Stamp Collector

76 MAY 2020 www.allaboutstamps.co.uk PHILATELIC FOCUS ► etc until the impression was perfect for every stamp. When it came to the singly-fugitive inks, the actual pigments used in the surface prints were the same one used throughout the printing industry at the time. For much of the 19th century, the difference lay in the varnish, which was branded Silvene. It was designed to react immediately to any re-agent applied to a cancelled stamp. In addition, inks that were made from it could only be used when warm. When a sheet was printed, the ink set on the surface of the paper, like candle wax dropped on marble, which called for a tough hard-sized sheet of paper. Throughout the 1870s, De La Rue were using both hand and machine-made papers with a variety of watermarks. This changed in 1880, when machine made paper with the Imperial Crown watermark was introduced. This represented a drop in standards, being thicker in substance but not so tough or highly glazed as before. PRINTING PRESSES Platen presses The hand presses used by De La Rue were as simple as they come. The platen supplies the pressure and moves up and down. The form has the bed of type and moves left and right. Between them is a hinged frame called the frisket, which holds the paper and tympan. To make an impression, the form is slid out and inked with a roller. The sheet to be printed is then laid on the tympan and the frisket is folded over it to hold it securely in place. The frisket is then swung into position above the form, the form and frisket are rolled into position under the platen and the pressman pulls a lever to bring the platen down onto it. De La Rue were printing Empire stamps in this way, right up until the 20th century. Cylinder presses In a cylinder press, the form remains flat but what had been a platen is now a cylinder which incorporates the tympan. As the form moves back and forth, it is inked automatically and then passed under the rotating cylinder, where the paper receives an impression. Cylinder presses have appeared in many formats over the years. In some, the form is horizontal, in others, it is vertical; in some, the sheets are fed by hand with others it’s automatic and some can print more than one colour. But these machines are always sheet fed. De La Rue ordered new steam powered cylinder presses to print the Jubilee issue of 1887 – but these caused unspecified problems in use. It is most likely that the pressure from the rollers caused uneven inking or damage to the stamps at the edge of the sheet. ‘Jubilee lines’ around the stamps were first tried out on the 1d lilac. The experiment worked and they were used on all the stamps in the Jubilee series and also on the India ½ anna stamps. Another plate-making innovation from these machines was used on the 4d and 9d values. ‘Pillars’ are two thin parallel lines and one thick one. These provide a support for the paper in areas that might otherwise sag into the gutters, causing poor quality print. Rotary presses These were developed for printing newspapers but were soon adapted for stamps: French stamps were printed on rotary presses from the 10c green ‘sower’ in 1922. In a rotary press, both the form and platen are cylindrical. They can be sheet fed – but the benefits really show up when they are printing from the web: this is a continuous roll of paper that is cut up into sheets after printing. The cylindrical plates are made from moulds which can be bent into shape; so papier mache (known as ‘flong’) was used. But as with recess printing, stamps printed from cylindrical plates are always a little taller that the same stamps from a flat bed press. But despite all the automation, letterpress remained a craft process, rather that a mass-production one. Gravure turned out to be more economical for low value stamps in single colours and offset lithography was better for multi-coloured commemoratives, as we’ll see next month. Sir Daniel Cooper was a Lancashire- born merchant who rose from humble beginnings to become a noted philatelist and an important politician in Australia. Cooper was the nephew of the Australian convict, also known as Daniel Cooper, who funded his education. Often plagued by bad health, Cooper soon gave up his studies and, again with the help of his uncle’s backing, began working for a French- American law firm in Le Havre in a bid to gain more commercial experience. His travels next took him to New South Wales, where he went into business with his brother-in-law and soon became a successful businessman with a growing portfolio of properties. His roles included being a director of the Sydney Railway Co. in 1850, a director of the Bank of New South Wales from 1847, and president in 1855-61. He was also appointed to the Commission of the Peace and became a magistrate in 1851. In the early 1860s he returned to London and continued to serve as a representative of the New South Wales colony. He was one of the founder members of the Philatelic Society of London (the predecessor of today’s Royal Philatelic Society London) and became its first president in 1869. His fine collection of Australian postage stamps was sold for £3,000 in 1878, which is believed to be the first time a four-figure sum was paid for a stamp collection. Sir Daniel died at his home in Kensington in June 1902 and was described as being a liberal and kind man, ‘able to overpower the envy which commonly attends remarkable prosperity by a temper singularly humane and generous, and manners affable and unpretending’. He left over £40,000 to Australian charities. He is remembered by the annual Sir Daniel Cooper Lectures, which are sponsored by the Royal Philatelic Society London in his memory. Eminent philatelists SirDaniel Cooper (1821-1902)