Topical Adventures: A Guide to Topical and Thematic Stamp Collecting
Edited by Jack R. Congrove, Dawn R. Hamman, and Martin Kent Miller
A review by Cheryl Ganz, Smithsonian Curator of Philately Emerita
Ready for an exciting experience with stamps? Topical Adventures: A Guide to Topical and Thematic Stamp Collecting will guide you on your adventure into the world of topical stamp collecting. Be ready to explore unknown territory as a novice to philately. Expert guides will lead you as you encounter visual delights, insights, and maybe even a risk along the way. This book is a must for anyone contemplating stamp collecting and all the hobby offers. In fact, it is also a great read for those already involved and thinking of a secondary collecting interest.
Adventures are often journeys. Just as you might be entering a new stage in your journey of life, stamp collecting a topic of interest will offer you a journey into a creative process that is both highly visual and DIY (do it yourself) educational. Members of the American Topical Association collect more than 1,400 different topics that depict images of people, places, animals, or events. As you will learn in this book, collectors come from all walks of life and each person defines his or her own passion and scope of interest. No two collectors or collections are the same. Almost any subject or theme has stamps that illustrate its story. Identifying those stamps and finding examples adds to the thrill of the chase.
The chapters help you get started and select topics as well as expand your possibilities in topical stamp collecting. You will find advice on storing and displaying your collection. This book offers nuts and bolts information ranging from terminology to tools with hundreds of illustrations to ease understanding and provide inspiration. As your collection and knowledge expands, you might consider attending a stamp show or convention to participate in seminars and observe how others exhibit. Then take the plunge to create your own exhibit. Some collectors even show their exhibits competitively on philately’s international stage.
A delightful aspect of this book is the collection of “vignettes” or sidebars throughout the text. These bring a personal connection to the text, and authors share how they chose their topics, which clubs they joined, or how they exhibited their collections at public stamp shows. Information on getting children involved will turn stamp collecting into a family adventure. In this wonderful book, leaders in the hobby have opened their stamp dens and experiences to help you find fun in collecting and sharing philatelic adventures.
Whether you are a novice or an experienced collector, you will find useful information in this informative and fun read. Take a skip down the yellow brick road of stamp collecting and you will find that the journey to the magical land of philately is a rewarding search for new adventures at home, in the virtual world, and in real travels on Earth.
Cheryl Ganz
