Numbering System

Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue

Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue has not been published in full since 1999, so a new edition is long overdue. I have made several attempts at a new edition over the years, and even considered trying to produce a kind of coffee table book. Understandably, for a particularly small print run, the cost was prohibitive, especially when taking potential sales into consideration. I was really only going to be producing it for myself.

It seems that the 1999 edition was very well received, and it has been described as “the leading authority on cards” in one recent review. No matter how much I think of it as an important catalogue, I have to admit that there are really very few collectors of Pitcairn and Bounty postcards, and there are never going to be enough to make a catalogue profitable. It is for that reason that I have taken the decision to abandon the idea of a printed edition, and produce the book as a completely free downloadable edition in individual parts.

I am very proud of the catalogue, and must acknowledge 
the early cataloguing work of David Sleep in the UK, and 
Ron Edwards on Norfolk Island, who helped me greatly in its early days.

A major advantage of producing a digital edition is that it can be corrected or updated at any time. For that reason, each section that I produce has the version number at the top right of every page so that you can easily see if you have the latest version available. The catalogue has been designed so that it may be printed on A4 paper to make a hard copy.

Occasionally I may have copies of one or two of the cards illustrated in the catalogue for sale, if you are looking for anything in particular, please email me.

David Ransom

Numbering system

The catalogue’s numbering system may at first appear confusing when it is used on these Blog posts, but I have tried to follow a consistent system which is explained here:

The first letter, “A” is for all cards in the A section. “A1” represents Australia Post, “A2” represents Action Agencies, and so on.

The next part of the code, “A1-1” means that it is the first postcard in the Australia Post section of the catalogue.