THE STAMP ATLAS

By

STUART ROSSITER & JOHN FLOWER

If you are in any way interested in the different times and dates that the countries of the world commenced a postal service and the history behind them then this is the book you need. It is a specialist book, but a very good one which I have often gone to to confirm when a country started or ceased issuing stamps.

Every stamp issuing country, past and present (at the time of publication) is covered within this volume along with postal history information. 

ROUTE 66 - SPIRIT OF THE MOTHER ROAD

By

BOB MOORE

I first saw this book on my visit to Flagstaff , Arizonia, on Route 66 a couple of years ago, but it was very expensive (it was in a collectors/antiques shop). When I got home I searched eBay and Amazon and came across a copy for a fraction of the price that had been on the copy I had seen.

I wanted it as a souvenir of my visit to a very small part of Routee 66. It caught my eye because the cover is made up of old postcard images. There are quite a few inside the book as well and it is a good example of a release which uses postcard images to invoke nostalgia.  

ON BOARD RMS TITANIC - MEMORIES OF THE MAIDEN VOYAGE

By

GEORGE BEHE

Clearly this one is for anyone interested in the RMS Titanic story, which I am. This one is full of letters, messages and postcards sent by those on board and those who survived the voyage and its disasterous sinking. Some of the postcard messages are fascinating.

POSTCARDS OF THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS 1902 - 1918

By

MICHAEL YOUNG 

This is a very specific topic but it is a fully illustrated book with most pages having two massive images per page (with just a little descriptive block beneath each image). It is a book to look at and I love looking at this one 

CONFESSIONS OF A COLLECTOR

By

HUNTER DAVIES

This book has a whole chapter on postcards, but postcards also make appearances in other chapters as the author, a well known prolific and eclectic collector, has many really interesting collections. 

This is a fantastic book which looks at the world of collecting through the authors own collections. Postcards are a prominent feature of the book.

PEEP SHOW PINUPS: THE GOLDEN ERA

By

JO AND PAUL RICHARDSON

This book contains at least 179 postcard images. I suspect there are many, many more, but that is still an impressive postcard ratio. There is even an entire chapter on Postcards.

Interestingly, some of the older images depicted in this book I have seen on modern glamour issue postcards which have displayed older photographs and which were on sale in the 1980's and 1990's (some which I had not known were older images).

Probably needless to say, but this book does contain a lot of nudity.  

AIRSHIPWRECK

By

LEN DEIGHTON & ARNOLD SCHWARTZMAN

I collect Zeppelin postcards, especially cards which were carried on the Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin airships. This book gives details of all the airships and how they came to an end, which was often by crashing. Books like this are great sources of information around cards in peoples collections. This one, and the one below were both charity shop finds and were just £2 each. 

MAIL RAIL: FROM BEGINNING TO END

By

MIKE SULLIVAN

This one fits into my postal history collection. I have had the pleasure of walking some of the tunnels that the mail rail ran along and have travelled along one in the new 'Mail Rail' trains in what has became a major London tourist attraction. This book gives me a great insight into the building and use of the tunnels I walked along.  

HAVE SOME SAND

THE GRITTY SIDE OF LOVE

This book is basically just full of romance related postcards. A very visual book which uses postcards as its inspiration. 

The inside boarder pages have an enlarged postcard reverse across them - I liked this 

Inside pages of above book 

Inside pages of above book - you can see that postcards feature well. 

NO YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT, YOU'VE BROKEN YOURS OFF ALREADY

By

SAPPHIRE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED

This is really a picture booklet as it has pages of illustrations. There is no descriptive text, but then this is not what this booklet is about... its all about the pictures. 

Inside first page of above booklet

Two pages from the above booklet

MICHEL ZEPPELIN SPECIALISED CATALOGUE 2003

This is the catalogue many European Zeppelin mail collectors use. It covers every Zeppelin flight with precise details of hand stamps, cachets and countries where covers and postcards were used. An essential guide book.  

Pages from above catalogue

THE PHILATELY OF THIRD REICH GERMANY 1933 - 1945

By

ROBERT W. JONES

I have a download computer version of this book (the book itself is long out of print and copies are much sought after and cost anywhere between £120 and £200). It is an excellent production which is packed with images of all the stamps, cancellations and Postal Stationery Post Cards issued during this period by the Germans. It also puts these into a historic period context with details behind what was happening at the time each item was released. Every item is pictured, and all in colour. If you dont fancy spending over £100 on a physical book I highly reommend a download digital version (which is around £7 on eBay)     

SOUTHEND SEASIDE THROUGH TIME

By

MICHAEL ROUSE

This was another present from my Daughter, along with the book depicted below. This book has an amazing 84 postcards pictured. Anyone collecting Southend postcards would love this one.   

SOUTHEND THROUGH TIME

By

DAVID C. RAYMENT

My daughter bought me this one for Christmas last year. Southend is my home town and this book is packed with information useful to me re my local view postcards. There are 46 postcards depicted in this book.

BATTLE IN PICTURES

Published and sold by

THE BATTLE MUSEUM OF LOCAL HISTORY

This is another example of a local history book packed with images, some of which are postcard images.

