Smithsonian Libraries

Hugh McLellan Southgate collection, [189-?]-1940

Summary

Collection ID:
SIL-NPM.XXXX-0012
Creators:
United States. Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Bureau Issues Association
United States. Post Office Dept.
Sloane, George B.
Southgate, H. M. (Hugh McLellan), 1871-1940
Dates:
[189-?]-1940
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
27 Volumes
approximately 6,900 p.; 1 index v.
29 cm. +
Repository:
The collection consists chiefly of hand-written notes made by Southgate on a wide range of postal history topics and related matters, generally on lined or graph paper measuring 25 x 15 cm. or smaller, for keeping in triple-post binders. Some of the notes were made in "Lefax" or other commercially-available notebooks. The collection includes numerous mounted newsclippings, brochures, and excerpted articles from philatelic journals, as well as statistical data, advertisements, copies of correspondence, and diagrams made by Southgate to illustrate plate variations, etc.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Hugh McLellan Southgate (b. Sept. 3, 1871; d. Oct. 23, 1940), a resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was an important postage stamp collector and an active member of several philatelic societies. He was a founder and the first president of the Philatelic Plate Number Association (1926-1928), as well as the first president and chairman of the board (1930-1940) of its successor, the Bureau Issues Association (now the United States Stamp Society). He was also an authority on the printing of stamps by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Administration

Existence and Location of Originals note
National Postal Museum (U.S.). National Postal Museum Library; 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20013-0712; USA 202-633-5544
Custodial History note
The Hugh McLellan Southgate collection was donated to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum by noted U.S. stamp historian George Wendell Brett, who collated the materials and during the 1980s created the index sheets (tables of contents) for each volume. Volumes 8 and 11 were temporarily held by George Benedict Sloane, the distinguished philatelic writer, dealer and auctioneer, but were later reunited with the rest of the collection as noted by Brett in the index volume.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
George W. Brett, gift, 2005?

More Information

General note

General note
Each leaf containing data has been photocopied from the original notebooks, with the exception of v. 5, which consists entirely of a printed checklist of Bureau of Engraving and Printing precancels and Presidential series for 1938-1940 (an index sheet noting the contents of v. 5 is present, only).
General note
The presence of blank leaves in the original notebooks is noted in the index sheets and the finding aid.

Local Notes

Local Notes
The volumes are numbered 1 through 26, plus a miscellaneous compilation labelled "vol. xl" (or "HMS notebook prelim. no. 1" by G.W. Brett). There is also a separate index volume containing copies of all the index sheets that Brett created to serve as tables of contents for each volume in the collection.

Other Finding Aids note

Other Finding Aids note
Finding aid available in National Postal Museum Library; volume-level control.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Covers (Philately) -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Precancels -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cancellations (Philately) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Revenue stamps -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postage stamps -- Forgeries Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postage stamp design -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postage stamps -- United States -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plate numbers (Postage stamps) -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postage-stamp printing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stamp collectors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stamp collecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Air mail stamps -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commemorative postage stamps -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Playing cards -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postal service -- United States -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Duck stamps -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Savings bonds -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postal service -- United States -- Metered mail Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postcards -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printing machinery and supplies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Envelopes (Stationery) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postal service -- Equipment and supplies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brett, George W. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Post Office Dept. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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