Yvert et Tellier is a
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
dealer and a
philatelic
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 ...
publishing company founded in 1895 in the northern
French city of
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, where the head office is still located. The logo is a circle divided into a
snowflake
A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. ...
and a smiling sun. It is a pun on the name of the company: ''hiver, été liés'' ("winter, summer together") sounds a lot like the French pronunciation of ''Yvert et Tellier''.
The family company was founded by
Eugène Yvert in 1831 as a
printing works
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
for a
legitimist
The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They re ...
newspaper. The switch to philately was decided 1895 by Eugène's grandson
Louis Yvert and his chief printer
Théodule Tellier Théodule Tellier (circa 1856 – March 1922) was a French printer and the co-founder with Louis Yvert of French philatelic publisher Yvert et Tellier. He participated in its publication from 1895 to 1913.
Biography
In 1879 in Amiens, Telli ...
. Nowadays the company is still run by the Yvert family.
Products
Yvert et Tellier's major product is a
stamp catalog
A stamp catalog (or stamp catalogue) is a catalog of postage stamp types with descriptions and prices.
The stamp catalog is an essential tool of philately and stamp collecting. Stamp catalogs are part of philatelic literature.
Similar catalog ...
which is a reference for stamps and countries that are most collected by French philatelists: France,
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
,
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, and the former French colonies and their philatelic history as independent states. In France, it is one of the most important philatelic publishing companies, along with
Cérès and
Dallay.
Continuing the old association between
Louis Yvert and
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', ...
, the ''Ancienne Maison Théodore Champion'' edits monthly and yearly a colour catalog of newly issued stamps from all over the world. Usually, Yvert catalogs for non-European countries were printed in black and white, but in 2008 they started with full color prints.
It is one of the international references as well, with
Michel
Michel may refer to:
* Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name)
* Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers)
* Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...
,
Scott and
Stanley Gibbons
The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...
. The Yvert catalogs list stamps issued by all countries in the world, but for non-European countries, the volumes are organized in alphabetic order whereas the German company Michel uses a geographical classification.
History
Genesis and management successions
During the 1890s in Amiens, the Yvert family's printing works is the property of
Louis Yvert, grandson of the founder, and his chief printer
Théodule Tellier Théodule Tellier (circa 1856 – March 1922) was a French printer and the co-founder with Louis Yvert of French philatelic publisher Yvert et Tellier. He participated in its publication from 1895 to 1913.
Biography
In 1879 in Amiens, Telli ...
; Tellier kept the company running after the premature death of Louis' father. Louis did not like being in charge of the legimist paper founded by his father, ''L'Écho de la Somme''. He discovered
stamp collecting
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study (or combined study and collection) of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth ...
thanks to Tellier, a philatelist, who had already added a small philatelic newspaper, ''
L'Écho de la timbrologie
''L'Écho de la timbrologie'' is a French monthly magazine about philately and stamp collecting. First published in 1887, it is the French oldest surviving philatelic publication. Its subtitle is "La tribune des philatélistes" (the philatelist ...
'', to the papers printed by the company.
In 1895, Yvert and Tellier started getting involved in philatelic books. In November 1896 they published a worldwide catalog of stamps and a
stamp album. The success was immediate because of their logical and permanent numbering, in contrast to most of their contemporaries, who changed the numbers in their catalogues upon discovering forgotten stamps.
In 1900, Yvert et Tellier associated with Paris stamp dealer Théodore Champion, who sold unused stamps from all over the world. He fixed the prices of the stamps sold by the company. After Champion's death in 1955, Pierre Yvert and the brothers Ladislas and Alexandre Varga bought Champion's company and the new firm continued to fix Yvert et Tellier's prices.
In April 1913, Tellier sold his share of the company to Louis Yvert because of the loss of his young grandson. Due to their friendship, Yvert decided that the catalog would continue to be named ''Yvert et Tellier''.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Yvert prepared his two sons and his son-in-law to run the firm. Henri ran the printing works, his brother
Pierre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
directed ''L'Écho de la timbrologie'', and Jean Gervais took care of the publishing.
Pierre Yvert's and Jean Gervais' two grandsons have run the company since the 1990s.
Recent commercial history
Since 2001 the apparition of the
Dallay catalog has had a major effect on the French philatelist public by providing larger pictures of stamps and information not found in the Yvert et Tellier catalogs, such as the name of the artiste and/or engraver, first date of issue, use, etc. Yvert has been fighting on two fronts: it has successfully defended the rights to its numbering system, and it distributes a free CD-ROM with its French stamp catalog.
Nevertheless, in March 2005, by urging of the French ''Conseil de la concurrence'', Yvert agreed to sell the use of the Yvert stamp numbers to other publishers.
In June 2006 Yvert et Tellier published a new catalog of French stamps, a cheaper pocketbook version containing just pictures and prices, as did
Cérès, the second main philatelic publishing company in France.
Genealogy of the Yvert family
The Yvert printing company and Yvert et Tellier editor have been ruling mostly by members of the Yvert family. This family tree presents the people who managed these two companies since they were found in the 19th century.
Eugène Yvert (circa 1794-1878), journalist, founder of the printer company in Amiens where he moved to create a legimist paper.
│
└──> Henry Yvert (died 1885), company's owner after 1870, legitimist journalist too.
│
└──>
Louis Yvert (1866–1950), co-founder of the Yvert et Tellier catalog with
Théodule Tellier Théodule Tellier (circa 1856 – March 1922) was a French printer and the co-founder with Louis Yvert of French philatelic publisher Yvert et Tellier. He participated in its publication from 1895 to 1913.
Biography
In 1879 in Amiens, Telli ...
.
│
├──> Henri Yvert (died 1956), manager of the printer plant.
│
│
├──> Jeanne Yvert
│ married Jean Gervais (died 1974), a
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, then manager of the Yvert et Tellier publisher.
│ │
│ └──> Jacques Gervais,
''président-directeur général'' of Yvert et Tellier.
│ │
│ └──> Benoît Gervais, succeeded his father in 1993.
│
└──>
Pierre Yvert (1900–1964), manager of ''
L'Écho de la timbrologie
''L'Écho de la timbrologie'' is a French monthly magazine about philately and stamp collecting. First published in 1887, it is the French oldest surviving philatelic publication. Its subtitle is "La tribune des philatélistes" (the philatelist ...
'' magazine.
│
└──> Jean Yvert, succeeded his father and manager of the printer plant.
│
└──> Christophe Yvert, manager of the printer plant.
[Still in charge September 2006 when interviewed by ]
See also
Sources
* The book was published for the centenary of the company. It presented the history of the Yvert family and their company.
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yvert Et Tellier
Publishing companies of France
Philately of France
Stamp catalogs