Tapling Collection
Encyclopedia
The Tapling Collection was donated to the British Museum
from the estate of Thomas Tapling
in 1891.
The probate value of the Tapling collection was set at £12,000 but on arrival Richard Garnett
(assistant keeper of Printed Books) estimated their value at more than £50,000 and described the bequest as the most valuable gift since the Grenville Library in 1847 (equivalent to £24,000,000 in 2011).
It is held in the Philatelic Collections of the British Library
and selected items are on permanent public exhibition.
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
from the estate of Thomas Tapling
Thomas Tapling
Thomas Keay Tapling was an English businessman and politician. He played first class cricket and was also an eminent philatelist who formed one of the greatest stamp collections of his era.- Early life :...
in 1891.
The probate value of the Tapling collection was set at £12,000 but on arrival Richard Garnett
Richard Garnett
Richard Garnett C.B. was a scholar, librarian, biographer and poet. He was son of Richard Garnett, an author, philologist and assistant keeper of printed books in the British Museum....
(assistant keeper of Printed Books) estimated their value at more than £50,000 and described the bequest as the most valuable gift since the Grenville Library in 1847 (equivalent to £24,000,000 in 2011).
It is held in the Philatelic Collections of the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
and selected items are on permanent public exhibition.
Highlights
The collection features these rarities:- Gold Coast: 1883 (May) 1d on 4d magenta, unique
- Great Britain: 1858-79 1d red, plate 77, one of a few known
- Hawaii: 1851-52 2 cents to 13 cents (both types), the "Missionaries"
- India: 1854 4 annas blue and pale red, error head inverted, two used on a cover, unique
- Mauritius: 1847 1d red used on cover and 2d blue, the "Post Office" issue
- Spain: 1851 2 reals, error of colour, one of three known
- Switzerland: Zurich: 1843 4 rappen, the unique unsevered horizontal strip of five
- Uruguay: 1858 120 centavos blue and 180 centavos green, in tête beche pairs, two of five known
- Western Australia: 1854-55 4d blue, error frame inverted