Blue Mauritius: The Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Stamps

ISBN-13: 9781843544364 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 336 str.

Helen Morgan

Opis

Follow the adventures of the world's most sought-after postage stampsfrom a tropical Indian Ocean island to the hushed atmosphere of the modern auction roomin this dramatic and passionate tale of the first stamp hunters. In September 1847 colored squares of paper were stuck on to envelopes and used to send out admission cards to a fancy-dress ball on the tropical island of Mauritius. No one at the party would have guessed that these stamps would one day be worth more than a million dollars. When a two-pence "Blue Mauritius" surfaced on the fledgling French stamp-collecting market in 1865 it gained instant celebrity. Soldiers, schoolboys, and the entire German nation became obsessed with finding one of these extremely rare examples. When in 1903 a perfect specimen, discovered in a childhood album, was bought at auction by the Prince of Wales, the Blue Mauritius gained superstar status. Even now, "Post Office Mauritius" stamps are synonymous with fame, wealth, and mystery. The most coveted scraps of paper in existence, this is their storyfrom their birth during days of sail, taking them from Port Louis to Bordeaux, India and Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan, into the hearts and imagination of collectors everywhere."

Recenzje

Will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt the thrill of buying a little glassine packet of stamps, tipping them out, finding the longed-for Missing One and making the proud, complete set... the stories of these stamps are often extraordinary. Ann Wroe Daily Telegraph

O autorze

Morgan, Helen
HELEN MORGAN trained as an art historian and archivist. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her Mauritian husband, Mike. Blue Mauritius is her first book.