BITS OF PAPER
POSTAGE STAMPS IN THE MAKING, by John Easton; Faber and Faber Ltd. English price, 21/-. % HEN Sir Rowland Hill first approached the British postal authorities in 1836 to plead for postal reform Lord Lichfield, the Postmaster-General, said: "With respect to Mr. Hill, of all the wild visionary schemes which I have ever heard or read of, it is the most extraordinary." Among Hill’s suggestions was the use of "a bit of paper, just large enough to bear the stamp,
and covered: at the back with a glutinous wash" for prepaid postage, and before he died twentyfour thousand millions had been printed in Great Britain and copied by every country in the world. John Easton tells
the complete story of the manufacturing of postage stamps with the fullest technical details of designing, the use of colour, the making of forgery-proof paper, the development of inks, the wizardry of engraving and the arts of printing. Based upon earlier researches of the famous Fred. J. Melville this authoritative volume with its lavish illustrations (52 plates) shows what an astonishing array of skills is poured into the making of stamps: the highest conceptions of sculpture, the techniques of all the fine arts, the incredible patience and talent of the engraver, and the expert methods of specialist printers. Philatelists will welcome this mine of information about the Perkins Bacon process of engraving, electrotyping, printing from intaglio plates, lithography, letterpress printing and rotary photogravure. Re-entries, retouches, broken reliefs and guide dots are dealt with fully. Many historic machines such as the Rose Engine engraving lathe, Perkins Bacon single-line guillotine perforating machine (the "A" machine) and the vast gumming machines of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Washington will awaken immediate philatelic interest. For years to come Postage Stamps in the Making will be a source book for all serious philatelists.
F. R.
Belmer
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 530, 19 August 1949, Page 13
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311BITS OF PAPER New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 530, 19 August 1949, Page 13
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