The Beginning of Philately

The origins of philately are closely tied to the invention of the postage stamp itself. Prior to the 1840s, postage was typically paid by the recipient, based on distance and the number of sheets. The system was cumbersome, often unreliable, and inaccessible to the general public.

Letter from London to Oxford, posted in 1838, to Professor William Buckland.

The first adhesive postage stamp, commonly referred to as the "Penny Black" (featured a profile of Queen Victoria), prepaid letter sheets and envelopes, known as "Mulready postal stationeries", went on sale in London on May 1^st 1840, as the result of Postage Reform led by Rowland Hill between 1837 and 1840.
These stamps and the postal stationeries were not valid until May 6^th. The extra five days were required to print enough stamps and deliver them to all Post Offices of the kingdom. Even though the stamps were supposed to be accepted for postage on May 6^th, there is some evidence that a few covers were sent earlier starting on May 2^nd, 1840.

According to "The Guinness Book of Stamps", by James Mackay, published in Great Britain by Guinness Publishing Ltd. in 1988, ISBN 0851123511,
the very first adhesive postage stamp, at least as far as history records, was introduced in Paris on April 8, 1653. It was part of the Petite Poste, a local postal service set up by Renouard de Villayer. The idea itself is said to have come from Anne Geneviève, Duchesse de Longueville, who was the mistress of Nicolas Fouquet, France’s powerful Superintendent of Finances. Her suggestion was simple but clever: small slips of paper coated with an isinglass solution that could be stuck to a letter. These labels, called billets de port payé, were inscribed “Port payé ... 1c ... jour de l’an 1653” (postage paid on the ... day ... of the year 1653).
Sold for just a sou, the labels could be bought in monasteries, mining offices, courthouses, colleges, and even prisons. The sender filled in the date by hand, attached the label, and dropped the letter into one of the new street-corner posting boxes around the city. Unfortunately, the experiment didn’t last long. The boxes were often vandalized, letters damaged, and the service collapsed altogether after the dramatic fall from power of Fouquet himself. And while these pioneering stamps are described in detail in contemporary accounts, not a single example has ever been found.

The "Penny Black" stamp was printed in different shades of black: intense black (SG: 1) - stamp printed by brand new plates, black (SG: 2) and grey-black (SG: 3) or even grey - stamp printed by worn plates and was sufficient for a letter with weight less than half an ounce (14g), to be sent anywhere within the United Kingdom.
The "Two Pence Blue" (sometimes called "Two Penny Blue") stamp went on sale on May 6^th 1840 and was valid on the same day, making it the second stamp in the world. Except for its denomination the design of both "Penny" stamps was exactly the same.

"Penny Black" - the first stamp in the world (plate 2), MiNr.: 1b, Scott: 1, SG: 2 (black colour). The stamp on the left has visible obliteration, while it is almost invisible on the other stamp.		"Two Pence Blue" - the second stamp in the world (plate 1), MiNr.: 2, Scott: 2, SG: 5.

"Penny Red" (1854), plate Nr. 14 - the first perforated stamp in the world, MiNr: 8, Scott: 8, SG: 194.

The stamps were printed imperforate on gummed greyish white paper, hand made by Stacey Wise, because the perforation machine had not been invented until 1854 (the "Penny Red" successor of "Penny Black" was the first perforated stamp in the world). The post clerk needed to separate them using scissors. Such separating method was crude and resulted in many stamps being damaged. Due to the fact the distance between two stamps was very small, it was very difficult to cut them with good margins. Today, stamps with straight and wide margins are most valued.

To prevent reuse of these stamps, the General Post Office designed a cancellation mark to obliterate them.

When describing the postmarks of the nineteenth century, the word 'obliteration' is synonymous with 'cancellation' - because, of course, that was what they were designed to do - to 'obliterate' the stamp in such a way as to prevent any opportunity for reuse. _{Stanley Gibbons "Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840 -1970" catalogue, 2025 edition.}

This cancellation mark became known by collectors of Great Britain's Postal History, as the "Maltese Cross", even though it has nothing to do with the symbol of the Knights of the Order of Malta. The obliterator resemble the Tudor rose - the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England.
The red cancellation mark was usually very visible on both Penny stamps (see an example above) and Mulready postal stationeries (see an example below), but the ink made by post masters was relatively easy to remove from the "Penny Black" stamp, because the ink used to print the stamps was more stable than the ink used for the "Maltese Crosses".
Some letter recipients were able to remove the cancel mark to reuse the stamp. Others even varnished new stamps with gelatine or other coatings to wipe off the cancel mark after use.

