Nassau Street

By Herman Herst Jr.

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0940403064
• ISBN13: 9780940403062
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Linns Stamp News
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A book every stamp collector should read

This is the most literate book for stamp collectors ever written. It is the true classic among the many books about the halcyon days of collecting, collectors, and dealers. Mr. Herst was a professional writer and recounts his experiences of the golden days of collecting and the unique institution that was Nassau Street in lower Manhatten.

Warm and informative info on stamp dealing and collecting

Pat Herst was one of the giants of American philately and Nassau Street is his autobiography, and probably the best of his many books. It's almost impossible not to tell Herst stories -- he was a wonderful resource for this collector during the 1950 through the 1980s when he was most active. I've listed a couple of memoirs in the first Comment. Nassau Street tells how Herst became a dealer including a buying trip to Europe with his first wife and his mother, a fascinating character in her right. A violinist and music writer, she was a great supporter of dogs; this letter from 1942 captures her style (and some of Herst's): To the Editor of the New York Times: Concerning meat rationing, how about "Man's Best Friend," the dog? Most dogs consume two pounds or more of meat a week. To most owners these animals are a necessity. England greatly regretted having destroyed most of her dogs in the beginning of the war and advised us to profit by her experience. Are we to tell our dogs they must have meatless days too? Lillian Herst. Herst's autobiography is filled with stories about early stamp dealers, for example the Burger Brothers: Arthur would say to Gus, "What should we ask for this?" Gus would answer, "Twenty dollars." Arthur would then tell the collector, in earshot all the while, "Just what I was thinking. Forty dollars." [Anyone who outwitted them was elected to the Fox Club.] "The rules were simple. One had to visit the offices of the Burger brothers, buy a stamp from them at retail and then put it in one of Doane's auctions. If the buyer netted a profit on the deal after paying Doane the commission, he was in. But simple as the rules were, the attainment of membership was fraught with certain difficulties. In the first place, the stamp would have to be bought sufficiently below its value to permit a profit when sold at auction. Since the Burgers were usually anticipatory in their prices, asking a figure at which an item might be expected to sell 10 years hence, this made a profitable sale more than unlikely. The only way would be by finding the Burgers uninformed on the true value of something--and these Joves hardly ever nodded." Herst moved from Nassau Street to Shrub Oak, and carried on an extensive correspondence. For six SASEs, you could get his "Outbursts" on a regular basis, lengthy reports on the state of the stamp market or stamps of interest to Herst -- and he was interested in almost all stamps. If you were lucky, you might get a copy of his local stamp proving that your letter had been carried by Alfie to the Shrub Oak post office. Inspired by Herst, I once created six copies of a local stamp that carried mail by umbrella from the first to the second floor porches of our apartment in Madison Wisconsin. Herst was greatly amused by the cover I sent him proving delivery to the postman six feet below. In addition to Nassau Street, Herst was the author of several other books on stamps and stamp dealing, including "Still More