Elliott Perry of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, was a researcher and expert on 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...

s and postal history

Postal history

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Collecting interests

Although he collected, and was an expert on, all phases of United States stamp collecting

Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...

, Perry’s interest led him to concentrating on revenue stamps, carrier and city post stamps. During his lifetime, Perry built up a number of specialized collections, which he then sold.

Philatelic literature

Because of his research, Perry authored a considerable number of articles and monographs on his findings. He wrote for Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News under the pseudonym Christopher West and wrote numerous articles on revenue stamps for the weekly. The articles he wrote for Mekeel’s were so historically significant, that they were later collected and printed in three volumes by Castenholz and Company. He also wrote two additional handbooks for Mekeel’s, the first entitled The First United States Postage Stamp Otherwise Known as the United States City Despatch Post, and the second one entitled United States 1857–1860 Issues.

Perry also authored articles in the Collectors Club Philatelist, and these related to his plating of the 200 subjects of the U.S.-1847-10¢ stamp, which the Scott catalog recognizes as stamp No. 2 of the United States.

Perry also published his own journal entitled Pat Paragraphs. The articles were considered so valuable to stamp collectors, that they were subsequently arranged by topic by George Townsend Turner

George Townsend Turner

George Townsend Turner , of Washington, D.C., was considered a leading philatelic bibliophile of his era, amassing a very large body of philatelic literature over his lifetime.-Collecting interests:...

and Thomas E. Stanton, and published in 1981 in book form as Pat Paragraphs, by Elliott Perry.

Perry was unable to complete work on the three books he was writing prior to his death. His notes and finished portions of his books, however, were published posthumously by a number of philatelic publishers.