Red Maltese Cross obliterator - was available in many shapes and shades.	Maltese Cross - the symbol of the Knights of the Order of Malta.	The Tudor rose - the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England.

"Penny Red" (1841) - successor of "Penny Black", MiNr: 3, Scott: 3, SG: 7, plate Nr. 2.	William Mulready on stamp of Isle of Man 2015, MiNr.: 2014, Scott: 1708.

To resolve the problem Rowland Hill with help of several famous chemists started to experiment with different colours of the stamp and ink for the cancelation mark, known as the "Rainbow Trials". Based on this research, he chose a particular black ink for the cancels, and a red ink for the stamp.
In February 1841, together with the replacement of the "Penny Black" by the "Penny Red" stamp, the standard cancellation ink was officially changed to black in the entire country. Similar to "Penny Black" and "Two Pence Blue", "Penny Red" stamps exist in several colour variants, including rose-red.

On the same day with the Penny Black (May 1st, 1840), prepaid envelopes (8.41cm × 13.02 cm) and letter sheets (21.0 cm x 19.5cm - unfolded) went on sale. Initially they were on sale only at certain location in London, but later distributed to the entire country. These postal stationeries are known today as "Mulready postal stationeries" or "Mulready covers", after the competition winning Irish artist William Mulready, who was a member of the Royal Academy. Similar to the Penny stamps, these postal stationeries official first date of use was May 6th, 1840, but few envelopes and letter sheets were used start on May 1st, 1840.
While their inscribed postage values were not valid yet, the sender or the receivers were need to pay for the postage in cash, therefore all such early used postal stationeries bears postal markings indications that postage was paid. While the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue were the first adhesive postage stamps, the Mulready covers were not the first postal stationeries issued in Great Britain, but they were the first postal stationeries available for general use.

The front side of Mulready's postal stationery: "POSTAGE ONE PENNY" and "POSTAGE TWO PENCE" were the same for the letter sheet (on the left) and the envelope (on the right). They also were of the same size when wrapped.

The first postal stationeries, pre-stamped letter sheets, intended purely for prepayment of postage were issued by Australian Post (a colony of Great Britain at the time) in 1838. Sheets bearing the embossed seal of the colony were sold for a penny and prepaid correspondence in the Sydney area, while unpaid letters were charged double. The usage of these postal stationeries was limited to the Sydney area.

Sir Rowland Hill on stamp of Isle of Man 2015, MiNr.: 2015, Scott: 1709.

The Postal Reform of Rowland Hill was a success, in the first year of the "Penny Post", the number of letters sent in the United Kingdom more than doubled and within 10 years, it had doubled again. Other countries soon followed the United Kingdom with their own stamps.

Brazil was the second country in the world to issue postage stamps valid within the entire country, in 1843. They were three stamps having face values of 30, 60, and 90 reis and like the United Kingdom’s first stamps, the design does not include the country name.
Some cantons of Switzerland issued stamps starting in 1840, but it wasn’t until 1850 that the Federal Postal Service of Switzerland issued stamps valid across the entire country. At that date, Switzerland became the third country to release postage stamps valid across the entire country.
The "Basel Dove" is a notable stamp issued by the Swiss canton of Basel on July 1^st 1845 with a value of 2.50-rappen. It was the first multi-colour (blue, red, black) stamp in the world (to date all stamps were printed in one colour) and the only postage stamp issued by Basel. This stamp is also the first adhesive postage stamp to show an animal - a dove, but it was not valid in the entire country, rather than inside of the canton.

