Volume for 1928 includes translations from Khol's Handbook.

Vol. for 1928 includes translations from Khol's Handbook.

Vol. for 1928 includes translations from Khol's Handbook.

Every stamp and piece of mail tells a story. In fact, each often tells multiple stories, ranging from concept to art design to production to usage, often with tales of politics, history, technology, biography, genealogy, economics, geography, disaster, and triumph. The lens of philately offers a fresh and engaging story of American history, culture, and identity, and it can also help deepen the understanding of world cultures. The William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, opened at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in September 2013, has many such stories to tell. Chief philately curator Cheryl R. Ganz guides readers through some of the gallery's nearly 20,000 objects that together illustrate the history of our nation's postal operations and postage stamps.

A quiet philatelist, George H. Kaestlin joined the original Rossika Society in 1935 along with the better known Theo B. Lavroff and K. Szymanowski. Whereas Lavroff contributed significantly to Russian philately as an author and researcher and Szymanowski was an avid collector, Kaestlin collected privately. Born in Moscow, circa 1893, Kaestlin arrived in England in 1939. After World War II, When the original Rossika dissolved, he did not join the newly reconstituted Rossica Society of the United States. He never wrote for any philatelic magazine, never joined the London-based British Society of Russian Philately, and never showed his material at any exhibition. Thus he managed to elude notice in the literature of the times and receded into obscurity. Kaestlin’s exceedingly remarkable contribution, however, is found in the quality and scope of his collection and in the preservation of the treasures he acquired (many from the legendary Fabergé collection). Kaestlin’s attention to detail and fastidious collecting habits are evident in the layout and handwriting in his albums. His collection, donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1984 by his niece Vera Madeleine Kaestlin-Bock, includes more than 1,250 album pages on which he organized more than 14,000 Imperial Russian and zemstvo stamps. The quality of the stamps is outstanding. With the publication of this book, Kaestlin can finally take his place among the greats of Russian philately. The G.H. Kaestlin Collection of Imperial Russian and Zemstvo Stamps is one of the greatest museum collections outside of Russia.

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years “The comedy crackles, the puns pop, the satire explodes.”—The New York Times “The work of a virtuoso with prose . . . His intricate symbolic order [is] akin to that of Joyce’s Ulysses.”—Chicago Tribune “A puzzle, an intrigue, a literary and historical tour de force.”—San Francsisco Examiner The highly original satire about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in a worldwide conspiracy. When her ex-lover, wealthy real-estate tycoon Pierce Inverarity, dies and designates her the coexecutor of his estate, California housewife Oedipa Maas is thrust into a paranoid mystery of metaphors, symbols, and the United States Postal Service. Traveling across Southern California, she meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge.

Postage stamps have evolved quite a bit since Great Britain’s 1840 Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp. From simple designs featuring the monarch to works of art literally condensed to postage stamp size, hundreds of thousands of different stamps have been issued in the past 164 years—and the great majority of them remain reasonably priced for collectors. With so many stamps to collect from so many countries, a philatelist’s choices are virtually unlimited--which can be both a blessing and a curse, especially if you’re a newcomer to the art of stamp collecting. Interested in starting a stamp collection, but not sure where to begin? This is the guide for you. Expert Richard Sine fills you in on everything you need to know about selecting, finding, buying, presenting and caring for stamps. An internationally recognized collector and author on stamp collecting (he used to write the New York Times stamp column) he also has much wisdom to impart to collectors who’ve been at it for a while. A gold mine of expert advice and guidance, Stamp Collecting For Dummies is on how to: Start or diversify your collection Decide what to collect Catalog and organize your collection Handle, protect, store, and display stamps Identify rare and valuable stamps Buy stamps online and through auction houses Unlike most authors on the subject who tend to be pretty stuffy—to put it politely—expert Richard Sine focuses on the side of stamp collecting that’s enjoyable, educational, and fun. With humor, tons of interesting anecdotes about stamps and the men and women who love them, and loads of insider tips, he covers all the bases, including: Getting the biggest bang for you stamp-collecting buck Researching, locating and buying stamps through traditional sources and online Showing off your collection at exhibits Customizing your collection Housing your stamps and protecting them against the elements The ten keys to identifying and authenticating stamps Stamp Collecting For Dummies is your total guide to starting and building on a really cool stamp collection.