10 JANUARY 1891, Page 21

The year 1890, was, as most people know, the "Jubilee

Year of the Penny Postage." It is therefore appropriately marked by the publication of A Descriptive Catalogue of all the Postage Stamps of the United Kingdom, by William Westoby, M.A. (Sampson, Low, Marston, and Co.)—The original penny stamp was issued

o n May 6th, 1840, and, as collectors know and some of us re- member, was black. The colour was altered to red-brown in 1841, and shortly afterwards two white lines were introduced. Per- foration was first begun in May, 1854. The volume contains nearly a hundred pages, and describes a very great number of varieties.