British Postage Stamps. By John Easton. (Faber. 25s.)
THIS is a book indispensable to stamp collectors and to all interested in postage stamp design. Not only does it relate the history of our stamps, from the first issue on May 6th, 184o, of our first postage stamp, the famous Penny Black, but it also gives a critical examina- tion, from the point of view of craftsmanship and artistic design, of all subsequent issues in Britain and the Empire. The author is a printer well qualified to speak on the technical side, and all his observations—whether one agrees with them invariably or not— are the judgement of a practical and informed critic. Reproductions of over five hundred stamps illustrate the author's points and these illustrations are admirably distinct, although it is open to question whether their reproduction on a greyish background was the wisest choice possible.
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