Alfred J. Forbin (13 February 1872 – 14 August 1956) was a pioneering French

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...

who wrote an all-world catalogue of

revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s that has never been surpassed.

Early life

Alfred Forbin was born in Paris on 13 February 1872."More Forbin...Pioneer of Revenues", Joost Meijer, ''The Revenue Journal'', Vol. XXIV, No. 1 (June 2013), pp. 11-14.

Stamp dealing

Forbin started as a stamp dealer in 1890 and in 1900 he opened a shop in the ''Rue Drouot'' in ParisBirch, Brian. (2008) ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Brian Birch: Standish, Wigan. p. 540. Later he was at ''24 Rue de Milan'', ''80 Rue Saint-Lazare'' and ''35 Rue de Berne''. In 1902,

Théodore Champion Théodore Champion (14 February 1873 – 31 August 1954) was a Swiss cyclist, philatelist and stamp dealer, who was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1937.Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists September 2011', ...

, his employee and the best man at his wedding, purchased the business from Forbin who afterwards concentrated on fiscal stamps. In 1905 Forbin acquired the fiscal stamp collection of Dr. Legrand.

Catalogues

Forbin's ''Catalogue de Timbres-Fiscaux'' was the most comprehensive all-world catalogue of revenue stamps produced up to that time and is still regularly referred to by revenue

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

s as no other all-world catalogue has been prepared since Forbin's third edition in 1915. Forbin also started a journal ''Le Bulletin Fiscaliste'' in order to keep the catalogue up to date.

Organised philately

Forbin was a member, from October 1904, of the

Fiscal Philatelic Society The Fiscal Philatelic Society (11 January 1902 – 1928) was an early twentieth-century British philatelic society that is seen as a predecessor to today's '' The Revenue Society''. The principal object of the society was the study of fiscal stamp ...

and served on the committee from 1912 to 1916.''The Bulletin'', The Fiscal Philatelic Society, No.16, November 1912. He was one of the founders and the Doyon (Dean) of the stamp dealer's organisation the Chambre Syndicale Francaise de la Philatelie.

Later life

Letters in the ''National Archives of Australia'' show Forbin requesting revenue stamps from the Australian authorities over the period 1925 to 1947 and it seems likely that he would have been in contact with other governments as well. And correspondence reproduced in The Revenue Journal, shows that Forbin was still dealing in fiscal stamps as late as August 1955."A. Forbin cntd." in ''The Revenue Journal'', Vol. XIX, No. 4., Whole No.76, March 2009, pp. 156-158.

Death

Alfred J. Forbin died on 14 August 1956 after suffering from ill-health for many years. He received obituaries in '' The American Revenuer'' and ''L'Echangiste Universelle''."More Forbin...continued", Joost Meijer, ''The Revenue Journal'', Vol. XXV, No. 3 (December 2014), pp. 66-67.

Selected publications

Forbin's catalogues served the original purpose of stamp catalogues in being retail price lists first and works of reference second. All are in the French language: *''Timbres rares'', Forbin, Paris, 1895. (A price list) *''Prix-courant de timbres, cartes, enveloppes et bandes postales de A. Forbin'', 1898. *''Prix-courant de timbres, cartes, enveloppes et bandes postales de A. Forbin et Co, 4th edition, 1900. *''Catalogue prix-courant de timbres-poste / Catalogue general de timbres-poste'', Yvert & Tellier, Amiens, 1902. *''Catalogue de Timbres-Fiscaux'', Yvert & Tellier, Amiens. Three editions, 1905, 1909 and 1915. (Third edition reprinted 1980 and 1991) *''Catalogue Prix Courant de tous les Timbre Fiscaux emis dans le monde entier'', c.1910. *''Catalogue entente cordiale Colonies Francaises & Anglaises / Prix courant de timbres-poste des Colonies Anglaises et Francaises'', Forbin, Paris, 1912. *''Catalogue des Timbres Fiscaux de France et Colonies''. Three editions, 1925, 1931 and 1937. *''Les Timbres Fiscaux d'Allemagne Part 1 Timbres jusqu'en 1939'', 1955.

References

External links

Online version of Forbin's 1915 catalogue.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbin, Alfred Philatelic literature French stamp dealers Revenue stamps 1872 births 1956 deaths Stamp catalogs Businesspeople from Paris