Mr. F. Breitfuss, of St. Petersburg, who has been collecting since
1860, is credited with the third finest collection in the world. He
is an omnivorous, but scientific general collector.

Mr. H. J. Duveen, the well-known art connoisseur of London and New
York, although he did not take to stamp collecting till 1892, has
already got together the finest collection, outside the British
Museum, in this country. It is celebrated not only for the beauty of
its specimens, but also for its completeness, neatness, and scientific
arrangement. The value of the collection is probably close on £80,000.
It is enclosed in seventy handsome Oriel albums.

Mr. W. B. Avery, head of the well-known firm of scale-makers of
Birmingham, has one of the finest general collections. It is justly
celebrated for the large number of great rarities that it contains,
amongst which are the two rare "Post Office" Mauritius in superb
unused condition. The collection cannot be worth at present far short
of £50,000.

Mr. M. P. Castle, the Vice-President of the Philatelic Society of
London, who succeeded the late Mr. Tapling in office, is one of the
keenest of keen collectors. His general collection became so large
that he parted with it in 1877, and then specialised in Australians.
This latter collection he sold, in 1894, to our publishers for
£10,000, at that time the largest sum ever paid for a single
collection. He subsequently made a grand specialised collection of
Europeans. This, arranged in sixty-seven volumes, he sold, in 1900,
for nearly £30,000, and he has now returned to his love for
Australians.