As a librarian who has worked in a number of different types of libraries, including a public library, a university library, and a government archives and research library such as the APRL, I’ve always been fascinated by what distinguishes a particular library, other than its area of concentration, from other libraries. Sometimes it’s a particular specialized collection within the library unique to that particular research discipline not found in other libraries. Being a specialized library devoted to the resources and research regarding stamps and postal history, the APRL has within its vast collection one of these unique areas that is exclusive to philately.

Bay of Shelves Housing the APRL's Stamp Album Collection

On the first floor of the APRL’s public space, tucked between a row of U.S. government documents (U.S. Postal Bulletins, Postmaster General Reports, etc.) and the library’s collection of domestic show programs is a single bay of 24 shelves housing a small but growing collection of U.S. and international stamp albums. At first glance, this collection of donated stamp albums, usually considered philatelic ephemera, may seem an odd choice for inclusion in what is ostensibly a philatelic research library that is primarily comprised of books, journals and auction catalogs. After all, what research value could old stamp albums have for the serious philatelist? The answer to that question isn’t as complicated as their inclusion in the APRL collection may seem.

Stamp albums provide a wealth of information for not only the beginner collector but also the serious philatelist. Albums were often a collector’s first introduction to the hobby, providing not only a structure and organization to their collecting, but also supplying them with the requisite illustrations as well as in some cases further details (i.e. stamp catalog numbers, watermarks, perforations, date of issue etc.). As a research tool, stamp albums became a guide to the collector for how stamps were categorized and classified.

Specialized Stamp Albums in the APRL Collection

The majority of albums published both here in the U.S. and worldwide, like the Scott albums for example, included pages for regular issue stamps of various countries. But just as collectors became more specialized in their collecting, in time stamp albums began appearing that were more highly specialized as well. As demand grew, albums began focusing on specific types of collecting interests such as those found with back of the book issues such as air mail stamps, plate blocks and revenue stamps to name a few. Often entire albums were devoted to these specialized collecting interests for either a particular country or for worldwide collecting.

Stamps Albums for Topical Collectors

Similarly, as topical collecting has grown and became more popular with all types of collectors, stamp albums began to appear and be published for any number of topical collecting interests. In some ways it can be argued that stamps albums provide an avenue for researchers to delve into the history of how collectors collected and what they chose to collect.

Early Stamp Albums: 1935 Yvert &Tellier Worldide (L) and 1900 Appleton International (R)

At the APRL, the stamp album collection is comprised of over 80 domestic and international albums. There are albums for regular issue postage stamps for a variety of countries as well as albums that involve topical or more specialized collecting. Even though most of the albums do not include stamps or other philatelic material, their purpose for their being in the APRL collection is as historic examples of philatelic ephemera that documents the history of collecting.

To access the APRL’s collection of stamp albums you can visit the APRL in person or contact us at either library@stamps.org or 814-933-3803 ext. 240. Albums can be viewed in person, borrowed or pages can be copied or scanned from them as requested.