This 66^th edition of Norway’s premier reference work for collectors continues to set a high bar for outstanding single country catalogs. The introductory material discusses the various types of Norway cancellations and also the areas of caution where forgeries are known. Although the listings are in Norwegian, the colors and varieties are easily discernible and understood by those whose first language is not Norwegian.  Where there are extended discussions of printing and paper types, these appear in both Norwegian and English.

            The listings go well beyond the traditional postage stamps, coil stamps, officials, and postage dues to include vending machine booklets, franking labels, personalized stamps, returned letter stamps, and special products like souvenir sheets sold by the Norwegian postal service. The famous Posthorn series again has a section of its own that goes into the cataloging and terminology associated with these stamps. Postal rate tables are brought up to 2013. Prestamp cancelations (1845-1855) are illustrated.

            Keeping with this catalog’s tradition, two special articles were prepared for this edition. Peer-Christian Ånensen, chairman of the catalog committee, writes about the design and production of the King Haakon VII set of four values issued in 1946. He shows archival material and lists plate flaws.

            The other article describes the Swiss type cancels (bridge cancels) developed in Norway 1930-1936. A table lists these cancels by town name with indication of period of use and a rarity grade. The catalog also has a selected bibliography covering a wide range of topics of interest to Norway collectors.

Alan Warren