12 OCTOBER 1907, Page 23

How to Collect Postage Stamps. By Bertram T. K. Smith.

(George Bell and Sons. 6s. net.)—To some readers this volume can hardly fail to be a surprise. They will realise for the first time what a business this is The first postage-stamp, in the strict sense, is less than seventy years old,—it appeared in 1840, the year of the Mulready envelope. But the idea was not absolutely new. In New South Wales in 1837 covers at ls. 3d. for letters within the town of Sydney were issued. Now the index of names nuinbers between three and four hundred. And, even if a lamentable sign of prosperity, forgeries are an important item in the knowledge of the subject. This knowledge is to be found, given in careful detail, in this volume.