Introduction

The British Philatelist was published by Chas. Nissen & Co. from 1908 to 1954 in 44 volumes, covering a very wide range of different aspects of British philately. In the first issue, the publishers stated their objective:

"In issuing the first number of a new journal 'The British Philatelist' we hope that it will prove to be a source of usefulness and interest to Specialists of British Stamps. Our chief aim is to publish every month really valuable and reliable information on British Postage Telegraph, Fiscal, and College Stamps, Post Cards and Envelopes.".

There is no doubt that Charles Nissen's aims were fulfilled, for the British Philatelist was packed with information to interest its readership. Over the years many outstanding philatelists contributed, and these downloads will make their observations readily traceable by contemporary students who wish to verify the source of information incorporated (often without attribution) into later handbooks.

Used with kind permission of Stanley Gibbons, the current copyright holders.

In addition to downloads of each volume in PDF format and the listings of the contents on this site, a cumulative index was published in The GB Journal in 1983. Please note that these PDFs are GBPS members-only and so you will need to be logged in to the website to download them.

Editors

Anthony Buck Creeke – Vols. 1-24 (1908-32)
Fred Melville – Vols. 25-32 (1932-40)
L.N. and M.Williams – Vols. 33-44 (1940-54)