William Carlos Stone (October 9, 1859 – February 23, 1939) was a

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 ...

who specialized in the collection of

philatelic literature Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history. Background to philatelic literature Philatelic literature is held by stamp collectors and dealers, philatelic soci ...

related to

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 and

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related servi ...

Collecting interests

Stone collected and studied United States revenue stamps, and, at the same time, accumulated a large library consisting mostly of philatelic literature related to revenue stamps. He assisted his fellow philatelist

William Reynolds Ricketts William Reynolds Ricketts (July 29, 1869 – October 14, 1956), of Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, was a philatelist who created the largest index of philatelic literature available during his lifetime. He was considered as the "greatest philatelic inde ...

in the preparation of Ricketts' famous index of philatelic literature.

Philatelic activity

Stone helped found the American Philatelic Association, which later became the

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Phil ...

, and he continued to support the organization his entire philatelic career.

Honors and awards

Stone was named to the

American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame award honors deceased philatelists who have contributed significantly to the field of national and/or international philately. History The APS ''Hall of Fame'' award was founded at the 1940 American P ...

in 1947.

Legacy

Stone's collection of revenue stamp philatelic literature was sold in 1939 to

George Townsend Turner George Townsend Turner (February 11, 1906 – August 14, 1979) of Washington, D.C., was considered a leading philatelic bibliophile of his era, amassing a very large body of philatelic literature over his lifetime. He was the acting curator of the ...

, who later donated it to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

where it now resides in the

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United S ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, William Carlos 1859 births 1939 deaths Philatelic literature American philatelists Smithsonian Institution donors People from Springfield, Massachusetts American Philatelic Society

Collecting interests

Philatelic activity

Honors and awards

Legacy

See also

References