Catalogue For 1900-1910 Italian Military Vignettes?

Hi all!

I started collecting the Delandre military stamps recently, and in the process of learning about these I saw that he (Delandre) had copied some existing designs of Italian military vignettes that had been produced some time earlier. These are the famous (or infamous) Delandre "re-impressions", as he called them.

I am wondering if there is a catalogue in existence that covers these original Italian vignettes. I'm not seeking anything on the Delandre copies, but rather a book/catalogue that covers the earlier Italian military vignettes.

Thanks. I know next to nothing about these Italian vignettes but since I have a collection of Delandre's items (including some "re-impressions" and fantasies), I thought it would be appropriate to learn about the Italian originals as well.

Barry

His Wikipedia entry lists a number of references. Have you tried chasing those down?

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Hi Barry,
of the 12 Volumes I am aware of, of Charles Kiddle
Volume 5 is the closest I have seen, regarding anything Italian
This may / may not interest you.

Hey Rod! Thanks for that. I do have all five of those - they are the catalogues for the Delandre stamps (which are really interesting), and you're right - Charles Kiddle did a nice job in Vol. 5 with some of the Delandre "reimpressions" (which were actually forgeries of the Italian originals), and Vol. 2 by Walter Schmidt also listed some as well as the fantasies produced by Delandre.

I did find what I was looking for: a 1934 catalogue, in French, by Gustave Bertrand: "Memorial Philatelique V". The book was listed in a poster stamp bibliography compiled by the very same Charles Kiddle, in fact. I found one copy of the book online, bought it immediately, and have been looking through it. One of the challenges is trying to determine which in my collection are the original Italian stamps, and which are the Delandre "reimpressions". I have about 90% Delandre stamps, evidently…

Thanks for the resource info!

Barry

Congratulations on your journey.




If you care to, would love a picture of the cover of that Catalogue !
Not heard of it prior

Rod - it took some research to find that this even existed! The philatelic community is in dire need of an update, though… I am still a few years away from retirement from my engineering job but if I still have my mental faculties by then, I may take it on.

I believe the book was originally a paperback (card cover) and is part of a series. My copy is hard bound, probably privately done. I took two pics for you: the cover (the paperback cover) and a sample couple pages.

Fabulous!
well done you.
I have saved the image for my Delandres information.
It's nice to own scarce monographs.

Retirement is a lot of fun,
but don't wish it too soon

Ha! Retirement means I can spend ALL my time with these little pieces of paper… but you're absolutely right, I am still about 7 years away from that.

Do let me know if you ever need me to check anything in here for you. This catalogue covers the pre-Delandre Italian vignettes that he copied (the so-called "reimpressions" ) and I only have a couple sources that explain how to distinguish between the originals and the Delandres (one is one of Walter Schmidt's catalogues, the "Images of the Great War" Vol II I believe, the other is a small book issued by Francis and Charles Kiddle in the mid-90s for the Cinderella Stamp Club of the UK) and one rainy day I will go through my collection and start separating them the best I can.

Funny, I have been collecting since I was three and I had never heard of any of these things until a couple years ago… amazing they've eluded me for so long!

Cheers!

Barry

EDIT: It was Vol V of the "Images of the Great War" that explains how to distinguish some of the Italian vignettes from Delandre's reprints, not Vol II… although Vol II does list the Delandre fantasies, which he created for the collectors of the Italian vignettes. It is hard to believe that Delandre had created so many of his stamos in such a short time, in between his other get rich quick schemes and ripping off so many people. Where did he get that kind of energy??

I often wonder that.

Modern collectors as well, our moderator Don, Richard Frajola,
James of the "miscellany", Bobby de La Rue and others here too numerous to mention.

Not only they have the wherewithall to source the scarcer material, but to study it as well.

Billigs, Robson Lowe Sheesh absolute legends.

Rod -

I first learned of Fritz Billig when I obtained one of his (numbered) handbooks, and the sheer variety of the subjects inside was amazing. Then the later editions of his handbooks introduced me to Robson Lowe, and then I leaned about his writings, auctions, and the wealth of information he learned and shared with his fellow collectors. Legends, indeed! I get exhausted just thinking anout all the things they did.