The history of stamp collecting 18, the Netherlands in 1862.

Inspired by a series of articles by H.K. Kouwenberg that appeared in the monthly magazine Philatelie in the late 1970s, Rob Smit re-examines the history of stamp collecting in biweekly installments. This is part 18, The Netherlands in 1862. In this series, we have already seen that the stamp-collecting virus spread rapidly across Europe in 1862. Did the virus reach the Netherlands at that time as well? The answer is yes, but only at the end of the year. The first philatelic article in the Netherlands appeared in October 1862 in 'Het Nederlandsch Jaarboekje der Posterijen'. The Schiedam post director S. Gille Heringa translated the articles by Natalis Rondot from the Magasin Pittoresque (see installment 7) and included them under the title: 'De Postzegels door Natalis Rondot, vrij vertalen'. The series was continued in the yearbooks of 1863 and 1864.

WF Dannenfelser

For the most important pioneer of philately in the Netherlands, we go to Utrecht. On November 27, 1862, the first catalogue in the Dutch language appeared. This booklet, titled 'Vade-Mecum voor Verzamelaars van Postzegels' (Vade-Mecum for Stamp Collectors), is a translation of the third edition of the 'Manuel du Collectionneur de Timbres Poste' by J.B. Moens. The publisher of this booklet was Willem Frederik Dannenfelser, bookseller and publisher, established at Pausdam F. 274 in Utrecht since 1850. To this day, it remains unclear whether this publication was produced with Moens' permission. In any case, his name was not mentioned. However, the remark 'from the French' was included. In 1864, a new catalogue appeared, now with prices at which he himself sold the stamps. Its layout was completely different from the first Vade-Mecum and was likely copied from a German catalogue of the time. It is known that Dannenfelser also simply reissued other publications with his name on them. Dannenfelser was born on May 26, 1826, in The Hague. He was trained in the book trade and was married to Wilhelmina Berendina Doorman. In addition to the catalogues mentioned above, he also published a stamp album in 1863. This was likewise not his own design, but an adaptation of the album by Lallier from Paris. The first edition still featured coats of arms in black and white (images above); in the second edition, which also appeared in 1863, the coats of arms were in color. In 1868, a completely revised third edition appeared. Once again, it was not his own design, but an adaptation of a German album by Wuttig, Bauschke, and Kümmel (to whom we will return later in this series). This time, their names were mentioned in the publication. It was also stated that the adaptation had been carried out by MJ van Hasselt.

  Dannenfelser was probably a stamp collector himself, or at least a dealer, as is evident from the advertisement above. That explains why he came up with these publications. The VadeMecum mentioned is the edition that had already appeared in 1862. It appears that the catalogue mentioned at the bottom of the advertisement is the edition with prices described above as the 2nd edition. His other publications concerned subjects such as maps and speeches, and publications on countries and history. Dannenfelser was probably not a very good businessman. Although his business initially flourished, it eventually declined. In 1878 he moved to Amsterdam, where he served as co-director of the newspaper 'Het Nieuws van den Dag', among other things. He published his last album (with a beautifully colored binding) in 1882. He died on May 8, 1894, in Amsterdam. We will remain in the Netherlands for a little while longer in the next installment as well. To be continued on December 24.  

Published so far:

1. Introduction and start 2. The first collectors 3. The first catalogueOscar Berger Levrault is the first to provide an overview. 4. Alfred Potiquet, The first commercially published catalogue. 5. Booming 1862, The most turbulent year in philatelic history. 6. Edard de Laplante, the first to live exclusively from the stamp trade. 7. Natalis RondotThe first true philatelic literature appeared in a family magazine. 8. Henri Justin Lallier, Publisher of the first stamp album. 9. Frederick W. Booty, The first catalogue in English. 10. Mount Brown, A successful English catalogue. 11. Dr John Edward Gray, Inventor of the postage stamp, the very first collector, or merely a good cataloguer? 12. The first stamp magazineFirst a failed attempt, but then a sheet of stamps after all. 13. Edward Pemberton, Active philatelist with descendants in philately. 14. Dr. C.W. Viner, Father of English philately. 15. Jean Baptiste Moens, The greatest trader of all time. 16. Moens' publishing house, of great importance in the early days of philately. 17. Germany in 1862, The slow start of an important philatelic country.