The "Bull's Eye" stamps of Brazil 1845	"Basel Dove", Switzerland 1845

The first stamps were rectangular or square in shape, depicting the leader of the country: king, queen, president, domestic animals or showed just a face value. The first adhesive postage stamp, valid within the entire country, depicting an animal, was the Beaver (Castor canadiensis) issued in the Province of Canada in 1851, now known as the “Three-penny Beaver” and it is considered the first Canadian postage stamp.
The first stamp set depicting animals was issued in Peru in 1866. The set of 3 stamps, green, red and brown show two Llama species in the Andes Mountains: Lama vicugna and Lama glama.
In 1871 Peru issued the first commemorative postage stamp - 5c Locomotive and Arms stamp was issued to commemorate the "20th anniversary of the first railway in South America: Lima-Callao Railway".
In 1892 and 1893 many nations of America and Spain issued commemorative stamps for „the 400^th anniversary of the West's discovery of America by Christopher Columbus“. These sets are the first commemorative stamp sets.

Beaver stamp of Canada 1851, MiNr: 2w, Scott: 1	Lama stamps of Peru 1866, MiNr.: 12-14, Scott: 16-18	The Locomotive stamp of Peru 1871, MiNr.: 16, Scott: 19

Stamp collectors on stamp of Belgium 1965, MiNr.: 1384, Scott: 628. The man resemble Rowland Hill.

People around the world began collecting stamps almost immediately after the first stamps were issued. Children and curious adults began saving used stamps, intrigued by the novelty of these small,, printed labels. In fact, as early as the 1850s, collecting stamps became a minor craze in some circles. By the end of the 1840s no more than 30 different postage stamps existed in the world, but by the middle of 1860s more than 1000 stamps from more than 100 countries were available.
In an age when travel outside one’s own country was rare, and travel to a different continent was not only very expensive and time-consuming, but for the majority was very unlikely, these small pieces of paper from distant parts must have offered an almost irresistible attraction to anyone with even a few magpie genes.
Some young people pursued the hobby for rather unusual reasons.
In August 1841, several newspapers in Shrewsbury (Great Britain) reported that a young gentleman had begun collecting used postage stamps with the intention of papering an entire room with them, using the blue two-penny stamps to form a decorative border.
Another newspaper, in October 1842, mentioned a young lady who wished to cover her dressing room with cancelled postage stamps.

In 1856, a newspaper article spoke of a growing “mania for stamp collecting,” particularly among schoolgirls. The hobby soon gained broader recognition, and by the early 1860s collectors were beginning to organize their collections more systematically. By this time, stamp collecting had become a fashionable pastime, especially among intellectuals and members of the aristocracy.

The first stamp catalogue and the first stamp album were issued in France.
In 1861 the first stamp catalogue in the world “Catalogue descriptif de timbres-poste créés jusqu'à ce jour” was published by Oscar Berger-Levrault in Strasbourg, France. It was privately printed and distributed in a very limited number, containing the basic list, intended as a reference for friends and fellow collectors rather than for commercial sale.
In 1862, Justin Lallier designed his first stamp album in the world "Timbres Poste orne de cartes", which was published in French in June and in English in August that year. The album contained description of 1200 stamps, as well as maps and diagrams.
With the increased number of stamp collectors worldwide, the prices for stamps started to increase rapidly and the Mulready covers which given the strong public criticism two decades before became desirable collectible objects.

The Birmingham Journal (Great Britain) of November 8^th, 1862 reported:

Some foreign stamps are worth twenty to thirty-fold their postal value. Even our stamps fetch high prices. For example the Mulready envelope - the first prepared form - is worth from two to three shillings according to its condition. The original black penny stamp - the forerunner of the now familiar red one - with its unperforated edges, is worth a shilling or more now.

"The Stamp Collector's Magazine" - title page of No. 1, February 1st, 1863

On February 1^st, 1863, the first magazine for stamp collectors in the world was published in Great Britain: "The Stamp Collector's Magazine".
Its title page featured a reproduction of the Mulready cover. The publication aimed to support the rapidly growing hobby of stamp collecting by examining the rise of the pastime, explaining postal history, describing new and rare issues, and announcing that future issues would survey each country in turn. Surprisingly, the magazine also criticized the design of the Penny stamps, comparing them unfavorably with other stamps then in circulation.

