„Ich zeig dir meine Briefmarkensammlung“: Ein persönliches Abenteuer in der herpetologischen Philatelie.

Thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a specific subject, in this case stamps featuring amphibians and reptiles – there are literally thousands of them out there. The article explores iconic sets that many of us will have owned or at least remembered from their youth, through to some of the most recent issues of herp stamps. It follows the author’s rediscovery of his childhood stamp collection and its transition into little artworks of herpetological thematics, presenting beautifully rendered images of animals that can be easily identified down to species and which would not look out of place in a field guide, to some that are so bad that their very awfulness is their charm. This article came out of a lecture presented by the author at the LGHT meeting in Marburg in May 2022 and if either that lecture or this article sent members scurrying into their attics to locate their dusty and long abandoned stamp albums of youth it will have been successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]