WRITTEN 50 YEARS AGO . . .

Fred J. Melville, Stamp Collecting, prefaced: "Stamp Collecting today is far removed from the artless game of filling up ruled spaces in a printed book. It has developed in many directions . . . The mystery is not to be explained in a sentence."

Fifty years later, the statement above still rings true. With so many countries issuing their respective postage stamps, among other postal documents, a stamp collector are spell-bound by the sheer effort of accumulating them all.

Even in cyberspace, these collectors are churning out web sites as the extension of their interest and allurement to philately. Most sites are commercial in nature -- dealers, auctioneers, want-listers --- with some dedicated collectors and societies joining in.

Thus, the mystery never did cease. The game called stamp collecting still captivates a vast number of people who collect stamps in all parts of the world.

And it would not be completely explained in a single page, but a number of web pages!