In 2002, Sel Pfeffer of Boonah Stamp Supplies, produced the Australia & Territories Booklet Catalogue. It was an excellent collection of information on all booklets produced from 1904 until the end of 2001, along with AAT and Christmas Island. The only other source of information at the time was the Brusden White, Australian Commonwealth Specialist's Catalogue.
Whilst the catalogue was good, there was room for improvement. Jim Dick, an avid booklet collector, approached Sel and offered to revamp the layout and add information. He produced the Second Edition for Sel, which included all booklets to the end of 2003. Because of the sheer volume of new data, the edition was split into two volumes. Volume 1 had a completely revised advertisement section for the early booklets, showing images of all of the various combinations of advertising inserts for 1960 - 1972 booklets. Mark Westcott, a booklet collector specialising in this era, was responsible for most of the new insert sequence details added, making the catalogue the premier source of information on 1960 - 1972 booklets.
At the end of 2005, the Third Edition was released. Jim was able to compact the layout, allowing all sections to be presented in one volume. Sections were added for Prestige Booklets, Cheque Books and Unofficial Booklets.
All Catalogues need to be continuously kept up to date, so for the next three years annual supplements were produced.
By the end of 2009, it was time for another complete catalogue. Whilst annual updates are necessary, it can get very frustrating for collectors to keep juggling catalogues for information. It was four years since the Third Edition and a lot of new issues had been released. This posed a space problem once again, and it was decided to go back to the twin volume style that had previously been used, for the production of the Fourth Edition.
Once again annual supplements were produced to update this edition. It was around this time that I started getting involved by sending corrections, to errors that I had found in the catalogue and supplements, to Sel. He was obviously then passing them on to Jim.
The end of 2012 saw the release of the Fifth Edition catalogue. Yet another major revamp of the layout allowed it to be brought back into one volume. The cheque book section was removed as it was agreed amongst dealers that it was not popular or cost effective for collectors to continue.
A supplement for 2013 once again brought us up to date. It was the last issued by Sel Pfeffer. He was now approaching the age of 90 and decided in 2015 that it was time to retire. His stock was sold and the catalogue ended up in the hands of Perth based dealer, Joe Crum.
Sel passed away in June 2017.
Joe asked Jim if he would be interested in continuing with the catalogue. Because the catalogue is a passion to him, he happily agreed. I had also approached Joe about a number of errors that needed correcting, and he put me in direct contact with Jim.
The version released under Joe's name saw a major change. For the first time it was printed in colour and also showed examples of the stamps contained within booklets. This Sixth Edition included all booklets up to the end of 2015.
Sadly, Joe passed away in October 2018
Neither Jim, nor myself wanted to see the catalogue disappear, so after a lot of discussion we decided to continue producing the catalogue, honouring the legacy of both Sel and Joe.
In keeping with the times, it has been decided that the catalogue should now be on-line. This will allow for cheaper production, benefiting collectors with a reduced price, and more regular updates. I trust that you will find this method more beneficial and an asset to your booklet collecting needs.
I have been a serious collector of stamps for 60 years, and Booklets is one of the areas I have specialised in. I am a stickler for detail and accuracy and I believe you will find both in this latest catalogue.
- Bruce Sergent.