The One-Cent Magenta (Hardcover)

When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. In 2014, this tiny square of faded red paper sold at Sotheby's for nearly $9.5 million, the largest amount ever paid fora postage stamp at auction. Through the stories of the eccentric characters who have bought, owned, and sold the one-cent magenta in the years in between, James Barron delivers a fascinating tale of global history and immense wealth, and of the human desire to collect. One-cent magentas were provisional stamps, printed quickly in what was then British Guiana when a shipment of official stamps from London did not arrive. They were intended for periodicals, and most were thrown out with the newspapers. But one stamp survived. The singular one-cent magenta has had only nine owners since a twelve-year-old boy discovered it in 1873 as he sorted through papers in his uncle's house. He soon sold it for what would be $17 today. (That's been called the worst stamp deal in history.) Among later owners was a fabulously wealthy Frenchman who hid the stamp from almost everyone (even King George V of England couldn't get a peek); a businessman who traveled with the stamp in a briefcase he handcuffed to his wrist; and John E. du Pont, an heir to the chemical fortune, who died while serving a thirty-year sentence for the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. Recommended for fans of Nicholas A. Basbanes, Susan Orlean, and Simon Winchester, The One-Cent Magenta explores the intersection of obsessive pursuits and great affluence and asks why we want most what is most rare.

General

Imprint:	Algonquin Books (division of Workman)
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	March 2017
Authors:	James Barron
Dimensions:	133 x 187 x 31mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	224
ISBN-13:	978-1-61620-518-8
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military Books > Humanities > History > General Books > History > General Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
LSN:	1-61620-518-0
Barcode:	9781616205188

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