r. arl . . huker

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Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals on Stamps - A Worldwide Catalogue

Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals on Stamps

Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals on Stamps - A Worldwide Catalogue (CFZ Press: Bideford, 2008); ISBN 978-1-905723-34-2. Large-format pb, 264 pp, illustrated, refs. UK Ł9.99.

Available from Amazon.com , from Amazon.co.uk , and directly from the publisher in quantities at: www.cfz.org.uk.

There has never been a more popular time for dinosaurs and all things dinosaurian. From blockbuster films packed with breathtaking CGI effects, children's television and video cartoons, computer games, CD-ROMs, animatronic museum exhibitions, and theme parks, to countless books, magazines, toys large and small, ornaments, collectabilia, and even fun lines in confectionery and other edibles, prehistoric paraphernalia continues to scale new heights of desirability worldwide. But nowhere is this more apparent than within the philatelic world - where the issuing in recent years by an ever-increasing number of countries around the globe of handsome, highly-prized stamp sets depicting a spectacular array of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals is matched only by the corresponding increase of thematic collectors eager to amass an eyecatching, comprehensive menagerie of palaeontological monsters that the custodians of Jurassic Park could only dream about!

Today, well over 500 sets of stamps portraying all manner of dinosaurs and also a multifarious assemblage of other prehistoric animals have been issued, with a substantial proportion of these having appeared within the last decade alone - confirming the escalating interest among collectors in this exciting thematic subject.

And who can blame them? After all, where else but in the pages of a stamp album could stegosaurs and plesiosaurs, tyrannosaurs and sabre-tooth tigers, brachiosaurs, mammoths, belemnites, ground sloths, giant birds, and ichthyosaurs jostle for attention with velociraptors and trilobites, dimetrodonts and diplodocuses, mosasaurs, woolly rhinoceroses, Archaeopteryx, titanosaurs, iguanodontids, ammonites, giant sea scorpions, and innumerable other spectacular denizens of our planet's distant past?

Now, for the very first time, here is a philatelic catalogue devoted exclusively to these incredible animals. Compiled by zoologist Dr Karl P.N. Shuker, a lifelong, enthusiastic collector of wildlife stamps and with an especial interest in those that portray fossil species, it provides an exhaustive, definitive listing of stamps and miniature sheets depicting dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals issued by countries throughout the world. It also includes sections dealing with cryptozoological stamps, dinosaur stamp superlatives, and unofficial prehistoric animal stamps.

This invaluable book will undoubtedly encourage everyone with a passion for dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures to pursue it not only on screen, in books, or in museums but also via the ever-fascinating world of philately.

"I am a long-time fan of Dr. Shuker's work, primarily because of the extensive and often exhaustive research he goes into on every topic he covers. This book is no different...[It] is literally a comprehensive take on the subject (prehistoric animals being a personal favorite subject for me) of prehistoric animals on stamps and I now have a guide by which I can delve further into this topic."
   Lee Murphy (novelist), Amazon.com review, 17 December 2008.

"For the first time, here is a philatelic catalogue devoted to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals on stamps issued throughout the world - and it even includes a section dealing with mystery beasts. Compiled by the Midlands zoologist Dr Karl Shuker, an enthusiastic collector of wildlife stamps since childhood, and published by the North Devon-based Centre for Fortean Zoology, it is an exhaustive and definitive listing. Today, more than 500 sets of stamps portraying all manner of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures have been issued, with a substantial proportion of these having appeared within the past decade alone, confirming the escalating interest among collectors."
   Geoff Ward, Western Daily Press, 28 January 2009.

"Dr Karl Shuker is something of a celebrity in the cryptozoological world. But in this thematic catalogue he sticks mostly to known prehistoric animals, dipping only briefly into the cryptozoological realms of sasquatches and yetis. It's clear he is a philatelist as well as a zoologist. The introduction is informative and interesting, while clearly defining the scope of the catalogue. Quite a lot of information is included in the listings pages, from the type of animal featured on each stamp to currency and country facts. The format is clear and the text is easy to read. There are also several indexes by genus and so on, which are handy. A trivia section at the back typifies the way the whole book is enlivened by facts about the animals on the stamps, something which other catalogue editors might consider...a comprehensive new catalogue of stamps depicting prehistoric creatures [and] as such, it is the essential reference source for all collectors on these themes."
   Stamp Magazine, April 2009.

"This is the first catalogue devoted exclusively to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals; and the information on the back outside cover points out the popularity of Dinosaurs in film, video, and video games. There are today over 500 sets of stamps portraying this theme, and this book carefully lists stamps by country, and by animal genus; there is a taxonomic cross-reference by genus, classification of animals listed, just to mention a few of the chapter headings. In particular there is a helpful introduction in which we are reminded that the appearance of prehistoric animals on stamps began with the 1951 2 anna stamp of India. The author then takes the reader carefully through the boundaries of the catalogue, followed by an introduction to the nomenclature of prehistoric animals."
   David Hubbard FRPSL, The London Philatelist [Journal of the Royal Philatelic Society London], Vol. 118, September 2009.

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