Fred Mallender Collection of British Commonwealth postage stamps

The collection consists of about 40,000 postage stamps from countries or territories of the British Commonwealth, from 1937-1992, collected by Fred Mallender. All stamps are in original, uncancelled condition.

Series I (1937-1955) comprises albums formed during Mallender's early collecting years. The first three albums (volumes A-C) in this series form a general collection of Commonwealth stamps of the period. Organization is alphabetical, by country or territory. Stamps are placed in standard mounts, with multiple mounts affixed to the recto of each album page (on black paper). The majority of mounted items are individual stamps, with infrequent mounting of stamp sheets or booklets. The country or territory name is written in white ink at the top of each page, with additional notes interspersed describing the title or date of an individual stamp or series.

Volumes D and E of the first series house thematic collections. Volume D contains three themes: the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, in 1949; the Coronation of King George VI, 1937; and the Silver Wedding anniversary of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1948. Each of these three themes bears an original watercolor title page, in Mallender's youthful hand. Stamps within each theme are organized alphabetically by Commonwealth country or territory, without annotations. The next album (volume E) is also thematic, but the stamps are mounted on pages printed and organized by a publisher for each of the occasions. The first of these is titled British Empire Peace & Victory Issues published ca. 1946 by Royal Publishing House, Racine. The second is titled The White Ace Historical Album for the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, published in 1953 by the Washington Press, Newark. In both parts, the publisher has allocated space for a fixed set of stamps to be collected, and Mallender has collected and mounted every stamp required.

Series II comprises the bulk of the collection, housed in 103 albums containing stamps produced between 1952 and 1988. This part of the collection is also organized alphabetically, by country or territory. Stamps are placed in standard mounts, with multiple mounts affixed to each album page (rectos only). The majority of items are individual stamps, but also mounted are numerous sheets or mini-sheets of stamps, as well as the occasional booklet of stamps. The country or territory name is written in ink at the top of each page, with additional notes in ink interspersed describing the title or date of a stamp series.

Series III comprises stamps produced in the British Commonwealth from 1988 to 1992. Stamps in this series are unmounted. Individual stamps, groups of stamps, sheets of stamps, or booklets of stamps have been placed by Mallender in wax paper envelopes of varying sizes. On each envelope, Mallender has written in black marker the prices paid for the stamps therein. The series is arranged alphabetically, by country or territory name.

Series IV comprises the 1999 edition of the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: British Commonwealth, in two volumes. Throughout both volumes, ticks (check marks) have been placed next to the entries for select stamps. The ticks appear to be Mallender's record of stamps present within in his collection. The abundance of ticks indicates that Mallender collected a significant portion of Commonwealth stamps produced between 1937 and 1992.