Blue Mauritius

Follow the adventures of the world's most sought-after postage stamps - from a tropical Indian Ocean island to the hushed atmosphere of the modern auction room - in this dramatic and passionate tale of the first stamp hunters.In September 1847 colored squares of paper were stuck to envelopes and used to send out admission cards to a fancy-dress ball on the tropical island of Mauritius. No-one at the party would have guessed that the envelopes bearing these stamps would one day be worth more than a million dollars.When a two pence 'Blue Mauritius' surfaced on the fledgling French stamp-collecting market in 1865 it gained instant celebrity. Then in 1903, when a perfect specimen, discovered in a childhood album, was bought at auction by the Prince of Wales, the Blue Mauritius gained super-star status.Even now, the stamps of 'Post Office Mauritius' remain synonymous with fame, wealth and mystery. Helen Morgan tells the fascinating story of the most coveted scraps of paper in existence, from Amuritius' Port Louis to Bordeaux, India and Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan, into the fantasies and imagination of stamp collectors everywhere.

ISBN 1843544369   Pages 336 ISBN13 9781843544364 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 340 Publisher Atlantic Books   Published in London Imprint Atlantic Books   Height (mm) 198 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 129 Publication date 01 Apr 2009   Spine width (mm) 28 DEWEY 769.5696982   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		List of Illustrations
		Introduction
1		Port Louis, Mauritius, September 1847		7
2		Message in a Bottle		16
3		To Philatelic Facts, Which Are Usually Dry		31
4		No Room in Madame's Lallier		41
5		Major Evans's Tour of Duty, Mauritius 1876-9		55
6		All, Alas! Discontinued by Death		65
7		Pretty Philatelic Fairy Tales		84
8		The Schoolboy and the Bordeaux Letters		105
9		The Blue Mauritius		122
10		The Big-game Collectors		155
11		Very Much in Love with Mauritius Stamps		177
12		Million-dollar Questions		201
		Postscript		220
		Glossary		225
		Biographies of the Stamps		229
		Notes and Sources		255
		Bibliography		289
		Mauritius Philatelic Society		301
		Index		303

"* 'Will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt the thrill of buying a little glassine packet of stamps, tipping them out, finding the longed-for Missing One and making the proud, complete set... the stories of these stamps are often extraordinary.' - Ann Wroe, Daily Telegraph * 'Fascinating... not just an entertaining and meticulously researched history of Mauritius and its stamps, but also an absorbing look at the early development of one of the world's most widespread hobbies.' - Kieron Wood, Sunday Business Post * 'Fascinating... A very well and extensively researched book, not only of the stamps, but also of the various personalities, dealers, collectors and others who have discovered, handled or possessed them... Mauritius in 1847 is brought vividly to life.' - Philatelic Explorer"

 Be the first to write a customer review