“Bibliosmia”, a new word which I learned today. A word used to describe the smell of old books, which I have had the affinity of getting for these past few days.
Last week, a friend of mine shared with me a news article about an antique shop near my home. Naturally, I got curious and since it was just a stone’s throw away from my residence, I arranged a viewing appointment with the owner of the shop. When I got there, I was greeted with a warehouse filled with things that I couldn’t recognise, things that were older than me. The shop owner, a petite lady named Rebecca, came up to me and asked what I was looking for.
“Stamp albums!”, I exclaimed. She pointed and said that they were kept somewhere at the back of the shop. I walked gingerly to where she had pointed, trying to avoid knocking over stuff as the place was cluttered with all sorts of antiques. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find anything of note there and true enough, there wasn’t. There were a few albums with rather common stamps in them. The stamps were kept in a poor condition with signs of toning and their prices were something I can’t agree with. I didn’t really bother with them after a short while. There was a decent selection of vintage postcards though, going at about $4/piece. Flipping over a few items, I found a couple of books underneath a pile of stuff. They caught my eye and I bought them soon after inspecting and making sure they were free of silverfish, a paper-eating pest that you really wouldn’t want in your home, especially when you are a stamp collector.
Overall, if you are fascinated by vintage wares, then it’s a truly wonderful place to explore but if you are looking primarily for philatelic items, then it isn’t much of a galore. I am going to share their address here in case anyone is interested in turning their house into a museum.
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| Name of the shop is “By My Old School”. |
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| No fixed operation hours, call for an appointment. |
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| Lots of vintage stuff. |
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| Walk carefully in the shop, it’s very easy to bump into things here. |
Moving on, these are the 2 books that I bought from the shop.
“Stamp Collecting”, published in 1980, is a book that introduces the hobby in a basic manner to beginners and to anyone with an interest in the topic. It uses simple terminology and is unassuming. This book provides general suggestions on what hobbyists could start collecting and how to specialise in a certain aspect of philately.
“Know The Game: Stamp Collecting”, published in 1965, is a short book that teaches beginners on the technicalities of the hobby such as the equipment used, how to hinge a stamp, methods of collecting etc. This book is part of the “Know The Game” series that also publishes other titles dedicated to various hobbies.
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| Very confusing book to read. This book is almost like an error itself. |
This book was won at an online auction held by the Singapore Stamp Club, which I am a member of. “Errors In Postage Stamp Design”, published in 1979, categorises erroneous stamps by types but it requires quite a lot of navigating to understand the book and it’s hard to read because there is no proper formatting. Many times, the illustrations and descriptions have nothing to do with each other. It’s akin to them showing you a picture of a Formula 1 race car but talk about gardening tips instead. I am almost certain that you will have to find the errors for yourself when you flip to the illustrations. The exhibits depicted in the illustrated pages are categorically numbered but they serve no purpose in explanation whatsoever. I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you specifically collect error stamps.
I won this book at the online auction, too. Unlike the previous book that I have mentioned, “Postage Stamps In The Making”, published in 1969, is a far more pleasurable book to read. This book brings the reader all the way back from the designing of the first postage stamp, the Penny Black, to the different methods of stamp printing through the ages (up till 1969. So, offset printing isn’t included as it’s a modern method). It contains simple hand-drawn and photographic illustrations that are easy to comprehend. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in the hobby!
This was generously given to me by one of my stamp dealers, Mr. Tan Chun Lim, when he heard that I wanted to start this blog to help beginners understand more about the hobby. This is a booklet to help beginners grasp philatelic terms in simple words. It was published by Singapore Telecom in 1980 to promote stamp collecting. This booklet is a fun collectable for anyone who’s interested in local philatelic literature.
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