A Few Bits of New Info on the Scott Blue Internationals

One of these days I'm going to be at a library with a good run of Scott Monthlys, but until then, I'll take information where I find it. A recent eBay auction offered a 1955 Scott International in bound condition--the first I've seen. I had assumed that the 1947 edition was the last bound edition but obviously not. I also was mistaken in assuming that the 1955 revision of the International was published in order to revise the US section to bring the numbering into line with the current Scott catalog. As you may know, the Scott numbers for the United States underwent a major revision in the 1940s. To begin with, the main US sequence for decades began with the Postmaster Provisionals which is why the first official US stamp, the 1847 5c Franklin, was number 28 in the Brown and early Blue Internationals, not number 1 as it is today. Further, the Back-of-the-Book issues that today begin with letter prefixes originally were part of one long numeric sequence. (For more information on this and other changes in the catalog, see Albert Ewell Jr/'s article, "The Scott Catalogue 1933 and 1995" ion the Philatelic Literature Review 45:2, pp 95-101.) To get back to the point, the 1955 edition still uses the numbering as found in the 1943 catalog. (Updated 1.22.09--I just found out that the 1964 version was the first to 1) switch to the new numbering and 2) add the 1847 10c Washington, Scott #2.)

I've found out a little more on the origin of the Scott Juniors from an article by George Turner, "A Century, 1868-1968 Scott's Albums" that appeared in the March 1968 Scott's Monthly Stamp Journal. According to Turner, Scott had been acquired in 1914 by Charles E. Hatfield which issued the first Junior in April 1914. The earliest edition I've seen on eBay so far is 1916.

Here's my current working theory on the Blue Internationals. The notation "eBay" means that an album with that date was offered for auction.

1914 - Scott Junior--1st edition

1916 - Scott Junior (seen on eBay)

1917 - Scott Junior (seen on eBay) 

           18K spaces, "several thousand" engravings

1920 - Scott Junior. 522 pages.

1921 - Scott Junior (seen on eBay)

1924 - Scott Junior

18K spaces. (eBay)

1927 - Scott Junior. 18K spaces. (eBay)

1928 - Scott Junior (eBay)

1930 - Scott Junior (eBay)

1933 - Scott Junior (eBay)

1935 - Scott Junior (eBay)

this was a Scott Junior. 31K spaces. No mention of number of illustrations. Bound. US Section corresponds to 1936 Scott catalog. (eBay)

1936 - Scott Junior

this was a Scott Junior. 31K spaces. Bound. (eBay)

1938 - Scott Junior (eBay)

32,600 spaces. Bound.

1939 - Scott Junior.

34K spaces, 7800 illustrations. Used the 1940 Scott catalog. Available bound and looseleaf. (eBay)

1940 - Scott Junior

- this was a Scott Junior and used the 1940 Scott catalog. 35K spaces, 8K illustrations. Came both bound and looseleaf. (eBay)

1941 - Scott Junior

- this was a Scott Junior and used the 1941 Scott catalog. 35K spaces, 8K illustrations. Came both bound and looseleaf. (eBay)

1943 Scott Junior (eBay)

This was still a Scott Junior (eBay) and used the 1943 Scott catalog. The '43 was available both bound and looseleaf. According to the 1943 catalog this edition came in three versions. No. 1, "Bound in boards, blue cover with red cloth reinforced back." No.2, "Bound in dark blue cloth, gilt lettering and stubbed to prevent bulging." The looseleaf edition is described as "Loose Leaf in a heavy blue Fabrikoid hinged post binder with round posts." The original costs were $4, $5 and $7 respectively.

1947 Scott International

- this was the first International without the word "Junior"; there may also have been a 1947 edition with Junior still in the title; at least one of these was available both bound and loose leaf. Based on the 1943 catalog. While I have checked only the first couple of hundred pages, I believe the 1947 to be identical to the 1943 edition with just a change in copyright date. As late as the early 50s, Scott was still referring in its ads to "Scott's International (Formerly the Junior)...."

1955 Scott International

- still using 1943 catalog, US still has 5c 1847 as Scott #28 and no 10c 1847; still has spaces for US revenues. 1955 is first copyright date listed on title page (i.e, no 1947). The 1955 edition was available bound as well as looseleaf. Still has spaces for flags and coats of arms. However, there are a number of differences in coverage between it and the 1943/47 edition.

1964 Scott International

Still one part but no longer using the 1943 catalog (title page doesn't indicate the catalog version). This is the first edition to use the revised numbering system (i.e., the 5c 1847 is now Scott #1, not #28). It also adds the 10c 1847, Scott #2 plus, presumably, other changes. Title page has two copyright dates: 1955, 1964.

1969 Scott International

- Definitely one part. 1969 edition title page has copyright dates of 1955, 1964, 1969. No mention on title page of which catalog the 1969 version is based on. Doesn't have spaces for flags or coats of arms.

1979 Scott International

- Definitely 2 parts. First edition of the 2 part Scotts?

1985 Scott International

- Definitely 2 parts. Has copyright dates of 1955, 1964, 1969, 1979, 1985.

1991 Scott International

- Definitely 2 parts. I've seen part IA which includes United States, and Afghanistan through Latvia. Has copyright dates of 1955, 1964, 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991. Still contains countries out of alphabetical sequence including some countries still starting on the verso of pages and some multiple countries on a single page.

1994 - Have not seen

First of the 4 part Scotts? The revision into 4 parts rectified many of the problems with the 2 part version although there are still hundreds of stamps missing that were in the 1947 and even the 1969 editions. Every country and almost all subgroups of issues (e.g., Semipostals and airmails) begin on the front of a page to allow easy integration with International volumes 2+.

1997 Scott International

- Definitely 4 parts; parts from last printings were allowed to go out-of-print as stock ran out; reprinted ("on demand") in 2008 with 1997 copyright date. This printing has the following copyright notice: Copyright 1955, 1964, 1969, 1979, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1997.

Update 5/2010: Truth be told, I've been updating the above every month or two as I find bits and pieces of information. But this update is to show the image of the 1964 edition with dust jacket. You don't see these dust jackets very often:


Update 6/2010: Interestingly, two copies of the first Junior Album appeared on eBay within a few weeks of each other. While I would have liked to have had a copy, these each contained enough stamps to take them out of the realm of an impulse purchase. Also, I've seen a copy of the copyright registrations for 1914 and this is what confirms that the Junior album was copyrighted 1 April 1914 with two copies deposited on 9 April 1914. Here is what the title page looked like:
Note that the official title of the album is the International Junior Postage Stamp Album: Junior Edition!

Update 11/2010: I don't usually say anything about Volume 2 (because it isn't, well, Volume 1, but an eBay seller recently posted copyright dates for a Volume 2 of 1953, 1965, 1977. I assume more recent versions would have some additional dates. Now the question is: do the dates represent revisions or just renewals to protect Scott's intellectual property?