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Thematic Collections
Thematic collections are actually the youngest form of philately, based on a wealth of stamps with different motifs, issued all over the world. The first thematic collections were formed prior to the Second World War, but the great development within this field occurred after the war.
Thematic philately is still developing. It is clear that it differs from other philately in one basic point. Whereas for the philatelist forming a catalogue collection, the design and motif of the stamp is of inferior importance, for the thematic collector it is the most important element. The classical collector, particularly the specialist, is interested in the technical details of the stamp, in its perforation, paper and details of design. On the other hand, the thematic collector concentrates on the image on the stamp. He is interested in the meaning and so acquires knowledge in a variety of fields; he pursues variants of the factual and artistic expression of certain motifs and notes objective connections. He considers how he can apply the pictures to the basic theme and how he can illustrate the theme with the help of philatelic material. All through this work, the theme and its elaboration and the use and application of philatelic material are of equal importance.
One level of thematic collecting is subject collections and is distinguished by either the picture on the stamp – ships, flowers, prehistoric animals – or the purpose of the issue – Red Cross, Olympic Games, World Refugee Year. These collections are simply prepared without any libretto or guide line and without any detailed explanatory text. Usually whole sets of stamps are included. The simplest way or organizing such a collection is to arrange the individual stamps and sets with similar images according to the country of issue in alphabetical order, and within each country in chronological order based upon the catalogue and date of issue. A more ambitious way would be to organize the motifs on the basis of a specific key (flowers could be categorized according to botanical species).
A more demanding level in this style of philately is represented by thematic collections where a libretto is prepared, the collection provided with explanatory texts, and the stamp sets split up and distributed according to the requirements of the libretto. To form a good thematic collection, the philatelist must acquire a great deal of knowledge in the field of the selected theme. The collection as a whole must show the amount of creative work invested in the preparation and study of the theme as well as in the styling of the texts and the entire arrangement of the collection. Profound philatelic knowledge is an absolute requirement.
Every really good thematic collection represents a genuine, original achievement.
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