James Benjamin Seymour (28 November 1867 – 11 June 1950), of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, 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 created an award winning collection, and who wrote some of the key works in British philately.

Collecting interests

Seymour collected stamps of Great Britain and created a collection of stamps and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

of that country that won numerous awards at national and international exhibitions. After his death, his collection was auctioned by

Robson Lowe John Harry Robson Lowe (7 January 1905, London – 19 August 1997, Bournemouth) was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer. Life and career Lowe is regarded by philatelists as the father of postal history, ha ...

Philatelic literature

James Seymour contributed the section on British line engraved stamps in the

Kohl Briefmarken-Handbuch The ''Kohl Briefmarken-Handbuch'' was a seminal work of philatelic literature first published in Germany in 1923 as the 11th edition of the previous well known ''Handbuch'' published by Paul Kohl of Chemnitz. Production of the work The work wa ...

, published in Germany in 1923. He and the editor, Dr

Herbert Munk Herbert Munk (26 June 1875 – 19 April 1953) was a distinguished German philatelist and editor of important sections of the seminal Kohl Briefmarken-Handbuch for which he and J.B. Seymour won the Sieger Medal for best philatelic work in the ...

jointly received the Sieger Medal in 1931 for the best philatelic work in the German language that year.Profile at Who Was Who In British Philately
. Seymour was also the author of ''Stamps of Great Britain: The Line-engraved Issues, 1840 to 1853''. He completed a revised edition of the book in 1950.

Philatelic activity

Seymour was active within the philatelic community. He served both the

International Philatelic Union The International Philatelic Union, formed 1881, was an early international philatelic organisation formed for the study of stamps and the promotion of philately generally.Rogers-Tillstone, Capt. B. ''The Royal Philatelic Society London 1869-1969''. ...

and the

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

as president. And, at the l'Academie de Philatélie, he was elected as a corresponding member. Seymour was also a member 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 ...

Honors and awards

James Benjamin Seymour received numerous philatelic awards from his and other countries. He signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their n ...

in 1931 and 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 1951.

Outside philately

Seymour was a President of The Magic Circle.

References