Notes on Postage Stamps. Eric Gill had exacting and pointed opinions about postage stamps, their purpose, and their design. Unfortunately, his theories didn't always hold up when put into practice, and he had a less than successful career as a designer of stamps. Accompanied by nine of Gill's previously unpublished preparatory drawings and sketches for stamps, Notes on Postage Stamps is a short, previously unpublished essay by Gill in which he succinctly lays out his philatelic ideas—some of which were a little too idealistic and some of which were spot-on. All of them are interesting and thought-provoking.

Notes on Postage Stamps contains fifty-six full-color illustrations, most of which will be completely unfamiliar to historians and enthusiasts of Gill's work. An afterword by Michael Russem chronicles Gill's seven attempts at stamp design—only two of which resulted in published stamps.

See some sample spreads from the book here.

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The Kat Ran Essays in Philatelics is a series meant to focus on the overlooked philatelic work of type and graphic designers. Designing the Mentoring Stamp by Lance Hidy was the first title in this series. Future titles will focus on Wim Crouwel, Jan Van Krimpen, and Sem Hartz. To learn more about our stamp-related projects, visit our collection of postage stamps by type designers.

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