Bertram William Henry Poole (March 22, 1880 – September 8, 1957) was an American student of

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

, and wrote numerous

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

s on various aspects of the hobby. He was well known as a respected philatelist in Great Britain before emigrating to the United States shortly before 1913.

British philatelist

Poole was editor of the ''West End Philatelist'' and ''The Philatelic Journal of Great Britain''. He wrote extensively on

British Colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

in all seven of the ''West End Philatelist Handbooks''. He also wrote numerous articles on

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and Cover (philately), covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal system ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

American philatelist

Poole wrote a number of monographs on

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and British colonial postage stamps which were published in ''Mekeels Handbook'' between 1912 and 1923. He contributed numerous articles to other philatelic journals and authored the books: ''The Standard Philatelic Dictionary'' in 1922 and ''The Pioneer Stamps of the British Empire'' in 1957. He also published his own ''Philatelic Opinion'' journal from 1912 to 1931. And, in 1917 he co-authored ''United States Virgin Islands'' with

Julius (John) Murray Bartels J. Murray Bartels (born Julius Murray Bartels; July15, 1871October5, 1944) was a New York City-based dealer and auctioneer of rare postage stamps. He was also well known for his knowledge of United States postal stationery. Family Barthels was ...

Collecting interests

Poole had a broad depth of collecting interests, but tended to specialize in stamps of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. He was active in philatelic societies and was appointed judge at the 1913 International Philatelic Exhibition in New York City. Poole also was a

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to Stamp collect ...

and auctioneer.

Honors and awards

Poole, as one of the original signers, signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921 to honour those who have advanced philately through research, expertise, or service. ...

in 1921. He was named to the

American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame award honors deceased philatelists who have contributed significantly to the field of national and/or international philately. History The APS ''Hall of Fame'' award was founded at the 1940 American Phil ...

in 1993.

Selected publications

*''Sarawak: A Complete History of its Postage Stamps''. London: D. Field, 1906. *''The Stamps of Cook Islands''. Boston: Mekeel-Severn-Wylie, 1912. (Mekeels Handbook #1)

References

Bertram William Henry Poole

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Bertram William Henry 1880 births 1957 deaths British emigrants to the United States Philatelic literature American philatelists American stamp dealers People from Los Angeles Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists American Philatelic Society