The history of stamp collecting 26, The Big Elbe of Dresden

 Inspired by a series of articles by K. Kouwenberg that appeared in the monthly magazine Philatelie in the late 1970s, Rob Smit describes the history of stamp collecting anew in biweekly installments. This is part 26, the thick Elb of Dresden.

In the December 1863 issue of 'Das Magazin für Briefmarken-Sammler', there is an advertisement by Jeanne Wed. Elb of Dresden, who offers albums, stamps, and catalogues for sale. This stamp business was run by her but was owned by her son, Ferdinand Elb.

During his time at the gymnasium, Ferdinand traded extensively in railway shares, leaving him with hardly any time to attend lectures. In 1864, however, he dealt in stamps together with his mother and emerged as a 'handy boy' with special methods.

In 1864, for example, he traveled to Berlin and went to the main post office on August 5. He had with him a hundred envelopes 4, 5, 6, and 7 Silbergroschen, the so-called octagonal envelopes. Not the originals from 1852, but the reprints from 1864. Moreover, he had pasted one or two reprints of the first Prussia stamp issue onto these envelopes. He had addressed all the envelopes to himself and had them sent by registered mail from Berlin. Back home, they sold quickly at a considerable profit, without mentioning that they were reprints.

The latter was unnecessary anyway, for his customers would have looked at him strangely. Back then, a stamp could only be two things: real or fake. It was only much later, when collectors began to focus more on the study of stamps, that Elb's joke was discovered. The 'Elb' letters became a sought-after item in their own right. As early as 1895, 100 marks were being paid for such a piece.

In 1864, he published his own catalog with the unimaginably long title: 'Catalog along with price list with description of all stamps and postage stamps issued and projected since the beginning of the issuance of postage stamps up to the present day, containing 2800 numbers to date. Published with the assistance and revision of a senior postal official and using authentic, official and private sources. Dresden: Self-published 1864.' In 1866 and 1867, further additions appeared.

In 1865 he comes up with something new again; an advertisement appears with the following text;

Dresdner Express Compagnie, 'To meet the numerous inquiries from domestic and foreign collectors and dealers regarding our newly issued stamps and envelopes, we have entrusted the sale to Mr. Ferdinand Elb of Dresden, The Management.' Below this is an advertisement by Ferdinand Elb in which he offers stamps and envelopes of the Dresdner Express Compagnie at face value.

The Dresdner Express Compagnie did actually exist, but had only a very brief existence in 1861. By 1865, the company had long since been dissolved. Other original creations attributed to him include a stamp with the inscription 'Kissingen Schweinfurt Express Privilig' and city stamps of a non-existent Leitmeritz city postal service.

 

Ferdinand Elb has long gone down in philatelic history as 'the fat Elb of Dresden', but this is based on a misunderstanding. Ferdinand was not that fat at all, unlike his uncle. This misunderstanding may be due to a piece in the November 1865 issue of 'Le Timbrophile'. It describes that on November 4 in Paris, at the age of 48, Mr. JW Elb, originally from Saxony, passed away. It adds: ' Mr. Elb was of such a size that he aroused general astonishment and curiosity in the street. He weighed 179 kilos and his coffin, which could not be transported by an ordinary hearse, had a height of 80 centimeters'.

This JW Elb was a correspondent in Paris for his cousin Ferdinand from Dresden and was therefore always well supplied with mail from the German States. He was mainly occupied with reprinting. After his death, Mahé and De Laplante were appointed to auction his estate. On December 29, 1865, it was auctioned at Hotel Drouot and fetched about 800 francs, which was a considerable sum at the time. This auction is recorded as the very first auction in Europe where postage stamps were also sold. (In New York, a lot of stamps had already come under the hammer at a coin auction in 1862).

Pierre Mahé writes in his 'Les Marchands d'aujourd hui' that the stamp dealer Josef W. Elb lived in Paris. This Elb was a sight to behold on the street, for he weighed 208 kilos. His pockets were always stuffed with biscuits and other snacks, not always very fresh. He was good-natured and had a high, childlike voice. He always had to walk, because due to his size he could not fit in a carriage.

The thick Elb of Dresden therefore does not refer to Ferdinand, and thus not to the maker of the 'philatelic pieces', but to his uncle who lived in Paris and only traded parts.

The fact that the Big Elb was a kind of wonder of the world is evident from the fact that even the prestigious and serious British 'The Times' mentions its demise in issue 10 of 1865.

To be continued on April 28.

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. 18. The Netherlands in 1862, The first Dutch catalogue and album. 19. The Netherlands in 1864, PH Witkamp 20. The origins of Schaubek 21. The competition breaks out, free stamps with magazines. 22. Crafting with stamps. 23. The Polka Stamp., postage stamps as a source of inspiration for music 24. Alexander Baillieu., stamps as a gold mine? 25. Cunning, deceit, and abundance., postal administrations discover collectors.