The Royal Philatelic Society London, the oldest philatelic society in the world, was established in 1869 as The Philatelic Society, London.

The Society's Aims

The principal objects of the Society are:

1. To promote, encourage and contribute to the advancement of the science and practice of philately.

2. To inform members of the Society on all matters affecting any of its objects by meetings, discussions, displays, lectures, correspondence or otherwise; to assist and carry out philatelic research, and to print, publish and issue such papers, periodicals, books, circulars or other literary matters in support of these objects.

3. To hold, either alone or jointly with others, promote, or subscribe, or assist with international or other philatelic exhibitions in the UK or elsewhere, and to offer and award prizes, medals or other recognition in connection with such exhibitions or for any literary work connected with philately.

4. To establish and maintain a library and collections of stamps, designs, proofs, essays and other articles of interest relating to any of the objects of the Society

Notice

Please note that the date of the Royal Philatelic Society London AGM has changed from Thursday 26 June 2008 to Thursday 3 July 2008. We very much apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Member's Area

Fellows and Members of the Royal Philatelic Society London who wish to obtain a username and password for the Member's Area should email secretary@rpsl.org.uk asking for these.

You can now pay for publications securely online either with a PayPal account or by using PayPal's secure credit card authorisation service. Members should use the order form in the Member's area for discounts on some titles.

Handouts

We have an archive of handouts from our meetings, held about every two weeks from September to June at the Society. A handout is a descriptive paper which accompanies a display, often with extensive use of illustrative material. You can view our archive here then select the year which interests you in the right hand column.

Latest Handouts

New Zealand: 1855 to 1872
Display and paper by Robert P. Odenweller, RDP, Hon. FRPSL, FRPSNZ

This display covers the full range of the "Chalon Heads" from 1855 to the final issues of 1872. In concept, the display shows one unused and two used of each shade listed in the highly specialised catalogue of Campbell Paterson.

May 22, 2008

The collection of Frederick Philbrick with essays and trial prints for the creation of the "Penny Black"
Dr. Andreas Hahn

March 1, 2008

Great Britain - Development and Use of the First Issues
Alan Holyoake

This display centres upon the concept, design, introduction and use of the very first issues available from 6 May 1840. These first issues consisted of both the 1d and 2d Mulready envelope and letter sheet stationery together with the adhesive 1d black stamp printed from plates 1a and 2 together with the 2d blue stamp from plate 1.

March 1, 2008