This section of the Hall collection (Sale 840) is Edward S. Knapp’s study of Misplaced and Replaced Transfers, acquired by the Halls in 1928 through Scott Stamp & Coin. Knapp’s work on the Lithographs is not very well known, because the collection was sold privately and much of his research was unpublished. However, Knapp’s album pages give us insight into his profound understanding of the Lithograph issues.
To explain the Misplaced and Replaced Transfers, it is useful to review the history of plating studies of the Lithographs. The best place to start is the excellent primer on lithographic printing contained in Chapter V of August Dietz’s 1929 The Postal Service of the Confederate States of America. Dietz was a printer by profession and understood the processes used during the Civil War period. Prior to publication of the Dietz book, a pioneering effort in plating the Lithographs was made by Bertram W. H. Poole, who published a series of articles in The Philatelic Gazette (1915-17). The discovery of the "Ackerman" 5c Green sheet of 200 (see lot 142) led to the precise plating of Stone 1. Gerald S. Curtis published an accurate plating of Stone 2 in The Philatelic Gazette (February 1918). Between 1966 and 1968, Leonard H. Hartmann published the first well-illustrated plating study of the 5c Transfer Stone in the Confederate Philatelist. Recently, Mr. Hartmann began a new series in The Chronicle (Nos. 180, 182, 185 and 190 to date) that provides an excellent overview of the Lithographs and explores some of the mysterious varieties that raise new avenues for research.
To explain the Misplaced and Replaced Transfers, we begin with the terminology used to describe certain elements of the lithographic process. Working our way backward in the process, the first term (applied to the final product) is Sheet, which is a complete impression of 200 stamps on a single sheet of paper comprising two Panes, left and right, 100 stamps each. Between the two panes is a vertical Gutter. The printed impression on the sheet is a mirror image of what appears on the printing plate. However, in lithography the plate is called a Stone, which is a slab of polished flat Bavarian limestone. For the Confederate Lithographs, two types of stones were used: the Printing Stone, comprising 200 subjects from which the inked impressions were made on paper; and the Transfer Stone, comprising 50 subjects that were repeated four times on the Printing Stone. The Transfer Stone was made from 50 individual transfers produced from a master impression, and its purpose was to allow the printer to build up Printing Stones more quickly by making only four entries. The plate positions used by Confederate specialists can refer to the position on the Transfer Stone (1 thru 50) or the Printing Stone (1-50 Upper Left, 1-50 Lower Left, 1-50 Upper Right or 1-50 Lower Right). A diagram of the 200-stamp Printing Stone is shown above with each of the four transfer groups labeled.
A Misplaced Transfer or Replaced Transfer occurs when one of the subjects on the Printing Stone is defective or damaged and must be replaced. The printer first erases the defective subject from the surface of the Printing Stone. Then, a new entry is made in its place by reproducing one of the 50 Transfer Stone subjects. If the new entry is pulled from the same corresponding position within the Transfer Stone group — for example, replacing Position 4 with Position 4 — then it is a Replaced Transfer, which can sometimes be detected by traces of the erased entry. If the new entry is pulled from a different position, then the subject is a Misplaced Transfer. Certain Misplaced Transfers have distinctive features, such as the Twin Scrolls variety (Sale 840, lots 222-223). Others are evident in multiples with positions out of usual sequence, such as the Positions 3-3 pair (Sale 840, lot 224).
The identification of the separate Printing Stones used to print the 5c Green and 5c Blue stamps is a difficult and complex task, which has been undertaken by few philatelists during the past half century. We hope that the emergence of this remarkable collection provides clues to help solve the mystery.
10-Cent Rose Replaced Transfers
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The 10c Rose Hoyer & Ludwig can be plated to the same Printing Stone used for the 10c Blue Hoyer &Ludwig. However, Knapp determined that sometime during the life of the Printing Stone, the entire fourth vertical row and two other positions on one of the four Transfer Groups were erased and re-entered with the same corresponding positions within the Transfer Group (see diagram above). By observing doubling of the design and other constant varieties, Knapp was able to distinguish between stamps printed from the first entries on the stone and the Replaced Transfer varieties from the same positions. The pair and group lot (Sale 840, lots 235-236) present collectors with an extraordinary opportunity to carry on Knapp’s research.