RS173P1 Mansfield & Higbee Medicine Stamp, Large Die Proof, ex Joyce

Soon after he opened the door of his apothecary shop in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1840, Samuel Mansfield inserted an announcement in the Memphis Daily Enquirer “On Madison Street nearly opposite the Post Office.” Three decades later he entered into a partnership with Hugh H. Higbee under the firm name of Mansfield and Higbee. Between them they had several proprietaries to promote including Dr. Brazier’s Liver Cor­dial; Dr. Gilbert’s Tetter Ointment; Texas Tonic Syrup; Dr. Jackson’s Female Vigorator and Dr. Gunn’s Eureka Life Cordial. Gradually they developed their own proprietaries including Mansfield’s Arnica Liniment; Chill and Fever Tonic; and others. When Higbee dropped out of the firm in 1875 the new firm was called S. Mansfield and Co., wholesale and manufacturing druggist. In the 1880’s the firm name was again changed to Mansfield Drug co. and in 1895, Van Vleet and Company, wholesale druggists of Memphis, took over the firm which was in turn purchased by McKesson and Robbins in 1930. (Holcombe, Henry W., Stamp and Cover Collector’s Review, 3: 139-141 July, 1939)

Morton Dean Joyce (1900–1989), of New York City, was a philatelist who specialized in the collection of United States revenue stamps and became known by his philatelic friends as the “Dean of United States revenue collectors.”

Models, Essays and Proofs of the Morton Dean Joyce Collection
The collection of Morton Dean Joyce contained a magnificent array of the models and large die proofs, including trial color and plate proofs. It seems that Morton Dean Joyce was able to obtain the majority, if not the complete holding, of the Butler and Carpenter Archives including the Order Book which contained the original models. Nearly all of the models that are listed in the Turner book are present in the Morton Dean Joyce Collection. From that point on Joyce researched the large dies according to company from Butler and Carpenter through the National and American Bank Note Companies to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Whenever there was a chance to show trial color proofs or additional information, Joyce did so and the results (were) his collection…The area of models, essays and proofs of the private die proprietary issues was quite possibly Morton Dean Joyce’s most outstanding accomplishment.
Richard Friedberg, Introduction to the Morton Dean Joyce Private Die Proprietary Collection Auction Catalog, Andrew Levitt, September 12-14, 1991