About me
My name is Gerben van Gelder. I am an avid stamp collector based in the Netherlands. My interest in stamps is based on two things. First, I find it fascinating how, through a stamp collection, you acquire something tangible from literally every part of the world. Just name a place and you will find that stamps have been issued for use in that place. Second, I am fascinated by the way in which stamps reflect the history of the issuing countries. How principalities turn into kingdoms, then republics. How colonies gain self government and next become independent states.
About my collection
Over the past 25 years I have been building a collection in which I aim to have a number of stamps from every country in the world. And, per country, a number of stamps for every form of government the country has had and of the stamps the country has issued in a special historical context. The scope of my collection are those stamp issuing entities that are listed in, or referred to, by the four leading worldwide catalogs. All stamps shown on this site are from my personal collection.
About this site
The drive to understand the historical context in which countries have issued stamps has led me to do research on the political and postal history of countries worldwide. At first, purely to satisfy my own curiosity. However, as the results of that research began to accumulate over the years, I thought it might be useful to share those results with the stamp collecting community. Hence, this site – launched 1 June 2015.
I am well aware that there are other sites on the web that may offer similar content. However, each collector seems to have his or her own specific ‘need to know’ and so do I. This has led me to develop content that I hope will add something to the base of knowledge of the stamp collecting community and be of value for some collectors out there.
A work in progress
This site will, for years to come, be a work in progress. Developing the content has become a passion though, and since I am now in a position to work on the project almost full time, I am confident that I will be posting new content at a steady rate.
Unfortunately, Gerben has passed away before being able to complete the site. Creating and working on Stamp World History has been a true “labor of love”. It has been his pleasure.