Postage stamps have evolved quite a bit since Great Britain's 1840 Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp. From simple designs featuring the monarch to works of art literally condensed to postage stamp size, hundreds of thousands of different stamps have been issued in the past 164 years-and the great majority of them remain reasonably priced for collectors. With so many stamps to collect from so many countries, a philatelist's choices are virtually unlimited--which can be both a blessing and a curse, especially if you're a newcomer to the art of stamp collecting.

Interested in starting a stamp collection, but not sure where to begin? This is the guide for you. Expert Richard Sine fills you in on everything you need to know about selecting, finding, buying, presenting and caring for stamps. An internationally recognized collector and author on stamp collecting (he used to write the New York Times stamp column) he also has much wisdom to impart to collectors who've been at it for a while. A gold mine of expert advice and guidance, Stamp Collecting For Dummies is on how to:

• Start or diversify your collection
• Decide what to collect
• Catalog and organize your collection
• Handle, protect, store, and display stamps
• Identify rare and valuable stamps
• Buy stamps online and through auction houses

Unlike most authors on the subject who tend to be pretty stuffy-to put it politely-expert Richard Sine focuses on the side of stamp collecting that's enjoyable, educational, and fun. With humor, tons of interesting anecdotes about stamps and the men and women who love them, and loads of insider tips, he covers all the bases, including:

• Getting the biggest bang for you stamp-collecting buck
• Researching, locating and buying stamps through traditional sources and online
• Showing off your collection at exhibits
• Customizing your collection
• Housing your stamps and protecting them against the elements
• The ten keys to identifying and authenticating stamps

Stamp Collecting For Dummies is your total guide to starting and building on a really cool stamp collection.

Designed to emulate traditional, full-sized books, the fashions of classic bookmaking -- full-color throughout, stylized endpapers, fine quality paper, full-length text, and Smyth-sewn binding -- are represented in this line.

Topical. Traditional. Tactile. Tempting. Targeted. Less than half the size of our Little Books, these palm-sized volumes are irresistible.

"If you are interested in the beauty of mathematics, you must go out and buy Robin Wilson''s absolutely stunning book of mathematical stamps, a book which traces the history of mathematics through images on the postage of countries around the globe."

- Victor Katz, MAA Online

Postage stamps are an attractive vehicle for presenting mathematics and its development. For many years the author has presented illustrated lectures entitled Stamping through Mathematics to school and college groups and to mathematical clubs and societies, and has written a regular Stamps Corner for The Mathematical Intelligencer. The book contains almost four-hundred postage stamps relating to mathematics, ranging from the earliest forms of counting to the modern computer age. The stamps appear enlarged and in full color with full historical commentary, and are listed at the end of the book.