Alfred Potiquet
Encyclopedia
Alfred Potiquet was a French
official who was responsible for the first illustrated stamp catalogue in the world.
Alfred Potiquet developed his catalogue on the basis of the postage stamp
and postal stationery
register of the Strasbourg
bookseller, Oscar Berger-Levrault
. In fact, that register is referred to as the world's first stamp catalogue, but it had no illustrations of stamps at all and was not intended for the public. Alfred Potiquet did not just provide images for that register, he also added a lot of stamp issues which had been overlooked by Oscar Berger-Levrault and corrected his errors.
His work was published in December 1861 in Paris
under the title, "Catalogue des timbres-poste crées dans les divers états du globe". It already contained 1080 postage stamps and 132 postal stationeries. This much improved stamp catalogue was still not error-free. For example, there was no information about stamps which were still unknown at that time, such as the "Post Office" stamps of Mauritius.
Besides these stamp catalogues of Oscar Berger-Levrault and Alfred Potiquet, there was a similar work made in parallel in England
by John Edward Gray
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
official who was responsible for the first illustrated stamp catalogue in the world.
Alfred Potiquet developed his catalogue on the basis of the postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
and postal stationery
Postal stationery
A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related service has been prepaid...
register of the Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
bookseller, Oscar Berger-Levrault
Oscar Berger-Levrault
Oscar François George Berger-Levrault was a French philatelist. The invention of the stamp catalogue is attributed to him and to the Englishman, John Edward Gray.-Life:...
. In fact, that register is referred to as the world's first stamp catalogue, but it had no illustrations of stamps at all and was not intended for the public. Alfred Potiquet did not just provide images for that register, he also added a lot of stamp issues which had been overlooked by Oscar Berger-Levrault and corrected his errors.
His work was published in December 1861 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
under the title, "Catalogue des timbres-poste crées dans les divers états du globe". It already contained 1080 postage stamps and 132 postal stationeries. This much improved stamp catalogue was still not error-free. For example, there was no information about stamps which were still unknown at that time, such as the "Post Office" stamps of Mauritius.
Besides these stamp catalogues of Oscar Berger-Levrault and Alfred Potiquet, there was a similar work made in parallel in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
.