The evolution of Stanley Gibbons ‘Part 1’ Stamp Catalogue

The Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 -1970 is now on its 127^th Edition with the 2025 Edition to be released in the Autumn of 2024. How did The Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840 -1970 get the nickname of Part 1 and what past editions can we uncover?

It was in 1865 that the first Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue is published; a penny price list that ran monthly until 1879. The original work was a simple price list without illustrations and in magazine format which was published more or less monthly. From its inception, the Stanley Gibbons part 1 catalogue covered the stamps of the whole world. In 1879 the first edition of Stanley Gibbons all-world catalogue appeared with illustrations in book form.

Following on the 1897 edition was split into parts, 'Part 1' being British Empire only, Part 2 Foreign Countries with postal stationery and telegraph stamps in their own volumes which were soon discontinued. There was a single-volume catalogue which combined parts 1 and 2 which was known as 'Stamps of the World' which was discontinued around 1940 due to paper rationing and never re-emerged after the war.

Meanwhile, in 1935 Stanley Gibbons launched the Simplified Catalogue, covering the stamps of the whole world but ignoring watermarks perforation and other 'minor changes'.

After the War Part 2 was split in two, Europe and Colonies now being the new Part 2 and 'America Asia and Africa' being Part 3. The Simplified continued alongside the three main parts and was renamed 'Stamps of the World' in 1981. Meanwhile the two foreign parts had been split up into 21 smaller units, with the new Part 2 being 'Austria and Hungary', Part 3 'Balkans', etc. British Commonwealth continued as 'Part 1', as it still is.

Part 1 being established in 1879, has retained this popular name amongst collections. But we have also heard a few other nicknames for the title, including it being called 'The Red Book' and 'The Red Gibbons'.

Today the title is a standard work of reference for collectors of Commonwealth stamps all over the world and stands at over 700 pages in hardback format.