Pinet, Robert (2014). Victorian Montreal: Economic Hub of the Dominion (Illustrated Mail, 1844-1903).

Robert Pinet’s Victorian Montreal: Economic Hub of the Dominion (Illustrated Mail, 1844-1903) has grown from one to three to five to eight – and then back to five – frames, starting with an APS Vermeil at ROPEX 2009, through to the version presented in this volume which was awarded Gold at BNAPEX 2014 BALPEX and an International Large Vermeil in St. Pierre and Miquelon, also in 2014. At the age of 10, Robert inherited a Traveller Stamp Album that had been passed down through his large family. He took up buying new issues at Canada Post Offices at the age of 15, but only dabbled in philately for many years. He finally found his philatelic ‘home’ in 2006, when he joined the North Toronto Stamp Club.Having grown up in Montreal, he wanted to focus on the philately of that marvelous city. The beauty of an engraved fully illustrated Victorian-era advertising cover whetted his interest not only in the different types of cachets produced by Montreal companies, but in the economic history of the city which was the birthplace of the Canadian industrial revolution.Robert is serving as a Director of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada from 2014-16. He is also a member of the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS), the Philatelic Specialist Society of Canada, Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC), Societé d’histoire postale du Québec (SHPQ), American Philatelic Society, Faroe Islands Study Circle, Egypt Study Circle, North Toronto Stamp Club, Ottawa Philatelic Society and the RA Stamp Club. His articles have appeared in the BNAPS Illustrated Mail Newsletter, the Greater Toronto Area Philatelic Alliance (GTAPA) PhilaJournal, PHSC Journal and the SHPQ’s Bulletin d’histoire postale et de marcophilie.