The Philatelic Collection formed by      

Sir Gawaine Baillie Collection

* The Most Important Collection of Stamps to be sold for 50 Years* Unquestionably the most comprehensive collection of its kind* Estimated to fetch in excess of £11 million

Sir Gawaine Baillie, who formed this extraordinary collection of stamps - the most important to be sold for 50 years and estimated to fetch in excess of £11 million - competed in numerous championships, including Le Mans 24 Hours, Goodwood, Aintree, Silverstone and the Tour de France, as an amateur motor racing driver. He competed at the highest professional level with legendary figures such as Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorne and Jackie Stewart.

SOTHEBY'S is delighted to announce the sale of an extraordinary collection of stamps of international significance, formed by one of the most important collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The sensational and vast collection of stamps, concentrating on Great Britain and her Empire, is undoubtedly the most comprehensive collection of its kind and the most important to be sold in more than 50 years. It is almost entirely unknown to international collectors and includes highlights that have not been seen on the market for several decades. The collection will be auctioned in a series of ten sales beginning in September 2004, each concentrating on a particular area of study. In all, it is estimated to realise in excess of £11 million.

Richard Ashton, Sotheby's Philatelic specialist, said: "This is without question the most significant collection of its type currently in private hands, and it is certainly the most important stamp offering to have come up for sale in a long time. With its dispersal at auction, thousands of collectors throughout the world will have an opportunity to see - and acquire - a vast array of rare and wonderful items. The scope and enormity of the collection is in itself a testimony to the tenacity and dedication of this great collector."

The CollectorSir Gawaine Baillie was brought up in a privileged world but his childhood was disrupted first by WWII and then by the early death of his father.  His first years were at Leeds castle, the ancient fortress in Kent, which his mother Lady Olive Baillie had bought with her sister Dorothy Paget in 1928. With the outbreak of war in 1939, at the age of only five he was sent to live with his American cousins, the Whitney family. For five years he lived at Long Island on the enormous family estate, Greentree, staying with Jock Whitney's sister Joan Payson and her husband, Charles. Within 18 months of his return to England his father died and he succeeded the family title, becoming 7th Bt, of Polkemmet, Linlithgowshire. He was educated at Eton and went on to read engineering at Cambridge and thereafter qualified as an accountant.

The Whitneys were all great collectors and benefactors of the Arts and Leeds Castle was filled with outstanding works of art collected by Lady Baillie. Sir Gawaine was an enthusiastic collector of stamps as a youth. After graduating from Cambridge he embarked on a successful career as an amateur motor racing driver using his own cars and did something that would be almost impossible in today's highly structured, professional motor-racing world. He competed at the highest professional level with such legendary figures as Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorne and Jackie Stewart. At the same time he started a very successful engineering business, HPC Engineering plc which he owned and ran until his death in 2003.

Sir Gawaine competed in numerous championships, including Le Mans 24 Hours, Goodwood, Aintree, Silverstone and the Tour de France. It was in the 1962 Tour de France, driving a 3.4 litre Jaguar saloon, that he careered 100 feet down a ravine, escaping with multiple cuts to the face. Later that year he switched to driving an American Ford Galaxie.

It was towards the end of his motor racing career that he achieved his greatest successes including his 1965 win at Longford, the notorious circuit in Tasmania. He achieved two 2nd places and a 3rd in the British Championship, driving a 4.7 litre Ford Mustang V8 and in 1966 he won his class in the British Championship, beating the future Formula 1 star Jack Oliver and three-time World Champion Jack Brabham. He drove a Ford Falcon, which he had fitted with a Paxton supercharger.

One of the characteristics of Sir Gawaine's motor racing was the meticulous care and attention he paid to every aspect of the preparation of his cars for each race. He held the view that failure could not be blamed on the car but rather on his own ability. This attention to detail and quality stood him in good stead both in regard to his engineering company and his stamp collecting.

In 1966 he married Margot Beaubien who he had met when she came over to England from Canada to be maid of honour at Stirling Moss's wedding.

In the years that followed he retired from motor racing, concentrated on building up his engineering business and returned to his boyhood passion of collecting stamps.

The CollectionSir Gawaine - also a systematic collector in other fields - aimed to form a comprehensive collection of postage stamps of Great Britain and the British Empire, starting with the earliest issues of Queen Victoria through to the most recent of our times. His criteria were that the stamps should all be unused and in perfect condition. Considering that many of the world's rare stamps are extant in single figures and of those, the majority are in institutional collections, he had chosen to embark on a massive and formidable project. By patiently reviewing auction catalogues for almost three decades, to the greatest possible extent, he accomplished his objective. In doing so he taught himself all the subtleties of at least ten areas of specialisation and acquired over 100,000 stamps, all of which live up to his exacting standards. As well as having an exceptional eye for quality and colour, Sir Gawaine also had the ability to focus single-mindedly on highly complex subjects.

Sir Gawaine ranks among the greatest collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries: HRH King George V, Philippe von Ferrary and Thomas Tapling (whose collection formed the basis of the unique holdings of the British Library). He formed one of the best collections of stamps to be offered in living memory. The provenance 'From the Collection of Sir Gawaine Baillie, Bt' will be a lasting memorial to what was achieved.

The collection, to which Sir Gawaine dedicated 4 hours each morning, includes particularly strong studies of Great Britain, Australia, the British West Indies, British North America, New Zealand and Rhodesia but also includes volumes of stamps from British Africa, the British Empire, as well as Forgeries by Sperati. It boasts numerous rare and unique examples of the highest quality in exceptional condition.

As cataloguing progresses and as each volume of Sir Gawaine's collection is carefully examined and researched, the depth and scope of this extraordinary collection becomes ever more apparent.

The stamps will be auctioned in a series of ten sales beginning in September 2004, each concentrating on a particular area of study.