A note on the website of Académie de Philatélie informs us that Hervé Barbelin (1964-2026) passed away recently.
Barbelin’s main philatelic interests were the pneumatic post office of Paris and history of philately in the 19th century. Apart from articles and presentations, he is known for his two books:
1. “À l’aube de la philatélie: Oscar Berger-Levrault” [At the Dawn of Philately, Oscar Berger-Levrault Publications and Correspondence (1860-1869)]. This book, published in 2018, analyses the origins of philately through the correspondence of Oscar Berger-Levrault, who published the world’s first stamp catalogue in 1861.
2. “La poste pneumatique de Paris” [The Pneumatic Post System of Paris]. This is the definitive study on the Paris pneumatic post system which operated from 1879 to 1984.
In 2014, he started the website “Mémoires de la Timbrologie” [Memories of Philately] which was dedicated to the history of collectors of postage stamps in the 19th century, their magazines, their catalogues, their albums, etc.
