Thematic Collecting – Is The Plan Important?

I have frequently been accused of having a bee in my bonnet about the importance of the plan of the collection. Many thematic collectors feel that it is only a rule to make easier for the judge in a competition. Since only a very small percentage of collectors ever enter a competition, they feel that a plan is an unnecessary restriction. I believe otherwise.

How many of us get up in the morning, except perhaps on holiday, and have no idea at all of what the day has in store? Do we not plan our day so as to make the best use of our, and other people’s time? Do we not keep a diary to ensure that important dates are not forgotten? A plan of a stamp collection is not really all that different. It is an outline of the theme in written form to help the collector. Admittedly, for national or international competitive purposes, it needs to be a fairly detailed plan. For a collection it can be relatively simple. However, the more detailed the plan, the simpler it becomes to find the appropriate philatelic material to tell the story.

I would advise any would-be thematic collector to start by reading as many books as possible on his chosen subject. There is a dual advantage in this. In the first instance, the subject knowledge will be of use to him when writing up his collection; secondly, the way in which various authors handle the subject, and split it up into sections will act as a useful guide as to how the plan of the collection will develop. A good plan will look like the contents page of a book, with chapter headings for each subject, and sub-headings where appropriate. Often it is possible to use the chapters and sub-sections used by the author of an authoritative reference work as the plan without alteration.

Some collectors, of course, collect a subject by buying everything that shows the subject, and then arranging the stamps in country order, as they were issued. This is not really a thematic collection, but a specialised collection of a subject. If this is the way the collector gets his enjoyment, so be it. In this case, he certainly does not need a plan, or any reference works. All he needs is a good catalogue and an efficient new issue service!

Once the collector has decided on his theme and read some of the more important reference works, it is time to study a stamp catalogue. I would suggest that a catalogue that illustrates all the stamps is the most appropriate, since it is sometimes difficult to decide whether a stamp is suitable from a written description. The first thing that will become obvious is that there will be many stamps that are appropriate for the theme, although they initially would appear irrelevant. For example, a stamp showing the Coronation of Napoleon is suitable for a Beethoven theme, since the composer intended to dedicate the Eroica Symphony to the Frenchman, but changed his mind, when the hero let himself be crowned. Equally, a stamp issued by Monaco in 1963 to commemorate the centenary of the Football Association would also fit into Olympic Games theme, since it shows Wembley Stadium, the main venue for the 1948 Games in London.

The second thing that will become obvious when studying the catalogue is that there will be parts of the story that cannot be told with stamps. In many cases, appropriate philatelic will need to be found in the form of cancellations and handstamps. Postal stationery is also a very useful source of suitable material. Sometimes a piece of information may need to be omitted because philatelic items do not exist. It is also possible on occasion to make an unlikely connection between theme and philatelic material by using a place name to make a thematic point. For instance, a ship cancellation from the ship “USS Penguin” would fit very nicely into a collection based on that bird.

One of the highlights of thematic collecting is that each collection is individual and unique to its owner, even though, in the main, the same material is being used. One Olympic collector is interested in the sports, another in the organisation, and a third in the politics. Each will approach his subject from a different standpoint, and each collection will be entirely different. At Spring Stampex one year, the main display centred around Olympic Games. The following year, since it was the Centenary of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the main theme of Spring Stampex, not surprisingly, was ornithology. In both subjects, the same stamps and philatelic items appear again and again, and yet each collection will be different.

Thematic collecting is not for everyone. I think natural curiosity and an enquiring mind are essential, and a certain deviousness also does not come amiss. However, I firmly believe that to understand a subject, and to be able to do the most with it, a plan is essential.

Franceska Rapkin