The ‘Chalon’ Head Issues of New Zealand
Bill Lloyd-Smith.
Ken Lynch, the author of The ‘Chalon’ Head Issues of New Zealand, now in its fifth edition, is clearly an enthusiast. As he says at the end of Volume 2, he has collected the Chalon issues of New Zealand ever since 1960. He intends to introduce the reader to aspects of Chalons that are not treated in other books.
The author provides extensive background to the genesis of the Chalons, including the people responsible for their printing (John Richardson, John Davies) and the English firm that produced the plates (Perkins Bacon). Much of Volume 1 is devoted to a detailed discussion of these issues including technical aspects of their production. A number of emergency printings on different papers occurred during the currency of the Chalons. There is a priced catalogue with an extensive range of the rare local perforations and roulettes, some of which were privately carried out. The provenance of some covers bearing Chalons is included. The first volume also describes the reprints and presentation copies (including Specimens).
The second volume has a lengthy annotated bibliography. All references appear to be in English. The expert will be familiar with many of these references, but there may be a few surprises in store since the author has combed the literature thoroughly. Newcomers to this field can start with some of the books and catalogues devoted to New Zealand philately, including one or more volumes of The Postage Stamps of New Zealand. Robson Lowe’s Encyclopedia, Volume 4, contains a compact overview of these stamps with some explanatory notes.
The second volume also has some useful appendices. The first appendix describes the metallurgy of iron since certain aspects are relevant to the production of steel plates used for printing. The second appendix will be of great value since it is extracted directly from the printing records. Other appendices discuss the blueing of the paper with prussiate of potash (potassium ferrocyanide) for printing; the fiscal use of 1d Chalon stamps (with an extract describing the duties payable at the end of 1866), and catalogue prices of the 4d rose Chalon.
The author also discusses the Eric Mann collection of Chalon Heads. Photos of some famous collectors of these stamps and their collections include David Bernhard, Marcel Stanley, Heaton Rhodes and Charles Pack, among others.
In summary, there is a lot of interesting information in this book for the serious collector of New Zealand’s Chalon Heads. A number of comments on New Zealand’s history and politics are sprinkled throughout the pages of this book. It is fair to point out that some prior acquaintance with these stamps would be an advantage for the prospective reader; indeed, the author tacitly makes this assumption throughout the book. The book lacks an index but the contents at the beginning of Volume 1 will provide some guidance on where to find things.
Robert Leppard
August 9th, 2009, 3:02 pm
Does this have an ISBN number as I am interested in purchasing.