Rene,
I just adore the Melville Books, just marvelous journalism...........
Frederick John Melville
(February 22, 1882 - January 12, 1940) England
Melville was one of the most prolific philatelic writers
and editors of all time. He wrote his first monograph
in 1897 and began his editing in 1899, continuing for
the rest of his life.
Melville wrote books on every topic and country.
His The ABC of Stamp Collecting, the first of his
many "how to collect" books, appeared in 1903
with English and American editions. It was
re-written in 1922 and had a Spanish edition in
1926. The Postage Stamps of Great Britain,
published in 1904, was the first of his "country books."
He published seven others on British stamps
between 1904 and 1930. One of his favorite
countries was the United States. His "The Postage
Stamps of the United States of America",
published in 1905, was the first of seven on
U.S. stamps published between then and 1925.
Melville wrote well over 100 books (see A "Melville"
Bibliography, by L.N. and M Williams (1941))
and he is listed over 100 times in the catalogs
of the major U.S. philatelic libraries -- the American
Philatelic Research Library, the Collectors Club
library and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Melville's last book, Modern Stamp Collecting,
was released on May 6, 1940 the centenary
of the first postage stamp.
In 1899, young Melville applied for membership
in the Philatelic Society, London (now the
Royal Philatelic Society, London) but he was
rejected because it was open only to "all
persons not under 18 years of age." He decided
to found a new society open to young collectors
and he began the Junior Philatelic Society on
November 11, 1899.
Its goal was "to take first rank among societies
for juniors as the premier society [the Philatelic
Society, London] has already done amongst
those advanced collectors." He served as its
president until his death. (The Junior Philatelic
Society was renamed the National Philatelic
Society in 1965 and celebrated its centenary in 1999.)
Melville began his editing career in 1899. His first
important editorship was of The Stamp Lover,
which he founded in 1908 as the official journal
of the Junior Philatelic Society. Except for a few
issues in 1915, he remained its editor until his death.
Melville also edited other major philatelic journals.
These included Postage Stamp (1909-1925),
Stamp Collector's Fortnightly (1926-1939) and
British Philatelist (1932-1939).
Under the auspices of the Junior Philatelic Society,
Melville organized the Imperial Stamp Exhibition
in 1908, the War Stamps Exhibition in 1915 and
the first international airpost exhibition, APEX, in
1934. He helped organize and edited the catalogs
for the international philatelic exhibitions held in
London in 1912 and 1923. In the 1912 "Jubilee"
exhibition, he introduced a design for the "Ideal Stamp."
Melville was a founder of the Philatelic Literature
Society (1907-1918) whose members were the
leading philatelic bibliophiles in the world. He built
an outstanding philatelic library; it was the best in
Great Britain at his death. In 1940, the U.S Library
of Congress purchased Melville's philatelic library,
which included his working notes and files. It was
not delivered until 1947. Most of his library is now
part of the large philatelic collection in the Library
of Congress, but a large quantity of duplicates
and miscellany was transferred to the Smithsonian
Institution Libraries. That part now resides at the
National Postal Museum branch.
Melville was one of the original group of philatelists
who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.
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Posted 01/24/2018 07:32 am
