Delandre Vignettes

The  Frenchman Gaston Aime Camille Fontanille (1883 - 1923) was the inventor of the Delandre vignettes – colorful poster stamps showing French soldiers in scenes of World War I: 

World-War-II-bicycle-stamps 

He produced over 4000 different poster stamps which have become very popular in cinderella philately.


“Delandre” - as he called himself - must have been a crazy guy:  he started with printing Italian regimental vignettes – subsequently he began forging them and creating own ones. Nobody really knew whether they were “real ones”, re-impressions/facsimiles or own creations. He expanded printing French army labels


and labels for the French Red Cross - without paying them their share. Therefore he went to jail where he died 6 six years later.

Walter Schmidt produced two catalogs about the French and non-French military “Delandre's”: “Images of the Great War” (volume I and II):
 In the magazine „Bicycle Stamps“ (second issue – spring 1987) Schmidt’s very interesting introduction to the above catalogs is reprinted. Worth reading.

Charles Kiddle supplemented the series with three further editions (volume III – V).


References/External links:

                             Wikipedia: Delandre

                             Association Philatélique Gergolienne: Les vignettes Delandres

                             Stephane Bone: Online catalogue of Delandre vignettes and in detail Groupes Cyclistes

                            

Everything you need to be an expert Delandre collector...

 

                                       from: The Stamp Forum – Board: What's in your Library?