POSTCARDS FROM KEW

By

GWILYM LEWIS

This is an excellent example of how to take the postcards of just one location and construct a fascinating book around them and the story of the location itself. This book manages to be interesting to both postcard collectors and people who are just interested in the location (and I am in both camps).

I had the pleasure of attending a number of confrences and training courses at Kew Gardens and I have fond memories of the location, so this book is a joy to both look through and read.  

MESSAGES ON EDWARDIAN POSTCARDS

By

FREDA GITTES

This one came out in 2022 and I met the author at a postcard fair and got my copy signed. This one is purely pictorial with images of the front and reverse side of postcards, one postcard per page.  

OLD ROMNEY MARSH IN CAMERA

By EDWARD CARPENTER

This book came with two sheets of 4 postcards, so 8 postcards in all. Fortunately, when I came across my copy in a charity shop it still had the two sheets of postcards inside (which can be unusual as they are lose and not connected physically to the book).  This book was so cheap it was worth it for the 8 postcards alone. 

POTTERIES PICTURE POSTCARDS Volume 2

My wife has family connections with the Potteries area so when I saw this one in a charity shop (in Kent)  I had to pick it up. This is a typical book of this popular trype, and clearly there must be a Volume 1 out there as well.  

ISLE OF WIGHT BOOKS

ISLE OF WIGHT PAST & PRESENT

Compiled by G. E. HOOK

This is my wifes favourite UK holiday destination and as a result we have visited here many times resulting in me collecting quite a few postcards from this island. I thus also pick up books which can help me with details of locations and postcard images. 

Shown in this section are few of my very recent acquisitions. 

AN ISLE OF WIGHT CAMERA 1914 - 1945

By

DAVID COULING

A charity shop find (as were the other books depicted here) so was worth picking up. Lots of images which I have used to match up postcards from my collection to specific areas and events etc. Never bypass a cheap location specific pictorial history book like this.

BRITAIN IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

VENTNOR & DISTRICT

By

DONALD A. PARR

A specific location volume

BRITAIN IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

SANDOWN & SHANKLIN 

By

DONALD A. PARR

From the same series as the book above

EDWARDIAN ENTERTAINMENTS - A PICTURE POST CARD VIEW

By

C. W. HILL

A small harback volume from an earlier period which has prices that are way, way out of date (I would love to pick up a Crystal Palace postcard for just 20p!), but again, it has illustrations worth looking at and it is written by a well known collector writer.  

RUGBY FOOTBALL ON PICTURE POSTCARDS

By

BRIAN LUND

Issued in 2023 this softcover A4 book is packed with illustrations from all periods of postcard production. I was especially impressed with the large modern era sections. 

I picked up my copy from Brian at the Woking postcard fair and was able to get him to sign my one (I do like to get my books signed if possible)

THE ZEPPELIN OFFENSIVE - A GERMAN PERSPECTIVE IN PICTURES & POSTCARDS

By

DAVID MARKS

Ive mentioned before my interest in all things military so if any book comes along which is heavily based on the postcards of any conflict then I am going to grab a copy. This one I obtained from the author himself who kindly signed my copy. This is another great example of how postcards can be used to explain and depict an aspect of history. 

WE WENT TO THE ZOO TODAY... THE GOLDEN AGE OF ZOO POSTCARDS

By

ALAN ASHBY

A fantastic book but then I love zoo postcards, especially those from London Zoo and many of these are included in here.

I highly recommend this one. 

A POSTCARD FROM NESSIE - LOCH NESS AND ITS MONSTER IN OLD POSTCARDS

By

MIKE DEE

A thin tome, but packed with images both old and modern. Definately one for those interested in the Loch Ness Monster, but also a great souvenir for anyone visiting the area. This is a recent publication as well.  

WORLD WAR 1 LOVE STORIES

By

GILL PAUL

This is more a history book, but it contains details, and images, of the mail exchanged between each of the listed lovers. These include a number of postcards, and although not a postcard book I love military history and factual books on how mail has been used during war periods. There are also many photographs and other details contained here. 

POSTCARD GAMES

A large hardback book depicting the postcards sent by His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla.

This is a most unusual book with postcards from England and Germany included from the princes education and travels in both countries prior to WW1.

I picked this up at a Woking postcard fair for £10, I had never seen it before. All the messages on the depicted postcards have been fully translated into english, so you can follow the travels of this prince.

PREFACE information for above book 

A HISTORY OF THE ALLIGATOR

By

DONALD D. SPENCER

There is nothing on the cover of this large sized soft cover book to say it is postcard related, but it is actually a book entirely about Alligator postcards. This was one of my major finds in Florida when I visited in January 2023. I found my copy in a shop attached to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It is a fantastic book which I love reading and looking through (but then I love Alligators) 

THE COLD WAR IN POSTCARDS

By

JOHN CLAYDON

I like this book, but I am aware that it has received some criticisms because of its layout, with most complaints being about the way that descriptive blocks often obscure parts of the illustrated postcards (in fact this happens a lot in this book, and I can see how this could annoy some people, but the information contained here overides this complaint for me). 

