful examination. There ai-e many thousands of stamps in the albums, but I know them all by heart, and I "have examined each one with a microscope, discovering tiny details of difference, and minute flaws and mistakes in the printing.” In corners of her drawing room ai-'e various trophies of the “chase.” A beautiful silver cup of generous size stands mounted on an ebony base, and the inscription tells of Mrs. Kendei--dine’s success in the Christchurch Philatelic Exhibition of 1924, when she was awarded seven prizes, thex-eby

securing the greatest number of awards against competitors from Australia and New Zealand. Two medals are from a similar exhibition at Sydney in 1911. The silver medal was foi the best collection of New Zealand issues, and the bronze medal for the second best collection of Tongan stamps. „ , Surprise has been expressed tha another collection of Tongan stamps was considered better, but Mrs. derdine is unwilling to offer her opinion. It is perhaps sufficient to say that she possesses a well-preserved sample of every Tongan issue save one, and although that one is mentioned in the catalogue of Stanley Gibbons, the noted English dealer, no one has been able to trace a copy. For all practical purposes it does not exist. , , l'he section of the Kenderdme collection devoted to stamps of Tonga is particularly interesting and valuable, but every album contains page after page of specimens, pairs, and portions of rare sheets, over which the most hardened collector could pore with watering mouth. To the small fry among philatelists an examination of the collection would mean an introduction to issues and samples undreamed of, freaks and strange printing errors almost unbelievable. To the philatelist proud of his collection it would be a humbling

MRS. 7-7. IT. KEN DERDINE experience—a lesson in thoroughness and the exhaustive treatment of a sn bject. Glance through the albums, eyeing thorn from the standpoint of the ordinary collector. Here are samples of the famous "inverted 7id” of Tonga, a rare and valuable stamp. Only one sheet was issued, and any philatelist would be proud to own a solitary sample. Mrs. Kenderdine has three or four, in perfect condition. A page or two further on are specimens i'f the first stamps issued for Tonga. There are Tongan stamps with and without perforations, surcharged and surcharged again. The best illustration of the thoroughness with which Mrs. Kenderdine has tackled her subject is provided by the final pages in one of her albums. Here are the partial reconstructions of portions of two sheets of rare, damaged stamps. “The reconstruction of a plate," as it is termed, is a task quite beyond the comprehension of the avqrage amateur. It means the collecting from every corner of the country stamps that were torn from one particular sheet and the arranging of them in their original order. Perforations, water-marks and minute similarities are the only guide. Both portions attempted by Mrs. Kenderdine are more than half complete. What is to become of this magnificent collection of New Zealand stamps-—a collection beginning at the crude private maj-k of a Maori chief and ending at the choicest variety of the very latest issue? Its value in hard cash is exceedingly high, but its worth as a collection must be infinitely greater. For family reasons Mrs. Kenderdine has decided that, ultimately, it must be sold. It is to be hoped that it will remain in New Zealand intact, perhaps preserved for future museum showing. To disintegrate such an achievement would be a philatelic crime.