History of the Confederate States Catalog and Handbook

August Dietz, Sr. published The Postal Service of the Confederate States of America in 1929. It is the scholarly work referred to by generations of students to this day. In 1931, Dietz published the first actual catalog that bore his name, a small volume of 320 pages that was followed up with a supplement in 1932 of 80 pages. Subsequent editions were issued in 1937, 1945, and 1959. The most recent edition was published in 1986 and a new edition has not been issued since.

Mr. Dietz, born in Prussia, moved with his parents to Richmond in 1871 and began collecting as early as 1880. An engraver trained in lithography and typography, Mr. Dietz understood the printing processes necessary for the preparation of the various Confederate postage stamps.

With his in-depth knowledge of printing and interest in Confederate postal history, it has long been speculated that Dietz obtained some of his information directly from the postmasters, printers and/or clerks that had firsthand knowledge of many of the actual philatelic items used during the Civil War. This has been verified by current Editor-in-Chief, Trish Kaufmann, who has some of the original correspondence between postmasters and Mr. Dietz in her files. By 1896, Dietz was the editor of The Virginia Philatelist, a monthly stamp magazine printed in Richmond. In March 1901, he started his own company, the Dietz Printing Company in Richmond.

In 1924, as an avid researcher and collector, he began writing informative articles on the subject of Confederate postal history to aid the increasing number of Confederate collectors. In subsequent years, he operated his printing firm with his son, August Dietz. Jr. as Business Manager, and published The Southern Philatelist (1924-1929), The New South Philatelist (1929-1933), Stamp and Cover Collecting (1933-1936), and Stamp and Cover Collecting Review (1937-1939).

Each of the publications on which he worked contained articles related to Confederate philately, including new finds, plating research, illustrations of postal markings, and answers to questions from collectors. He also wrote several reference books on Confederate philately, including the 1929 treatise, The Postal Service of the Confederate States of America. That book, often referred to as "The '29 Dietz," included most of the information printed in his earlier publications. Today, August Dietz Sr. is considered the Father of Confederate Philately. A short biography of August Dietz Sr., appears in the September 1900 (Vol. IV, No.1) issue of The Virginia Philatelist.

By mid-1934, a small group of serious Confederate collectors was beginning to emerge. In February 1935, Dr. Marye Y. Dabney, another enthusiastic Confederate collector and friend of August Dietz, wrote to Mr. Dietz and suggested that an organization be formed for the more intensive study of Confederates, the exchange of relevant data, and the dissemination of acquired knowledge. The name of the organization suggested by Dr. Dabney was the Confederate Stamp Alliance, a name that has continued to this day. The idea quickly caught on and Mr. Dietz welcomed each new member and conferred upon him or her the honorary title of Colonel. In October 1948, the membership reciprocated and bestowed on him the first honorary title of General.