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                             [Illustration]

                                   THE
                  Stanley Gibbons Philatelic Handbooks.

                              SAINT VINCENT

                                  WITH
                      Notes and Publishers’ Prices.

                                   BY
                            FRANCIS H. NAPIER
                                   AND
                              E. D. BACON.

                        STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED,
                          391, STRAND, LONDON.
                                  1895.




[Illustration]




[Illustration]




                                   THE
                  Stanley Gibbons Philatelic Handbooks.

                             SAINT VINCENT.

                                  WITH
                     _NOTES AND PUBLISHERS’ PRICES_.

                                   BY
                            FRANCIS H. NAPIER
                                   AND
                              E. D. BACON.

                                 London:
                        STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED,
                              391, STRAND.
                                  1895.


                                                   _391, STRAND, LONDON._

_The large number of collectors, not only in this country, but also on
the other side of the Atlantic, who now make the postal issues of the
various West Indian Colonies of Great Britain the object of their quest,
justifies us in believing that the present volume (the fourth of the
series) will be received with as much interest as that which has been
evinced for the preceding volumes._

_The authors of this Handbook, Lieut. F. H. Napier, R.N., and Mr. E. D.
Bacon, have in preparation a Handbook on the Stamps of Barbados, which we
hope will be ready for publication in the course of the present year._

_The prices quoted will in some cases be found higher than the prices
given in our General Catalogue and Price List, but it must be borne in
mind that those in these Handbooks are specimens of more than average
quality, for it is a fact now generally recognized by all philatelists
that a specimen in exceptional condition commands a higher price than
that which rules for an average specimen._

_We have priced only those varieties which we have in stock in certain
quantities, but it must not be concluded from this that all those
unpriced are of such rarity or value that we are unable to supply them._

                                              _STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED._

_May, 1895._




SAINT VINCENT.




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.


The prehistoric times of Philately may be said to have ceased in 1863,
when the publication of the _Stamp Collector’s Magazine_ and the
_Timbre-Poste_ commenced. The few and meagre catalogues which preceded
them in 1862—such as those of Mount Brown and Dr. Gray in England, Moens
in Belgium, and Potiquet in France—can only be looked upon as archaic
productions, interesting certainly because of their associations, but
of no appreciable utility now-a-days to the student of stamps. It is,
however, worthy of remark that the difference between imperforate and
perforated stamps was then recognized, as they are distinguished from
each other in the catalogues both of Moens and Potiquet; this shows that
even at that early date the true philatelic spirit was already abroad.

When studying countries of which the philatelic histories begin prior
to 1862 or 1863, we are dependent entirely on public notices emanating
from postal authorities, official records, and information derived from
the books of firms who manufactured the stamps, or supplied the plates,
paper &c. for printing them, sources of knowledge not always easy of
access. Luckily for our present purpose, seeing that postage stamps were
not adopted in St. Vincent until 1861, we are not so dependent on these
official or commercial records, having a great number of philatelic
works, such as catalogues and periodicals, to rely upon, all of which we
have carefully searched and collated; at the same time we have received
great assistance from Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., Limited, the printers
of the stamps included under the head of Section I. This Company have
been good enough to furnish us with a complete list of every stamp sent
out by them to the Island, a copy of which we give in Appendix D, and we
acknowledge with thanks our indebtedness to the Managing Director and
Secretary, for the valuable material they have so considerately placed
at our disposal, which has enabled us to satisfactorily clear up several
points that before were more or less obscure. It will also be seen that
the list helps in no small degree to form what we hope may be