Leon Norman Williams

L.N. and M. Williams were a philatelic writing partnership made up of brothers Leon Norman Williams (known as Norman Williams) (25 March 1914 – 9 April 1999) and Maurice Williams (1905–1976).

Early life and family Leon Norman Williams was born on 25 March 1914 and Maurice Williams in 1905. They edited The Cinderella Philatelist, journal of the Cinderella Stamp Club which they also founded, from 1961, and in 1980 were elected to the Philatelic Writers Hall of Fame of the American Philatelic Society. In 2000, Norman became a member of the APS Hall of Fame. and Maurice Williams in 1976.

Maurice Williams's grandson is the comedian Matt Lucas.

Joint publications 1930s The Propaganda Forgeries (1938) Catalogue of the Philatelic Library formed by the late Sir Edward Denny Bacon, K.C.V.O. (1939) – compilers of a sale catalogue Philately (1939)

1940s Famous Stamps (1940) A "Melville" Bibliography (1941) The W. J. Webster Collection (1941) Pioneer Stamp Album (1941) More Famous Stamps (1942) Priced Catalogue of Local Postage Stamps with Erik F. Hurt (1942); supplement issued in 1948 Stamp Anniversaries (1943) Stamps for All (1943) Stamp Collecting for Boys & Girls (1949) Stamps of Fame. London: Blandford Press, 1949.

1950s Stamps Day by Day (1950) Postage Stamps (1950, Penguin) - a "Puffin Picture Book" Handbook of the Private Local Posts (1950 – essentially a revision of Priced Catalogue of Local Postage Stamps). Vol. VI of Fritz Billig: Billig's Specialized Catalogues Collecting Postage Stamps (1950) A Century of Stamp Production (1952) Basic Philately: The art and craft of stamp making (1952) Forged Stamps of Two World Wars (1954) Fundamentals of Philately (edited by David Lidman, serialized in The American Philatelist 1954–1963; first published in five separate sections beginning in 1958 then in complete book form 1971. The 1990 edition was revised by Norman alone) The Postage Stamp: Its History and Recognition (1956, Penguin); a Japanese translation was published in 1958 Know Your Stamps (1956) - Expanded edition of Stamps for All Stamp Collector's Almanac (1957)

1960s The Satellite Album (1961) Hotel Posts of Hungary & Roumania (1962) Scott’s Guidebook to Stamp Collecting (1963) Commemorative Postage Stamps of Great Britain (1967) Rare Stamps (1967) Techniques of Philately (1969)

1970s Cinderella Stamps. William Heinemann, London, 1970. Illustrated Teach Yourself Stamp Collecting (1972) Check Your Stamps: How to Make Money from the Post Office (1973)

Norman alone also produced Encyclopedia of Rare and Famous Stamps, (Part I 1993, Part II 1997) "Philately 100 Years Ago" in Stamp Collecting (1981)

References and sources