{"product_id":"the-great-texas-stamp-collection-how-some-stubborn-texas-confederate-postmasters-a-handful-of-determined-texas-stamp-collectors-and-a-few-of-the-wo-9781477330784","title":"The Great Texas Stamp Collection: How Some Stubborn Texas Confederate Postmasters, a Handful of Determined Texas Stamp Collectors, and a Few of the Wo","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmong the many difficulties the newly formed Confederate States of America endured in the summer of 1861 was the failure of its post office department to provide sufficient numbers of that item most crucial to its service: the postage stamp. Faced with the resulting din of customer complaints, a handful of industrious Texas postmasters solved the problem by simply making their own homemade stamps.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this thoroughly researched history of these rare and highly coveted stamps, \u003ci\u003eThe Great Texas Stamp Collection\u003c\/i\u003e traces their journey from creation through their rediscovery years later by local, and then international, stamp collectors--a journey that culminated in the sale of a few pieces at a recent auction in New York that fetched more than $250,000. Weaving the larger contexts of Texas and U.S. postal history together with individual tales of greed, intrigue, forgery, and discovery, Deaton's book is rich with characters from European royalty to early stamp dealers to common criminals, while also providing detailed examinations of the stamps themselves, including a complete census of the stamps now known as the Texas Confederate Postmasters' Provisionals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppealing at once to devoted philatelists, Texas and U.S. history buffs, and amateur collectors of all kinds, \u003ci\u003eThe Great Texas Stamp Collection\u003c\/i\u003e offers a unique vantage point from which to view our history as well as the very nature of collecting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA recipient of the Phillip H. Ward, Jr., Award for Excellence in Philatelic Literature and the Distinguished Philatelic Texan Award from the Texas Philatelic Association, Charles W. Deaton is a professional philatelist and the founder and first president of the Texas Postal History Society. Among his many works on the subject are \u003ci\u003eTexas Postal History Handbook\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Philatelic Guide to the 1936 Texas Centennial Celebration\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eFifty Years of Texas Philately\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50869811216658,"sku":"9781477330784","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7134a52d-324a-4b78-ba48-a5e5b587aa73.jpg?v=1737771691","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-great-texas-stamp-collection-how-some-stubborn-texas-confederate-postmasters-a-handful-of-determined-texas-stamp-collectors-and-a-few-of-the-wo-9781477330784","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}