F. R. Melville & Co.

author

F. R. Melville & Co.

Best known as the pen behind many approachable guides to stamp collecting, these books helped make philately feel welcoming to beginners as well as seasoned collectors. The name is closely associated with Fred Melville, a prolific British writer who turned his enthusiasm for stamps into a long run of practical, popular books.

1 Audiobook

Melville and Co.'s Directory and Gazetteer of Norwich, Yarmouth, Dereham, Swaffham, Wymondham, Fakenham, Thetford, Attleborough, Aylsham, Diss, Reepham, Foulsham, Hingham, &c.; Ipswich, Bury St. Edmund's, Woodbridge, Lowestoft, Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth, Eye, Stowmarket, Needham Market, &c. [1856]

Melville and Co.'s Directory and Gazetteer of Norwich, Yarmouth, Dereham, Swaffham, Wymondham, Fakenham, Thetford, Attleborough, Aylsham, Diss, Reepham, Foulsham, Hingham, &c.; Ipswich, Bury St. Edmund's, Woodbridge, Lowestoft, Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth, Eye, Stowmarket, Needham Market, &c. [1856]

by F. R. Melville & Co.

About the author

F. R. Melville & Co. appears as the credited name on a number of classic stamp-collecting books, especially in Project Gutenberg records. The name is closely linked with Fred Melville (1882–1940), a British philatelist and exceptionally productive writer on stamps and stamp collecting.

Melville founded the Junior Philatelic Society while still very young and became one of the best-known popularizers of the hobby in Britain. Rather than writing only for specialists, he had a gift for explaining collecting in a clear, inviting way, which helped bring new readers into philately.

Because the surviving records emphasize the publishing name as much as the individual author, some bibliographic details are a little murky. Still, the books associated with F. R. Melville & Co. clearly belong to the lively early-20th-century world of stamp literature, where Fred Melville stood out as one of its most energetic and influential voices.