Norgeskatalogen 2008 (Catalogue of the Postage Stamps of Norway), 60th edition. 6 ¾ x 9 ½ inches, 480 pages, stiff covers, perfect bound, in Norwegian, Oslo Filatelistklubb, 2007. ISBN 978-82-997618-0-2, approximately $70 plus postage from Oslo Filatelistklubb, Frydenlundgata 14, 0169 Oslo, Norway. Also available in the U.S. from Jay Smith & Associates, PO Box 650, Snow Camp NC 27349.

This venerable specialized catalog of the stamps of Norway has reached a new milestone with this 60th anniversary edition. Although the descriptions are in Norwegian, there are sidebar discussions in English, and the introductory pages on how to use the catalog are bilingual.

The catalog committee has once gain made corrections and additions to the listings and all stamps are shown in color. Some catalog number changes from recent editions are listed with the old and new numbers. The depth of coverage is revealed with the treatment of not only the regular stamp issues but also vending machine booklets, Frama labels, officials, postage dues, souvenir sheetlets, and personalized stamps among others.

Each edition of this catalog brings within its pages one or two new articles that treat a topic of interest to collectors in some depth. This is a great marketing scheme to encourage one to buy the catalog every year. One 25-page article this year is a guide to the complexities of Norway’s popular posthorn issues. The other article, by Peer-Christian Ånensen, the chairman of the catalog committee, examines the official stamps of Norway.

A selected bibliography*, postal rate tables, and a listing of plate numbers and other markings that appear in sheet margins reveal the extent to which the committee has gone to provide collectors with information. Colored tabs on the edges of the pages help the user to locate specific areas within the catalog. The committee has again set a high benchmark for specialized country catalogs.

*A new addition this year is Posthorn author Bjørn Kristian Wang’s recent work on the revenue stamps of Norway.

Alan Warren