French collectors sought stamps from their own country and abroad, leading to the emergence of the first stamp dealers. One of the most important early figures in French philately was Pierre Mahe, a Parisian stamp dealer active from the early 1860s. He is considered one of the first professional philatelists in France and even became an advisor to Napoleon III on stamp-related matters. Similar to Stanley Gibbons in Great Britain, Mahe's shop in Paris catered to collectors by offering rare and international stamps, making him a pioneer in the trade.
The term "philatelie" (philately in English) was coined by the French collector Georges Herpin in 1864 who was a French writer and stamp enthusiast and who played a key role in shaping the hobby of stamp collecting. Herpin used the term for the first time in the French magazine “Le Collectionneur de Timbres-Poste”. Before Herpin’s term, stamp collecting was often called "timbromania" (meaning "stamp mania"). However, this term had a somewhat negative connotation, suggesting an obsessive or irrational hobby.
Herpin wanted a more scientific and respectable name for the study of stamps, so he combined the Greek words:
"philos"– meaning "love" or "affection"
"ateleia" – meaning "exemption from tax" (a reference to postage stamps prepaying mail fees, making letters tax-free).
This new term quickly became popular, replacing timbromania and spreading internationally to describe the study and collection of stamps.

The postal reform in the United Kingdom unified the cost of domestic mail delivery to be prepaid by the sender. As result, the mail exchange was significantly increased.
The first Postcard, in the form we know it today, was invented by Dr Emmanuel Herrmann of the Military Institute of Vienna and was issued in October 1869 in Austria. It was a light-brown 8.5cm x 12cm rectangle with space for the address on the front, and room for a short message on the back. The postcard (inscribed Correspondenz-Karte in German which means Correspondence Card in English) featured an imprinted 2 Kreuzer stamp on the top right corner, costing half the price of a normal letter and was valid for delivery within the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
The Austrian Post Office was doubtful whether the public would permit such lack of privacy in their correspondence, therefore the earliest cards bore an inscription on their reverse side: "Die Post übemimmt keine Verantwortung für den Inhalt der Mitteilung", in English: "The Post Office undertakes no responsibility for the contents of the communication".

Correspondenz-Karte, Austria 1869 (the first postcard in the world) versus 1871. The earliest postcards bore an inscription on their reverse side: "Die Post übernimmt keine Verantwortung für den Inhalt der Mitteilung". Later the disclaimer was removed and the "An" (To) was replaced by the "Adresse" (Address).

Despite the fear, over three million postcards were sold in the first three months.
Other countries adopted postcards in 1870. In the 1880s, many postcards were printed with small sketches or designs (called vignettes) on the message side, initially just in black, but increasingly also in colour. Slowly, Germany came to dominate the industry of chromolithography, with many postcards being printed there. A large number of these featured illustrated views of a town and the expression "Gruss Aus" (or "Greetings from"), leaving enough space for a message.

German "Gruss Aus" (or "Greetings from") postcards from the end of the 19th century, posted between in 1901 and 1908.

Philately has evolved with technology. Digital catalogues, online auctions, and virtual exhibitions have expanded access and community interaction. Please read "How to collect stamps in the XXI century" for more details.

"Post from another World" Souvenir-Sheet of Austria 2006, MiNr.: Bl. 32 (2575); Scott: 2042. The picture of the meteor was printed using ink mixed with the dust of a meteorite. Left: the Souvenir-Sheet in protection, paper, frame.

While the use of traditional mail has declined, philately remains strong thanks to collectors, researchers, and national postal authorities that continue to issue stamps with thoughtful and artistic designs. The beginning of philately reflects a fascinating convergence of art, communication, and curiosity. What started with a small piece of gummed paper — the Penny Black — blossomed into a global pursuit, rich with culture and meaning. Whether as hobbyists, historians, or investors, philatelists continue to preserve and explore a uniquely tangible legacy of human civilization — one stamp at a time.


Note: this article is a concise introduction to the full-length feature "The first stamps and postal stationery and the beginning of Philately". If you're curious about the fascinating story behind the postal reforms of 1830s Britain, the creation of the Penny Black, and the iconic Mulready postal stationery, don’t miss the opportunity to explore the complete version — packed with historical insight and rich illustrations.





Acknowledgement:

Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his valuable comments.



References:

Most of the references are the same as used for ´The first stamps and postal stationery and the beginning of Philately article. Please click here for the list.

Additional references:

• The first stamp album
  • Timbres Poste orne de cartes", Justin Lallier of Paris: philateliques.free.fr (the third edition 1863)
• Stamp-collector's magazine (1863-1874): Smithsonian Libraries

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Created on 06.06.2025. Last update 27.11.2025
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