New Books by Louis Basel

The Forty Lepta Large Hermes Head Stamps of Greece, Published by the Author, Stamford, Connecticut, 2004, 8 x 10.7 inches, softbound, pp. xii + 67 + Appendixes 187 + End Piece 5.

This specialized study of the forty lepta large heads of Greece depicts in detail the ink spots and flaws of each of the positions of the sheet on 150 large sketches of the stamps. It includes an analysis of the classification of the issues according to the system of Theodore Groom, an early researcher of the large Hermes heads. The control numbers of most of the positions of the sheet are presented for the Cleaned Plate and Inferior Paper Issues. Forty-two characteristic "4's" of the control number are depicted together with a table showing the issues in which each characteristic "4" appeared. Similarly, ninety-nine "0's" are shown with a table listing the issues in which each "0" appears. This latter table is an expansion of the table that appeared in an article in Philotelia by Coundouros and Stassinopoulos, which itself was based on a study of Groom.

There are 64 figures and 16 tables in the main text, many of the figures in color showing examples of the flaws encountered. Figures showing typical colors of each of the 20 issues are presented with a separate page showing the colors of the papers.

The Ten Lepta Large Hermes Head Stamps of Greece, Second Edition, Published by the Author, Stamford, Connecticut, 2005, 8.4 x 10.8 inches, softbound, pp. xii + 60 + Appendixes 152.

This specialized study of the ten lepta large heads of Greece is the second edition of a book originally published in 2001. It contains some corrections and addtional flaws not in the original text. It depicts in detail the ink spots and flaws of each of the positions of the sheet on 150 large sketches of the stamps. It includes an analysis of the classification of the issues according to the system of Theodore Groom, an early researcher of the large Hermes heads. Twenty-eight characteristic "1's" of the control number are depicted together with a table showing the issues in which each characteristic "1" appeared.

There are 37 figures and 8 tables in the main text, many of the figures in color showing examples of the flaws encountered. Figures showing typical colors of each of the 20 issues are presented with a separate page showing the colors of the papers.