This book is currently on sale in the museum reduced from £8 to just £2.50 (whilst stocks last I suspect). This soft bound book is absolutely packed with information about the people, houses, structures and other aspects of this historic town. 

I have an interest in this location through my ancient family history 

CANTERBURY THROUGH TIME

By

JOHN CLANCY

As you can see from the sticker top right, this cost me just £5 in 'The Works' in Canterbury (Just down the same street it was in W.H. Smith for its full retail price of £14.99)

This book contains 52 postcard images (and a number of other images which I also suspect to be postcards). I visit Canterbury a lot and I really enjoyed looking through this one.   

ANIMALS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

By

NEIL R. STOREY

This is a good example of a book about a non-postcard subject but which uses a lot of postcard images throughout. A book like this can give collectors information about specific postcards and the more general story behind the period they were issued. 

This page from the above book depicts two postcards.

page from the above book

This page from the above book depicts a well known WWI postcard

A page from the above book with a postcard depicted at the bottom

CZECHOSLOVKA FIELD POST 1918 - 1921

By

BRIAN C. DAY

This is quite a big book with lots of information in it, but it is a theme which is very specialised. This type of information can often be found in these special releases by Philatelic Societies - this one was published by the CZECHOSLOVAK PHILATELIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN

When I picked this book up I was surprised how many postcards are illustrated throughout it. It looks like many of the cancels used have only survived because they were used on postcards 

There are both colour and black and white illustrations throughout this book

The book is packed with illustrations and details of the cancellations used, as can be seen from these two pages

THE POSTAL HISTORY OF THE NUREMBERG RALLIES

By

JOHN RAWLINGS AND MICHAEL PASSMORE

The postal history of the third reich era is very collectible and there are numerous books relating to aspects of it. This is an A4 size book with heaps of information and pictures. A superb book. 

Some of the pages are in full colour which really shows off these poster - postcard illustrations

There is a lot of information in this book, but it also has some great pages of illustrations

The illustrations in this book are really good

This book covers all aspects of material issued for the rallies - stamps, medals, cancels and of course postcards 

This A4 sized book has some full page images of cards, posters and other material.

NURNBERG IN ALTEN ANSICHTSKARTEN

Nuremberg in old postcards

I picked this one up at a recent fair for just £2. It is a book for tourists and visitors to Nuremberg (the text is all in German), but I visited here last year so I can see illustrations of places I visited.

This ones in my collection for something to enjoy looking at rather than a reference book.

Most of the illustration are in black and white, but there are a few in full colour. 

I visited the Albrecht Durer house on my visit to Nuremburg last year

Having visited Nuremburg its nice to see places that I visited depicted on older postcards 

METER STAMPS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND (EIRE)

By

A. A. DEWEY

A very specialist book, but meter stamps are another aspect of philaterly which it is always nice to have proper information on. This was a recent acquisition.

One page from this nice softbound book. I liked the fact that all the meter mark illustrations are in red, as the actual meter marks are.

ROYAL MAIL - THE POST OFFICE SINCE 1840

By

M. J. DAUNTON

This is a massive book which tells the story of Royal Mail. For someone interested in the whole of the history of the post office etc, this is a nice book (and I picked up a copy for just £1.25 at a recent fair book sale)

COLLECTING BRITISH ARMY POSTCARDS

The essential guide and reference bokk for collectors of Military Postcards

By

GEOFF WHITE

This is the second edition of this book and it is one of the best of this type of specialised subject books. Besides listings and illustrations this also has nice little boxed biographies of the artists and some useful descriptions of the source of the military jargon and specific words linked to the military world.

The pages are well illustrated and packed with useful listings and details 

THR POSTAL HISTORY OF THE POST CARD IN CANADA

1878 - 1911

By

ALLAN L. STEINHART

Another specialist book but one which has extensive details of printings, types and the history behind the early issues of Canadian postcards. 

BARRED NUMERAL CANCELLATIONS 

VOLUME THREE

ENGLAND

ESSEX TO KENT

By

JOHN PARMENTER

MICHAEL GOODMAN

JOHN SAYLOR JR.

There are obviously a number of these volumes, but for me the one about Essex is the most important as this is my home county.

This is the page that relates to my home town of Southend-on-Sea. There are also pages for Rochford, Benfleet, Shoeburyness and other local areas where I have worked and lived. 

POSTAL MARKINGS OF RAF, RFC AND RNAS STATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1918 - 1968

By

BILL GARRARD

This one is a specialist book, but as I collect military history on postcards this is a useful and quite thick edition. This is one for those after specific and detailed information on the RAF stations around the country through many decades

One of the many pages of illustrations of cancels from inside this book 

DAS BRANDENBURGER TOR (The Brandenburg Gate)

BERLIN STORY VERLAG

Postcards are part of our history and nothing depicts history better than contemporary postcards. This pictorial guide to the history of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin depicts at least 20 postcards, but also a number of images which have also appeared on postcard releases.

It is a tourist book, large and packed with large images. It is a superb souvenir of a visit to the gate and I bought my copy from the gift shop which is actually under the gate itself.

The book also has two pages of telephone cards, two pages of postage stamps and pages of other related collectibles as well as some artist representations of the monument. It is a book that uses pictures to tell nearly all of its story and is none the worse for doing so.

Page from the above book

Two pages from the above book