Maassen, Wolfgang Chronicle of German Philately Special Volume 1
Artikelnr: 007-010-078E
Maassen, Wolfgang Chronicle of German Philately Special Volume 18 Counterfeiters and Forgeries in the 19th Century The Spiros - a family from Hamburg
A story of fiction and truth
1st edition 2019, DIN A4 format, 256 pages, ENGLISH text, 280 illustrations, completely in colour, more than 490 illustrations, in b/w and colour, hardcover with thread stitching, special volume 18 of the Chronicle of German Philately series, © Schwalmtal 2019 .
Now the first volume with 255 pages is available in color. The subtitle A History of Poetry and Truth" already suggests that this research work by the well-known philatelic historian is also able to present relevant new things.
The name of the "Gebr. Spiro" or even "Philip Spiro" should be familiar to every advanced (professional) philatelist. These originators in Hamburg have been credited with producing and distributing the first early imitations of postage stamps from countless countries für more than 150 years. There are said to be more than 150 different ones, which were marketed in huge numbers worldwide and can still be discovered in numerous collections and albums today. They were first called "facsimiles". For a long time, however, they have been classified as fakes, even if they were originally only intended as fillers für beginners and school albums.
The author immerses the reader in the early years of philately after 1860. He describes the appearance of the first forgeries and their resonance in the (sometimes mostly hardly known) gazettes of that time. This literature study alone is already exciting, as you learn a lot that you have never been able to read anywhere else. With the support of Hans-Peter Garcarek and Gerhard Lang-Valchs, Maassen succeeded in proving that the Spiro family were not the manufacturers of these facsimiles, even though the Spiro brothers (not Philip Spiro!) probably traded in them für a number of years. But not nearly as long as is repeatedly claimed to this day. The reasons für the production were others, both in England and in Germany.
The family history research and documentation of the primary sources alone, compiled from the Hamburg State Archives, is an impressive innovation that unmasks the previous "blame" of countless authors as fairy tales and legends.
In the second part of the book, the focus is then on the facsimiles themselves, which the author cautiously and cautiously only calls "so-called. called Spiros. Colours, perforation, paper, printing processes and stamps are examined and analyzed more closely. There are also a number of surprising things that come to light. Even templates that have not yet been seen in any other publication. Last but not least, the book offers für the first time the complete reproduction of the facsimiles wrongly attributed to the Spiro brothers in the legendary "Spud Papers". These were already known in black and white, and a lucky few also had an original from the rare journal "The Philatelist" from the 1870s, in which the episodes of this series of articles had appeared. But there was significantly more than in "The Philatelist" - and this, which is missing everywhere, is also shown here.
The author answers the final question about a „closed book” with caution – also with reference to an extensive volume 2, which is to follow in 2023. It is not a "closed book", but the beginning of a project that wants to shed even more light on what little has been preserved. This volume 2 should contain and compare all the facsimile sheets (about 1,300!!!) of the alleged Spiro imitations presented to the author up to that point. You can be curious about the result. What is certain is that this first volume revolutionized research.
Quelle: Verlagsinfo
A story of fiction and truth
1st edition 2019, DIN A4 format, 256 pages, ENGLISH text, 280 illustrations, completely in colour, more than 490 illustrations, in b/w and colour, hardcover with thread stitching, special volume 18 of the Chronicle of German Philately series, © Schwalmtal 2019 .
Now the first volume with 255 pages is available in color. The subtitle A History of Poetry and Truth" already suggests that this research work by the well-known philatelic historian is also able to present relevant new things.
The name of the "Gebr. Spiro" or even "Philip Spiro" should be familiar to every advanced (professional) philatelist. These originators in Hamburg have been credited with producing and distributing the first early imitations of postage stamps from countless countries für more than 150 years. There are said to be more than 150 different ones, which were marketed in huge numbers worldwide and can still be discovered in numerous collections and albums today. They were first called "facsimiles". For a long time, however, they have been classified as fakes, even if they were originally only intended as fillers für beginners and school albums.
The author immerses the reader in the early years of philately after 1860. He describes the appearance of the first forgeries and their resonance in the (sometimes mostly hardly known) gazettes of that time. This literature study alone is already exciting, as you learn a lot that you have never been able to read anywhere else. With the support of Hans-Peter Garcarek and Gerhard Lang-Valchs, Maassen succeeded in proving that the Spiro family were not the manufacturers of these facsimiles, even though the Spiro brothers (not Philip Spiro!) probably traded in them für a number of years. But not nearly as long as is repeatedly claimed to this day. The reasons für the production were others, both in England and in Germany.
The family history research and documentation of the primary sources alone, compiled from the Hamburg State Archives, is an impressive innovation that unmasks the previous "blame" of countless authors as fairy tales and legends.
In the second part of the book, the focus is then on the facsimiles themselves, which the author cautiously and cautiously only calls "so-called. called Spiros. Colours, perforation, paper, printing processes and stamps are examined and analyzed more closely. There are also a number of surprising things that come to light. Even templates that have not yet been seen in any other publication. Last but not least, the book offers für the first time the complete reproduction of the facsimiles wrongly attributed to the Spiro brothers in the legendary "Spud Papers". These were already known in black and white, and a lucky few also had an original from the rare journal "The Philatelist" from the 1870s, in which the episodes of this series of articles had appeared. But there was significantly more than in "The Philatelist" - and this, which is missing everywhere, is also shown here.
The author answers the final question about a „closed book” with caution – also with reference to an extensive volume 2, which is to follow in 2023. It is not a "closed book", but the beginning of a project that wants to shed even more light on what little has been preserved. This volume 2 should contain and compare all the facsimile sheets (about 1,300!!!) of the alleged Spiro imitations presented to the author up to that point. You can be curious about the result. What is certain is that this first volume revolutionized research.
Quelle: Verlagsinfo
45,00 €
inkl. MwSt.