36 KEPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM^ 1914. 



the foreign stamps received through the International Bureau of the 

 Universal Postal Union at Berne, Switzerland, and a number of 

 early United States stamps specially purchased. Nearly all of these 

 series, however, were incomplete. The remainder of the collection 

 was composed of sheets of stamps, envelopes, and postal cards 

 mounted on swinging screens for various American expositions; 

 many separate sheets of stamps and individual specimens; and 

 several albums of stamps and of die proofs of United States stamps. 



The preliminary w^ork of putting this collection in shape, consisting 

 in the systematic arrangement of the material by countries and dates 

 of issue, having been completed in the early part of last year, the 

 problem of preparing an appropriate exhibition was then taken up. 

 It was decided to limit the display in the beginning almost exclu- 

 sively to stamps, and, drawing first upon the resources of the collec- 

 tion from the Post Office Department, to leave spaces during the 

 mounting for the desiderata which would be supplied as oppor- 

 tunities offered. 



There have been many methods of exhibiting postage stamps, but 

 it is believed that the scheme here adopted is an improvement over any 

 other, especially in the matter of details. The principle is the same 

 as that followed by the British Museum and is exemplified in the 

 former cabinet of the Post Office Department, namely, a series of 

 vertical sliding frames in which the specimens are mounted. The 

 cabinet that has been built and in which the installation is in progress, 

 though already made accessible to the public, may be briefly described 

 as follows: There are two cases, each 16 feet 2 inches long, 6 feet 7 

 inches high, and 2 feet 8f inches deep, constructed each in two sec- 

 tions for convenience in moving. They are made of mahogany with 

 simple trimmings on the outside, but of white pine in the interior ex- 

 cept as otherwise stated, and are placed facing each other on either 

 side of the main passageway in the northwest court. The lower part 

 of the cases is arranged for storage and provided with doors. The 

 upper part, measuring 3 feet 2^ inches from a counter shelf to the top 

 of the cornice, contains the sliding frames, of which there are 148 in 

 each case, or 296 in all, a number that may of course be at any time 

 increased by adding to the case length. 



The individual frames, made of cherry, measure 31^ inches high 

 by 29f inches deep on the outside, and 27f by 21f inches in the open- 

 ing. The thickness of the frames is 1^^ inches, and when fully 

 drawn out they are exposed to a depth of 23f inches, with an exten- 

 sion into the case of 6J inches, which provides the necessary leverage. 

 Both sides are used and are glazed with English negative glass. The 

 frames slide on cherry strips and the upper and lower rails of the 

 former are grooved to within an inch of the front. In the lower 

 groove are mortised four brass trunk rollers projecting one-eighth 