It is a large paperback issue.  

MILLER'S COLLECTOR GUIDE - POSTCARDS

By

CHRIS CONNER

A simple guide, but some interesting illustrations. A good thin volume for beginners. 

POSTCARDS FROM THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 

From the same series at the Checkpoint Charlie book shown below and equally recommended if this historic subject interests you. 

POSTCARDS FROM CHECKPOINT CHARLIE - IMAGES OF THE BERLIN WALL

I love this one and it comes fully recommended if this theme is of interest to you (it is to me).

RMS LUSITANIA - A HISTORY IN PICTURE POSTCARDS

By

ERIC SAUDER

A quite large and profusely illustrated book. If you are interested in ocean liners this is a great book 

PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES - HOW HUMOUROUS POSTCARDS HELPED TO WIN WORLD WAR 1

By

JAMES TAYLOR

A superb book which has detailed biographies of many artists from this war period. 

COLLECTING AUSTRALIAN POSTCARDS

By

NICK VUKOVIC

An interesting book from 1983 which gives lots of information on what was collectible to Australians at this time. A specialist book, but this has lots of illustrations and it is nice to see what is collected in other countries.  

PICTURE POSTCARD VALUES 2005 - 31ST EDITION 

These old catalogues are worthwhile for their illustartions and information about collecting during this time (year). Always worth picking up if priced under £3 (especially if around £2 or cheaper)

PICTURE POSTCARD VALUES 2002 - 28th  EDITION 

These old catalogues are worthwhile for their illustartions and information about collecting during this time (year). Always worth picking up if priced under £3 (especially if around £2 or cheaper)

TRANSATLANTIC LINERS IN PICTURE POSTCARDS

By

ROBERT McDOUGALL and ROBIN GARDINER

If this is your theme, or you have any interest in this subject then this is the book for you as it is superb. I can highly recommend this one. It is a hardback book fully illustrated in both colour and black and white.  

Page from above book - it was nice to see a modern FAGA RMS Titanic postcard included in this book. As an aside, I have the actual artwork for this FAGA postcard (depicted bottom left on page) in my collection. 

FANTASY POSTCARDS with Price Guide

By

J.L. MASHBURN

I had wanted a copy of this American catalogue for a number years so was pleased to find this copy being sold cheaply by a UK book online shop. 

This book is heavily illustrated with black and white pictures of the cards and is sectioned under different themes. I collect mermaid related postcards and was delighted to find a whole chapter on these in this one.   

A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO THEATRICAL POSTCARDS

By

RICHARD BONYNGE

A great book on a single theme, packed with images which are all detailed 

FRENCH UNDRESSING - NAUGHTY POSTCARDS FROM 1900 TO 1920

By

PAUL HAMMOND

Packed with black and white images (with a small colour section at the back). It should be noted, if it is not already obvious from the title or the cards depicted on the front, that this book has a large amount of nudity, but then this is the theme of this book. 

BIZARRO POSTCARDS

Edited by JIM HEIMANN

Published by TASCHEN

Taschen issue a wide range of books which are art and image related (including books of detachable postcards). They are always image based and often have little, or as in the case of this book, no text at all. This is just a book of images of what someone has considered to be a bit, or completely, bizarre. I show some pages below to give you an example of the inside of this book looks like. Also, this is based entirely on US postcards (as far as I can see) and note that this fact is noted not as a complaint as I love US postcards.   

PAGES FROM ABOVE BOOK (A double spread of one image across two pages - I love these Flintstone Park postcards and have some in my collection)

PAGES FROM ABOVE BOOK

PAGES FROM ABOVE BOOK 

THE POSTAL MUSEUM: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE POSTAL MUSEUM

Museum Official Book

If you ever visit this lovely little museum in London then I recommend obtaining this guide book. It includes much information and illustartions, many of these have previously appeared on postcards issued by the museum and Royal Mail in the past. Besides giving much information this guide also acts as a nice souvenir of your visit. 

TWO STAMP RELATED CATALOGUES:

CUSTOMISED STAMP SHEETS OF GREAT BRITAIN (SECOND EDITION)

Published by

RIDGEWOOD PUBLISHING

Otherwise known as 'Smilers', these are specialist stamp sheets (which Royal Mail ceased issuing and producing for others back in 2018, I believe). I collect these sheets and as such this is a listing I found highly usefull. There is even a few postcard entries in here because stamps from some specialist sheets were used on exclusive postcards by the Sudbury Philatelic Society, and these cards are listed (and depicted) in this catalogue. 

BRITISH PRESENTATION PACKS (FIRST EDITION)

Published by

PACKS & CARDS

Clearly this is a stamp related issue, but as a specialist book this is superb, it is also sadly going to be the only edition as the company 'Packs & Cards' closed down some years back. There are one or two postcard related entries, but you would need to know what you are looking for to find these. If you have any intertest in any GB Stamp Packs then this is a 'must have' book.