Philatelic

Demand is boosted currently by a "vast" new generation of collectors in China and India, says Sotheby's world-wide philatelic consultant Richard Ashton, adding that young buyers are also very active in South America. ❋ Margaret Studer (2011)

In September, Sotheby's London will auction the British philatelic collection of the late Lord Leonard Steinberg, founder of the Stanley Leisure Group, a chain of betting shops and casinos. ❋ Margaret Studer (2011)

Associated Press In 2006, Congress passed strict laws curtailing non-postal activities and essentially told the agency to stick with philatelic pursuits. ❋ Jennifer Levitz (2011)

Rural England circa 1950 is the setting for the lighter-toned "A Red Herring Without Mustard" Delacorte, 399 pages, $23 , the third mystery by Alan Bradley to be narrated by 11-year-old Flavia de Luce: chemistry prodigy, amateur detective and mischievous bane of her two elder sisters and their distracted, upper-class, philatelic, cash-strapped widower-father. ❋ Tom Nolan (2011)

Values of stamps in the index are set by the prices they bring at auction and in private sales, plus opinions from philatelic experts. ❋ Charles Passy (2011)

In 2006, Congress passed strict laws curtailing non-postal activities and essentially told the agency to stick with philatelic pursuits. ❋ Jennifer Levitz (2011)

The philatelic posters on the wall were all of stamps that could not possibly exist. ❋ Chelsea White (2010)

Only 100 were printed with its central image -- the Curtiss JN-4 airplane -- upside-down, and today a single copy of this Holy Grail of philatelic flubs sells for more than a million dollars. ❋ Unknown (2009)

"Stamp collecting was David's consuming passion," says Sotheby's philatelic consultant Richard Ashton, whose friendship with the collector began 46 years ago. ❋ Unknown (2009)

In 1993, one of the letters, bearing the orange-red and one of the blues side by side, was sold for $4 million, a philatelic record. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Ambassador Hu Shih took his leave, and the president worked on his stamp collection, sorting through the weekly envelope of philatelic novelties sent him by the Department of State. ❋ Nicholson Baker (2008)

The collector market for rare stamps is holding its own in turbulent times -- so much so that Geneva philatelic specialist and auctioneer David Feldman plans to launch a rare stamp investment fund in 2009. ❋ Unknown (2008)

The collection was assembled over 20 years by a private collector who strove to own an example of nearly every philatelic item related to King George V (1865-1936), an ardent stamp collector. ❋ Unknown (2008)

At Mr. Feldman's "Rarities of the World" auction in October a unique Imperial Russian cover with stamps from 1857 and 1858 sold for €1.3 million, a new world auction record for a Russian philatelic item. ❋ Unknown (2008)

On royal tours, his lackeys let receiving heads of state know that if they wanted to present the monarch with a gift, George would gladly forgo the usual engraved salver in favor of a rare philatelic specimen from Antigua or the Cape of Good Hope. ❋ Unknown (2008)

He brought with him a passion for stamps, and his first job was at a philatelic shop in downtown Rio. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Now they were forbidden, due in large part to an Apollo-era incident in which astronauts carried philatelic items they later sold. ❋ Astronaut Mike Mullane (2006)