18 • James E. Lee’s Philately • Whole No. 79

Special Note: While we may have exited the book business over two years ago we still main-

tain a stock of the books we published over the past 12 years under our own imprint. They are offered on our website under philatelic literature.

We will also continue to maintain a stock of books, pamphlets and auction catalogs on United States Essays & Proofs. Finally a One of a Kind page listing random books that come in from time to time will also be found in our revised literature section of our site. Just go to www.jameslee.com home page a click on “Philatelic Literature.”

Note: There are Three Easy Ways To Order.

James E. Lee, LLC

Is there something you'd like? You may order by mail, phone or Internet e-mail.

Philatelic Literature

P.O. Box 3876Oak Brook, IL 60522-3876 E-Mail: jim @jameslee.com. Phone: (847) 462-9130www.jameslee.com

2017 Scott U.S. Specialized and Classic Catalogue at Pre-Publication Prices!

Once again, we are offering the new Scott catalogues at pre-publication prices. We have no plans to stock these. The profit margin on the Scott Catalogs is relatively small. The

catalogues are made available to our clients as a service. With the ever increasing weight of the volumes and rising postage rates we can no longer offer them postpaid. However, we are maintaining the 2016 prices.

The Scott 2016 Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers – We will ship on October 7th! Scott Pub-lishing Co., 2016, 1,319 pages plus, Soft bound. Once again, in full color. Several new articles. Scott retail: $124.99. Our price: $85.00 plus $7.00 shipping.

The Scott 2016 Classic Specialized Catalogue on Stamps & Covers 1840 -1940 – We will ship on November 4th! Scott Publishing Co., 1,310 pages

plus, Hard bound. Classic worldwide stamps in full color. HB. There is supposed to be a lot of new mate-

rial in the new edition. Scott retail: $174.99. Our price: $140.00 + $7.00 shipping.

James E. Lee’s Philately • Whole No. 79 • 19

As I See It... By Jim Lee

A subscription brings you 800 pages per year of serious stamp collecting enjoyment! I think you’ll quickly see that this maga-zine is quite possibly the best stamp magazine ever published in this country. Full color on every page (80 of them), it has cover-age you simply do NOT see in any other magazine. Its

This great 80-page magazineis published ten times per year

and contains wide-ranging coverage of all subjects dealing

with U.S. philately.

Kicking and Screaming into the Fourth Quarter of Life

While I was working on preparations for NY2016 this past year a secondary theme had been weaving its way through the back of my

mind. How do I spend my time now that I have reached the fourth quarter of my life?

I will turn 68 in November of this year. The stamp busi-ness has been a major part my life since September of 1972. There is still a considerable amount of enjoyment that comes from this passion of mine. However, there are many new and wonderful events that have occurred over the past four plus years that have caused me to reflect on the way I spend my time going forward.

We were lovingly challenged by our daughter, Kristen, to focus on making memories as a family. Because of Kristen’s great idea, Melanie and I started taking stock long before NY2016 and developed a plan for our “fourth quarter.” It would put family in the first slot and everything else would follow. Some might think of it as a very active bucket list but we prefer to call it a plan for the next 20 years.

Give yourself a great philatelic magazine! The American Stamp Dealer & Collector.

coverage leans heavily to United States stamps and postal history (including 19th century classics)—and its features on the people, events and activities in our hobby are truly unprecedented. Go to the magazine’s website and subscriber...then see for yourself. It’s 10 issues for only $21.95 per year at:

www.americanstampdealer.com

Philatelyis a publication of James E. Lee, LLCP.O. Box 3876, Oak Brook, IL 60522-3876 E-Mail: jim @jameslee.com. Phone: (847) 462-9130

Website: www.jameslee.com

James E. Lee's

We set the stage by downsizing last year from a large single, family home in Cary to a town house in Oak Brook, Illinois. This provides us with a low maintenance base of operation. It allows us to spend the winter months with our children and grandchildren in the Atlanta area. We also have easy access to both major Chicago airports to travel to places like Portland, Las Vegas (for restaurants and shows), and all points in between.

Narrowing the business plan is also an important focus. In the past seven years our philatelic literature business has slowly been divested. This has returned to me a tremendous amount of time and space.

For the most part fancy cancels have just faded away. Postal history has been reduced to classic 19th century with emphasis on the American Civil War period. Essays and proofs are an ever increasing primary focus. In other words, I am left with the areas that I truly enjoy. The business is now portable and can go where we go. But most important-ly I can still achieve the same level of success that I have enjoyed over the years in half the time.

I plan to spend this last quarter with my family and doing the things that matter to us…family, travel, writing, and business. This is not a swan song but a repurposing of life. One never knows how many years remain so I don’t want to waste it or miss out on anything.

Enough time has been devoted over the years for the good of philately; society boards, ASDA, MSDA, and the like. It is time to pass the reins to the next generation of movers and shakers.

The swan song will not come until Boston 2026 where the booth will be run by Adam, Joel, our other children, and all of our grandchildren. It will be up to them to decide where it goes from there.

Continued good health is the key to all this and I am happy to say we will work hard at it.

Yes the “fourth quarter” is here, alive and well, but we are playing for double overtime.

The American Stamp Dealer & Collector • September 2016 • 1STAMP COLLECTING’S PREMIER MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO THE ENJOYMENT OF OUR HOBBY!

$5.95

Stamp&

The

DealerNo. 103September 2016

AmericanCollector

INSIDE!Jim Milgram’s Postal History of Civil War Refreshment SaloonsPLUS!—Kevin Lowther tells the taleof the Travers-Steinmetz Scandal

20 • James E. Lee’s Philately • Whole No. 79

Departmental Trial Color Die ProofsDepartmental trial color die proofs are quite rare with only a few known of each value represented here.

O17TC1af - Interior3c Green, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blotter. (EP79-02) $500.00

O27TC1ae – Justice3c Black, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blot-ter. (EP79-03) $500.00

O59TC1ae – State2c Black, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blotter. (EP79-04) $500.00

O77TC1ae – Treasury10c Black, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blotter. (EP79-05) $500.00

O83TC1ae – War1c Black, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blotter. (EP79-06) $500.00

O84TC1ae – War2c Black, trial color die proof pulled on India paper and die sunk on card blotter. (EP79-07) $500.00