When one is avid about a field, it is common to set greater and greater challenges. This is the lure of Everest for climbers or of more and more difficult golf courses. I once knew a stamp collector who was also a fierce crossword puzzle enthusiast. He wrote puzzles in which the answers were all palindromes, that is words that are spelled the same backwards and forwards.
Since I spend all day with stamps, the items that I collect are not exactly philatelic but have a philatelic flavor. I am an avid reader and enjoy classical music. I like covers and Postal History; so I have combined these interests by collecting covers and letters that have been autographed by writers and composers that I like (and can afford). The illustration accompanying this posting was the first item in my collection. I found it in a 25¢ box of covers at a stamp exhibition that I was attending in the 1970s. It would be great to say that I recognized Twain’s handwriting immediately, but the truth is more mundane. I liked it because it was a postage due overseas cover, and I thought it was worth more than a quarter. Only 
when I got it home and read the letter did I know what I had. Someone had asked Samuel Clemens for his autograph, and he was on vacation and didn’t have the right stamps; so he was obliged to make the letter postage due. This one “find” began a lifelong pursuit of these philatelic-autograph combinations which I enjoy very much. I’ll show you some other items later.
when I got it home and read the letter did I know what I had. Someone had asked Samuel Clemens for his autograph, and he was on vacation and didn’t have the right stamps; so he was obliged to make the letter postage due. This one “find” began a lifelong pursuit of these philatelic-autograph combinations which I enjoy very much. I’ll show you some other items later.