Taksfortegnelse 1851-2008 (“Danish Postal Rate Catalog”) by Knud Tolbøl. 5 ¾ by 8 ¼ inches, 96 pages, perfect bound, AFA Forlaget, Aarhus, Denmark 2007. ISBN 13:978 -87-7012-260-3, approximately $35.

Thirteen years ago author Knud Tolbøl provided students of Danish postal history with an important tool to help them decipher the postage rates on post cards, covers, and parcels of that country. Now he has expanded that edition by one-third as many pages, furnishing viewers with full color illustrations of typical covers, and building into the tables the rates for more services such as express mail, insured mail, COD, and other types of mail. At the same time he updated the rate tables to 2007.

The first section addresses domestic rates for the above services as well as for printed matter, material for the blind, and business papers (Forretningspapirer).This is followed with parcel rates and then rates to the other Nordic countries. The final tables are for Europe and other destinations abroad, with and without the supplements for airmail service.

The remainder of the booklet is devoted to a listing of the stamp issues of Denmark from 1851 to 2007 with an indication of the type of service (rate) for which each stamp was issued. An interesting table lists those stamps that were used for their intended purpose for only a short period of time, from 3(!) days to 90 days. This handy booklet provides important data for collectors who are analyzing their covers to see if they were properly franked for the actual rate.

Alan Warren