These pages are being rewritten, with a more narrative approach, here

I will aim to show the Scott and SG catalogue numbers (plus Michel where I have the catalogue) and the stamp details for each issue with an image of the stamps. Guinness takes the story up to 1986, and I have brought it up to date with the aid of information from FICC. Any corrections will be noted as research progresses. Where prices are shown, this is largely to help me with my own acquisitions, mostly from a 2004 copy of Gibbons Simplified and shown in pounds for mint/used see note.

Where there is a realistic prospect of me acquiring the stamp, the image can wait until I get one. In those cases where I will not be getting one (to take the obvious examples, Hawaii and Mauritius, but in reality most first issues costing more than £100 or other stamps more than £10), I will show the image from one of several sources. cont overleaf.
A good source for stamps is the founder of FICC, David Olson.
A good source for background information is Linns.

Later additions to this resource (both still works in progress) include Timelines and Alternative Views.
Then,  First Firsts added July 2003, Booklets  October 2004 and Penny Stamps, January 2005. First Issues Display, February 2007. Miniature Sheets, October 2007. There is also a varied section on topical stamps. The next subject will probably be centenary celebrations of first stamps: these are featured on the main pages where I have spotted them but have not been researched.
New for 2011 is a large page surveying GB definitives.

In April 2011 my web host moved me to a new server which caused several days of chaos and some ongoing problems - any missing images or dead links are probably attributable to that and will be gradually corrected. I would appreciate any feedback on items in need of repair. Please email me here and let me know the page(s) and element(s) affected.

Guinness Table 1

Notes:
1.1 The first Great Britain Official in Mackay and in Stanley Gibbons is the O1 1882 ½d green. My 1976 Scott specifies O1 as a Penny Black, 1840 regular issue with "V.R." in upper corners. I gather that this was intended and produced to be GB O1, but never released - some found their way into circulation as normal postage.
1.2 Neither Scott nor Gibbons show Mackay's 1928 GB airmail. The first airmails in Scott, as in the June 2003 Scott monthly mag, is this rather ordinary pair.
1.3 For the date of the first Brazilian airmail, Scott states 28th Dec 1927, Gibbons states 1928. The first 'real' airmail, designed for the purpose was the 1929 50r green C17, SG469 (15p / 10p).
1.4 Gibbons lists the first Brazilian charity stamp as the 1931 SG490 - Revolution of 3rd October, Scott #342. Scott offers as B1 the 1934 200r + 100r, first in a set of four to commemorate and support the National Philatelic Exhibition, SG555 (£1.25 / £3).
1.5 Mackay lists Bermuda's first issue as 1848. According to the Scott Classic, they started in 1845 with pre-stamp postal markings and progressed to postmaster stamps in 1848. The first little bits of sticky paper, i.e. what I would call a stamp, were in 1865 and so I will list Bermuda in a subsequent table.
1.6 I cannot find a Bavaria airmail in Scott or Gibbons, however, a fellow FICC member has provided the following, it is listed in [the] 1976 Michel Germany specialised cat ...after the 1911 set of 2 and before the 1914 heads definitives. It was issued by the BAYERISCHE AEROKLUB. The cat no is F1,and it shows a lion over a large letter A in a circle. Thanks Howard.
1.7 Scott #3 is the first French stamp issued.
1.8 The first 'real' French airmail, designed for the purpose was the 1930 1f50 red C5, SG483 (£20 / £2.50).
1.9 There is no sensibly-priced FSP for Zurich, Geneva or Basel. The best alternative is miniature sheets (still expensive but not in the same order of magnitude) or stamps on stamps.
1.10 The 1847 and 48 issues of Mauritius, none of which are affordable, were followed by some prosaic Britannia issues and then some more primitivist efforts, again out of my price range. With little agreement between Scott and Gibbons on the nature, dates and prices of the Britannias (other than the unissued Sc7 and 8, SG30 and 31), my FSP is the 1860 1d (used). If I find an inexpensive Britannia, I will include that in the pages.
1.11 France's first real and sensibly priced commemorative is from the 1924 Olympic Games set.
1.12 The Penny Black FDC is the 'Kirkcudbright cover', with ten Penny Blacks. More than 70 first-day Penny Black covers are known, but only this one has more than two Penny Blacks. From the Royal collection, image from the US National Postal Museum.
 

Sources:
The Guinness Book of Stamps, James Mackay, 2nd ed, 1988
Stanley Gibbons Stamps of the World, various years incl. 2004
Scott Standard Catalogue, 1976 and 2004 Classic Specialised
Gibbons Commonwealth and Empire Stamps 1840-1952, 2004
The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia, R. J. Sutton, 1959

The general notes are now on another page.
 

In April 2011 my web host moved me to a new server which caused several days of chaos and some ongoing problems - any missing images or dead links are probably attributable to that and will gradually be corrected. I would appreciate any feedback on items in need of repair. Please email me here and let me know the page(s) and element(s) affected.

Page created 25th May 2003 - rewrite