My husband collects postal history of Palestine / Israel. It appeals to his analytical mind and passion for history. A few days ago, we were having a random conversation about Stanley Gibbons, the Englishman who catalogued stamps and whose reference books are a must have for any philatelist. We both thought it strange that he never made it into the “People of the Millenium” list. After all, he practically invented modern stamp collecting.
I decided to see what I could find out about him. It turns out he was trained as a chemist and had FIVE wives who all died young. Some have speculated that there was a link between these deaths and his profession as a pharmacist. It is also rumoured that he was found dead in the arms of his lover at the Savoy Hotel. It seems that fraternising with those who collect stamps could be classified as a “liaison dangereuse”.
How thrilling!
2 comments:
Interesting!! I'll never look at a stamp quite the same way again!!
Yikes! Poor wives.
I have a collection of stamps from my childhood and ones that I got from my maternal grandfather, whom I never met, including one from the days of Tsar. I got one son interested for a very short time, but I think I will have find someone else who will care for this priceless collection of mine.
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