from Samuel Pepys' diary: Thursday 18 April 1661 Up with my workmen and then about 9 o’clock took horse with both the Sir Williams for Walthamstow, and there we found my Lady and her daughters all; and a pleasant day it was, and all things else, but that my Lady was in a bad mood, which we were trou...

Impressive details but I suspect that the French version is 'propagation de la foi' rather than 'propagation de la soi' which could be roughly translated as 'propagation of the self' - perhaps not quite what the organization had in mind!

And also on the condition!

I take your point but defining shades is very subjective and that is the cause of so much controversy. Perception of shades depends upon the ambient light quality as well as the individual human's vision. I'm not familiar with the Prinz machine; I wonder how it works. A colour chart can be useful (p...

Don't we live in an uncertain world! So much for the authorities on the subject; perhaps someone should introduce the various "experts" to each other and see if they can agree on the time of day. One would assume with the technology of photochromatography that it would be possible to obtai...

Yes, Malaysia is a very pleasant place to live in - peaceful and always warm.
I do check the internet frequently but have not seen much. Can you recommend any particular dealers who might help?

Hi Ian! I'm sorry I can't send you scans as my collection is safely in the UK and I'm here in Malaysia. The humidity here is not kind to paper so I don't have them with me - otherwise they'd all be on toned paper! I can send you details of corner letters, place and date of posting and these should f...

This has stimulated interest. Great! To Robin I would ask who these dealers are. Since I live in Malaysia it might be difficult to meet them face to face but perhaps they would respond to e-mails. To Ray: Yes, I'll contact Chris Harman and see what advice he can give. As you say, it is an advantage ...

Hi Ian Many thanks for your detailed reply. No, unfortunately I don't know anyone else out here with similar interests. I can happily give you details of those in my collection (complete date and place of posting) if the information will be useful to you. Anyone you can recommend who might find me a...

I should have thought there would be more people. Maybe they're too shy! I have built up a collection of these over the years and it is almost compete; I still a clear CDS copy of the 1/- plate 12 L226 which oddly has been more difficult to find than the 3/- wmk crown. Some of the sideways inverted ...

Is anyone out there interested in these issues? Dealers often advertise unused copies or those overprinted Specimen - but I rarely see CDS copies advertised. Are they really so rare or is there just no interest?

I recall writing about this in the newletters some time ago. I have a copy of the Dull Prussian Blue (shade 17) certified and a copy of the Deep Blue (shade 12) not certified, both used in Smyrna in 1921. Is it possible that the colours wee changed by climatic conditions out there or were the only s...

Many thanks, James. I must try to get hold of a copy of the book you mention. I am still surprised that so many advertisers overlook the spelling mistake! I presume that the covers contained the forged definitives since the "commemoratives" would surely never have been allowed through the ...

During World War II the Germans made several forgeries of British stamps. The six lowest 1937 definitives with the Cross of David in place of the cross on the crown were quite well produced except that the perforations were wrong. They also made quasi forgeries of the 1937 Coronation and the 1935 Si...