White's Encyclopedia Of The Colors Of US Postage Stamps

The best way to acquire this is to watch live auction listings. Sets turn up from time to time in sales by Siegel, Kelleher, Schuyler Rumsey and others. Typical estimated price is $150-200. You can also contact the major philatelic literature dealers such as Phil Banser at https://www.philbansner.com/philate...terature.htm
or Leonard Hartmann at http://pbbooks.com/. Hartmann appears to be offering sets now: http://pbbooks.com/color.htm

Thank you both. So it really is the case that this was a very good work which nearly never reaches the majority of the collectors, not even the specialized collectors. Of course I can look at auctions or those links, but even if I bought it for hundreds of dollars (last auction I saw was 500 USD), then it's only me who gets the book. I'm sure Roy White would appreciate that we appreciate his work and try to make it accessible to more than a few people. Yes, I know that you have to look at the paper to get a little bit an idea of the true colors, but as mentioned, for me also the scans have helped and would help really a lot. For sure it would be better than have nothing. If I take the example of Scott 64 and 65: I saw so many good scans and photos in the internet and here at SCF, but all of them didn't really help. I saw one or two scans of White's book, and suddenly I had an idea about the colors. So his work was really good, and an online / PDF / scan source of his work or parts of it would help a lot of people, I guess.

Sigh.

I have a part of R E White's Encyclopedia of Colors of United States Postage Stamps: Picked it up years ago, shrink wrapped from Leonard.
Vol III 1869 to 1893 Mostly color plates from 1869's to the China Clay papers. The copy has one fault, a spot/stain? mysteriously appeared one day above the two $1 Columbians. This is also the last Columbian plate, there was no $5 plate in this.

I have duel monitors on my computer and when I display this thread in two windows (one on each monitor) they look very different. Please let me know which monitor is displaying the more accurate colors.
Don

Thank you, Phil, that's interesting to see the differences for example between the 244 and 244a.

Don: If you have such different monitor profiles then I would recommend a hardware solution like Spyder Express. It is easy and you get a huge difference in color accuracy (RGB / sRGB, but it also helps for my CMYK proofs). But I really don't wanted to open a color discussion here :), as it never reaches an end, and I already wrote that it would not be a perfect solution but still a good one to see scans of White's book.

Display manufacturer do NOT use the exactly same components during a year long build; so using a single profile for a monitor is meaningless. Additionally, age and number of hours used has a big impact of each monitor.

You need to understand that we have thousands of readers who look at threads like this, look at a catalog, see some rare color variety, and we all deal with the fallout. If folks post scanned images of a color references than I hope they will also be volunteering a lot of time replying to the inexperienced collectors who are sure to follow.

Colors are totally subjective. We are not doing the hobby any favors by having threads which tout color identification using questionable methods. There is only one single way (currently) to identify stamp colors. Build a large reference collection, define your ambient light source and be consistent in using it, and spend a year or two developing a good color eye. Does also having a good, fresh color reference book help? I'm sure it does but it does not replace the resources actually required.
Don

Sure, you recreate the profile from time to time. Spyder Express is not a monitor model but a profile creation hardware. RGB accuracy is possible then.

About the hobby thoughts you know that better than me as a beginner. Just thought it would help.

Color threads and discussions are great, we just need to make sure we understand their impact and the audience.

Sometimes it feels like we are having an intimate chat among a small group of experienced collectors. But we are not in a corner of a room at a stamp club meeting. We are reaching very large numbers of collectors running the full range of experience. Large numbers of people who are not even joined as members, many just lurk. Next thing you know, we see another listing on ebay for a 'rare' color variety based on a scanned color book page.
Don

For anyone that is interested, there is a complete set of RH White books at the Schuyler J Rumsey auction at Sescal, ending tomorrow. The current price is USD$230. I have a copy and was interested to see what was for sale. This set is a bit worn and torn, but still usable.

You can get to the link through the Stamp Auction Network. It is the last lot, #2951.

The Rumsey set sold for $450 plus buyers fee. A bit more than I would have paid, but someone should be happy.

The White book was more of a major collaboration of experts who worked very hard to get the colors as right as they could. I think they did a great job. It's exhaustive in parts but not complete; no #11a plum, for example, though it does get a mention.

I have to say that Phil's page example online is fairly accurate to me, quite good to excellent for reference and eliminating bad guesses.

Per Don's comments, you do have to keep in mind what you see online may not be what others see. Printing accuracy is also always a concern -- note that while getting the colors as right as could be, the Columbian perfs on that White book page all got distorted/shrunk in the camera process.

Also, there's things like oxidation, fading, toning and intermediate colors to always consider. Books like this give a best match. In person, the White book colors are more distinct between the two shades of the $4 aniline rose/pale aniline rose. In reality, you may just have a faded aniline rose rather than a pale shade.

I bought (at auction) Encyclopedia of Colors Vol I and II with slip covers, Papers and Gums of the US, and Colors in Philately (also by White) for $558 including premium and shipping. I had been waiting to find a set for quite a while. It was worth it to me because the Gibbons guide is too tedious to use because I only collect US, UN, and Canada.