Books

Our book collection comprises approximately 30,000 books, monographs and pamphlets arranged alphabetically by country.  There are also sections on Thematics, Forgeries, Airmail, Maritime Mail and Military Mail, plus a General section consisting of books on topics such as philatelic personalities, exhibiting, design & printing, societies and collecting.

The Reference section includes a range of research aids including bibliographies, indexes, philatelic dictionaries and atlases. 

Also available for reference is a large collection of stamp catalogues, including specialised catalogues for many collecting areas and a near complete range of Stanley Gibbons catalogues.

Journals

There are over 3,700 distinct journal titles in the library’s collection.  These include some of the earliest produced philatelic periodicals dating from the 1860s.  We currently receive issues of over 270 active titles.

Current issues are available for browsing in the Members' Lounge on the Ground Floor.  Recent unbound issues are kept in the library.  Once volumes are bound they are kept in our closed access storage and are available on request.  The exception to this is The London Philatelist, which is shelved by the main reader desk in the library. 

We also have a number of journal indexes available for reference.  
 

Auction Catalogues

The library holds over 30,000 auction catalogues from auction houses around the world, including some dating back to the 1870s and rarities from the 1930s.