Collecting : my collection 03e

World catalogues, a blessing and a curse.
There are several 'world wide catalogues' and the most know are : Yvert & Tellier (FR); Michel (DE); Stanley Gibbons (UK) and Scott (US).
To have a paper version of those catalogues, you need a 'stamp catalogue' - catalogue!

Let's start with a catalogue that is mainly used in France.

the catalogue set

Yvert started a philatelistic magazine as early as 1887 already.
"L'Écho de la timbrologie" (The echo of stamp knowledge) still exists.
Nowadays it's issued by a private company, but it's still printed at the Yvert & Tellier press.

In 1896 the company emitted the first 'Catalogue prix-courant de timbres-poste par Yvert et Tellier' (first stamp quotation by Yvert and Tellier).

internet picture - not in my collection (1897)

At the same time, an album was issued with preprinted pages to insert the emitted stamps so far.
This idea is also used by other companies, and until today, it's an popular (but maybe conservative) way to organise stamps countrywise.

preprinted album

At that time, mint and used stamps were put together in those albums. One of the reasons why unused stamps are mainly hinged. In best cases, sometimes unused stamps were just attached with the gum to the albums.

hinged stamp

In Yvert & Tellier started to cooperate with the Parisian stampdealer Théodor Champion, 
Until his death in 1955 he made price listings for all stamps. Nowadays, a complete team of experts is doing this job.
Tellier left the company in 1913 and sold his shares to Louis Yvert. In remembrance of Théodule Tellier, both names are still used for the catalogues.
The family Yvert is still running the business, and two great-grandsons of Louis Yvert are managing the company : Christophe Yvert en Benoît Gervais.

Louis Yvert

Théodule Tellier

to be continued ...