Blue Mauritius The Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Stamps

Follow the adventures of the world's most sought-after postage stamps - from a tropical Indian Ocean island to the hushed atmosphere of the modern auction room - in a dramatic and gripping tale of the first stamp hunters.

In September 1847 coloured squares of paper were stuck to envelopes and used to send out admission cards to a fancy-dress ball on the tropical island of Mauritius. No-one at the party could have guessed that these 'stamps' would one day be worth more than a million dollars.

When a two pence 'Blue Mauritius' surfaced on the fledgling French stamp-collecting market in 1865 it gained instant celebrity. Soldiers, schoolboys and - seemingly - the entire German nation became obsessed with tracking down one surviving examples of the stamp. When in 1903 a perfect specimen, discovered in a child's album, was bought at auction by the Prince of Wales, the Blue Mauritius gained super-star status.

Even now, 'Post Office Mauritius' stamps remain synonymous with fame, wealth and mystery. Helen Morgan tells the fascinating story of the most coveted scraps of paper in existence, from Mauritius' Port Louis to Bordeaux, India and Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan, into the fantasies and imagination of stamp collectors everywhere.

'Who among us, upon reading of this adventure, can resist another quick once-over through those musty family letters in the attic?' Simon Garfield, Wall Street Journal

'Not just an entertaining and meticulously researched history of Mauritius and its stamps, but also an absorbing look at the early development of one of the world's most widespread hobbies.' Sunday Business Post

In September 1847 coloured squares of paper were stuck to envelopes and used to send out admission cards to a fancy-dress ball on the tropical island of Mauritius. No-one at the party would have guessed that the envelopes bearing these stamps would one day be worth more than a million dollars.

When a two pence 'Blue Mauritius' surfaced on the fledgling French stamp-collecting market in 1865 it gained instant celebrity. Then in 1903, when a perfect specimen, discovered in a childhood album, was bought at auction by the Prince of Wales, the Blue Mauritius gained super-star status.

Even now, the stamps of 'Post Office Mauritius' remain synonymous with fame, wealth and mystery. Helen Morgan tells the fascinating story of the most coveted scraps of paper in existence, from Amuritius' Port Louis to Bordeaux, India and Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan, into the fantasies and imagination of stamp collectors everywhere.