OTIS WARREN BARRETT - REF. JUL-SEPT 2021 LPS JOURNAL

Greg Sereda's article “O. W. Barrett - Philatelist? Dealer? Both?” interested me greatly, partly because I have just been quoting from Barrett's 1936 book "The Animals on Postage Stamps" in a possible article for submission to the LPS Journal.

For those who do not know, Barrett was a prolific author and a botanist/entomologist who was the United States War Department's agricultural adviser in Liberia 1920-21. The British Library holds eight of his books:

1 “The tropical crops : a popular treatment of the practice of agriculture in tropical regions” Otis Warren Barrett, New York : Macmillan, 1928.
Details I want this
2 The Animals on Postage Stamps. [With illustrations.] The Animals on Postage Stamps. [With illustrations.], Otis Warren BARRETT, New York : Scott Stamp & Coin Co, 1938.
3 Coconut culture, Otis Warren Barrett, 1911
4 The Changa, or Mole Cricket-Scapteriscus didactylus Latr.-in Porto Rico. Otis Warren BARRETT, Washington, 1902.
5 The Yautias or Taniers of Porto Rico. The Yautias or Taniers of Porto Rico. Otis Warren BARRETT, Washington, 1905.
6 Foods America Gave the World. The strange, fascinating and often romantic histories of many native American food plants, their origin ... By A. Hyatt Verrill ... in collaboration with Otis W. Barrett, etc. Boston : L. C. Page & Co, 1937.
7 Promising root crops for the South. I.--Yautias, taros, and dasheens, Otis Warren Barrett (1872-1910)
8 The Philippine coconut industry, Otis Warren Barrett, Manila : Bureau of Printing, 1913.

None of that explains the issues of his behaviour with stamps as explored by Greg, but the fact that he wrote that book #2 rather ties that behaviour to the same guy.

Comments

  • Martin,

    Thanks for the feedback on my article. Barrett was definitely stationed around the globe throughout his career, and I do believe his correspondence is more interesting than his somewhat dry technical discussions on agricultural topics. Too bad he didn't put out a book or two about contemporary issues in some of the countries he spent time in. Many of his books are available for sale even today. To get a taste of his material at no cost, his book "Coconut Culture" can be downloaded for free at:

    https://archive.org/details/coconutculture00barrrich/page/18/mode/2up
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