Digitized CCC Handbooks

Preface

The first edition being introduced in 1968, the Collectors Club of Chicago has published thirty high quality, original research specialized philatelic handbooks, compendia, and anthologies.

The CCC handbooks are issued in limited editions, usually 300. The great majority of the pre-2005 published handbooks are available only from libraries, or whenever private philatelic literature libraries are dispersed through private treaty or auction. Several of these handbooks, such as the 1975-published The Waterbury Cancellations, 1850-1890, fetch two-hundred or more dollars each when offered in the collector’s marketplace.

The CCC mantains the copyrights for these handbooks, and has embarked on a program for the Good of Philately to digitize twenty-three of them for inclusion on our WebSite. Those handbooks being digitized were published pre-2005, and no longer are available from existing CCC stocks, or from the philatelic literature dealers. Several members donated copies of the earlier handbooks, as the club’s library did not have multiple copies.

The scanning of the handbooks for their digitizing is a destructive process — the books are destroyed. Two CCC members contributed their time to implement all the steps required for the digitization process, and those two members also contributed the funds required to underwrite all of the financial costs of the project.

About Bookmarks

Each handbook has been bookmarked using the bookmark functions (accessible via the little ribbon icon, which usually is located at the lower right of a page) within Adobe Reader.

This method was chosen so as to allow more detailed directions than are normally obtained from the table of contents. As an example The Waterbury Cancellations, 1850-1890 includes extensive additional bookmarks taking the reader to important topics, illustrations or drawings that are often referenced, but difficult to find without paging through a chapter. It is recommended that the download be experienced and experimented with this handbook.

Instructions for Downloading CCC Handbooks

Each file is an Adobe PDF file, with each book including an Adobe index, which often is more detailed and useful than that within the book.

Each potential download target has a library function; the iPad has iBooks, the Kindle its library, etc. The handbooks can be loaded directly to a personal library. If optimum usability is required, then it is recommended using the appropriate Adobe Acrobat Reader for your specific device. With Adobe Acrobat Reader one can highlight passages, cut and clip passages, enter post-it notes, etc. The options are numerous and varied.

List of books available