Michele RB.4 – The Cigarette Card Issues of Gallaher, Ltd.
Editor – Eric Gurd
Printer – Parker Brothers, St. Albans, Herts
Date of completion – February 1944
Date of Publication – 1944
Limited Edition of - 400
Original cost – 3/9 post free
Pages – 40
Illustrations – none
Out of Print by –
Superseded by - The World Tobacco Issues Index (RB.21 - issued 1956)
"Cartophilic Reference Book - No.4 : The Cigarette Card Issues of Gallaher Ltd. An Official Checklist Compiled by A Committee of the Cartophilic Society of Great Britain" did not immediately follow on from our Wills booklet, and only appeared in 1944. Like the previous three, this book was issued as a limited edition of 400 copies, and there are no illustrations.
It was once more "Printed in Great Britain by Parker Brothers, St. Albans, Herts. " and produced with a slightly thicker green cover. This booklet returned to the same format as the original two, having, on the inside cover, the quote from Thackeray "Here is the best I can do . . . I stand by this book, and am willing to leave it where I go, as my card.", followed by an Editor's Introduction telling a brief version of the story of Tom Gallaher and his tobacco company. It closes with the date [February, 1944] and Editor's initials, E.G. [Eric Gurd]
For the first time, the inside of the back cover carried other than the printer's details. This was a list of Cartophilic Reference Books so far printed, which by now had been given a new covering title of "The Cigarette Card Collector's Encyclopaedia".
Now to save you wondering, there is a good reason why the Gallaher book, RB.4, is able to list the titles of the first seven volumes, and that was simply because this Gallaher book was issued out of order - and by the time it was issued, books 5 and 6 had already appeared.
That list also gives the prices of the books at that time, which I repeat for the benefit of anyone who cannot read the text above, for whatever reason. RB.1 W & F Faulkner was given as 1/3d., RB.2 R & J Hill as 2/6d., RB.3 W.D. & H.O. Wills as 3/6d., this RB.4 Gallaher Ltd as 3/9d., RB.5 Abdulla, Adkin, and Anstie, in one volume as 2/6d., and RB.6 Ardath Tobacco Co. at 3/-. Book No.7, W.D. & H.O. Wills (Part 2) was also listed, as being "in active preparation". All editions were cited as being "numbered and limited to 400 copies".
It was an immediate success, and was out of print by 1950. Many years passed until a new reprint was produced; the decision was made to redo the cover into a plainer green format, but all the interior text remains the same.
[LIBRARY CODE G.06]