My current catalogue library...and my love of specialized catalogues!

As my last post indicates, I have quite a few specialized catalogues in my collection. I LOVE specialized catalogues. Part of the reason is due to the sheer number of varieties you often find listed, which makes shopping for stamps all the more fun if you have the chance to find a variety that is only listed in specialized catalogues in the stock of a dealer who does not know.  To quote Glen Stephens, the moderator of collection forum Stampboards, "Knowledge is POWER".  Another reason I love specialized catalogues is that it lets me set up my albums to include spaces for all known varieties. No, I may not ever own many of them, but one can always dream, and there is always the thrill of the chase.

And finally, for collectors in the USA, the realization that Scott does not list many items that would be considered basic issues in other countries is a frustration that only the overseas specialized catalogues can redress, at least until such time as Scott finally provides listings in its Classic Specialized Catalogue. One of my current bugaboos with Scott is its complete failure to list the Parcel Post stamps of Algeria.  First released in 1899 (twenty-five years before the first Algerian-specific postage stamps) the Parcel Post (or as the French say, Colis Postaux) issues have a strong following in France and are considered a basic part of any Algerian collection, and the Maury catalogue lists almost 220 major number varieties (and lots of minor varieties to boot!)

A selection of Algerian parcel post stamps from a Delcampe listing. Just don't spend time looking in the Scott catalogue for them! 

The oddest thing about this Algerian parcel post question is that Scott DOES list similar parcel post issues for mainland France, which were added to the Classic Specialized catalogue in I believe 2012. So for Scott not to list the Algerian issues is even more anachronistic now than it was when the French parcels were not listed either.  Scott editors, if you read this, please consider listing these issues - there is plenty of market data available!

So what do I have in my library currently. Here is the current listing :

1. Scott 2015 Classic Specialized Catalogue 1840-1940
2. A complete set of 2012 Scott General Catalogues - all 6 volumes
3. 2009 Scott US Specialized Catalogue (I will probably get a newer version this year)
4. Maury Timbres de France 2011 edition
5. Maury Timbres de l'ex-empire français en Afrique 2006 edition (I wanted to update to the 2014 edition but it has gone out of print already!)
6. Maury Timbres des bureaux et anciennes colonies français en Europe et Asie, 2011 edition
7. Maury Timbres des DOM-TOM 2009 edition (catalogue for the current Departments and Territoires d'Outre-Mer, except St Pierre & Miquelon and French Antarctica, which are in #8)
8. Maury Timbres des Principautes et Terres Polaires, 2011 edition
9. İsfila Türk Pulları Kataloğu 2014 edition
10. GJ Catálogo Especializado de Sellos de la Republica Argentina 2009 edition
11. Stanley Gibbons Specialized Australia Catalogue, 9th edition
12. Stanley Gibbons Specialized New Zealand Catalogue, 5th edition
13. Stanley Gibbons Specialized Brunei-Malaysia-Singapore Catalogue, 4th edition
14. Afinsa Catalogo de Sellos Postais : Portugal, Açores e Madeira, 2005 edition
15. Afinsa Catalogo de Sellos Postais : Portugal, Açores e Madeira 2000-2012 supplement
16. Afinsa Catalogo de Sellos Postais : Colonias Portuguesas, 2011 edition.

Unfortunately the Afinsa catalogues are no longer produced as the publisher went bankrupt in wake of the Afinsa Ponzi Scheme Scandal but copies can be found in the second-hand market with a little searching.  Maury no longer lists catalogues on its own website, my guess is all the latest editions are out of print as well, though again the aftermarket will have copies.

Over time I am sure my collection of specialized catalogues will grow. I desperately want a copy of the Unitrade Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps but the current 2015 edition is out of print, though the 2016 edition should be available in late 2015 and that will be purchased this year!

You may be thinking wow how can he use all these catalogues, most are not in English!  Well, I fortunately have fair to good reading ability in nine different languages (French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Arabic and Persian) as a result of years of training as a graduate student in Islamic History at Ohio State.  But, I find that most catalogues are organized in such a way that someone with little foreign language knowledge can, with the help of online translators, get the main jist of what the catalogues are saying.