The Hour Glass of June 25, 1904, was given as the source of the following letter by Melville in the Stamp Lover of February 1923:
"During a trip I made to the South Sea Islands last year I proposed to the French
colonists in the New Hebrides a design for a postage stamp. My proposition, however,
was only intended as a joke -- as may be seen by the rough design of one of the stamps
now reproduced -- and really the fun I got out of my little joke repaid me amply
for the trouble in engraving the little picture. This represents a missionary being roasted
on a spit by one of the native gentlemen of these sunny islands. 'Presbyter Coccidus',
(Roast Missionary), amused some of the colonists greatly, but one, taking my design seriously,
suggested at a meeting where the subject of my proposition was being discussed
that cannibalism, being a thing of the past, my design be altered to something more
in keeping with the progressive state of the flourishing archipelago.
G. Collingridge."
See original 'Hour Glass' article at left.
I blanked the corners so these images cannot be used to produce more fakes!
Roast Missionary #1
Roast Missionary #2
Roast Missionary #3
George Alphonse Collingridge de Tourcay (1847 – 1931), Australian writer and illustrator. You can find more information in the
Australian Dictionary of Biography He was a reputable woood engraver (xylographist), was a member of the Council of the Royal Geographical Society of New South Wales and left for the Islands on 10 October 1902 on the steamer AUSTRALIEN (Captain H. Verron) to Noumea to find out wether
early Spanish navigators in the South Seas first landed at Port Curtis, Queensland or the New Hebrides. AUSTRALIEN was back in Sydney on 20 October 1902 and Mr. George Collingridge was a passenger again.
A typical journey from Sydney to Noumea takes about 3½ days so his stay in Noumea was not longer than 3-4 days - no chance to visit the New Hebrides. The Roast Missionary cinderellas were made in Noumea.
The article says in 1904 "last year". It is possible that Collingridge wrote it in 1903 as he was definitely in Noumea in 1902 and not later. See quotation at left bottom.
Hour-Glass image
Roast Missionary fake
Hals/Collas image
forgery
forgery
forgery
forgery
(new 7/2020)
forgery
forgery
forgery
forgery
forgery
(new 4/2019)
And here ist Hals/Collas' opinion in 1967
"Roast Missionary
Only a few copies were printed by lithography with black ink on pink paper. This
copy here is the ex-Collas copy, also shown in Hals/Collas p.49. According to
Collas, one copy is known on cover, and all are said to have been "used".
While this item is a fantasy it has a place in the political history of the islands;
the eager discussions on a stamp for the group evoked by Mr. Collingridge were a
symptom of the desires for stability in the rough frontier, and the settlers seized upon a postal
system as a symbol of the stability they desired.
A preliminary report published elsewhere upon the accession of this item immediately caused
a rash of fakery. People actually bought the illustration, - on slick periodical paper
by typography, - in spite of the statement therein that the original was lithographed
on pink paper!"
(Text thanks to Hals/Collas page 48/49.)
But Hals/Collas were wrong here: the originals were printed by xylography (= woodcut), and not lithography.
clippings of #1, #2 and #3