And now what...?

After acquiring my first bit of a collection last week, the question arises - what next?  At the same stamp club auction from whence came my cover, I also acquired this 1961 hardbound book by the editors of Gibbons Stamp Monthly originally written in 1933. It has some good advise expressed in a slightly formal tone. "Let your aim be to have a collection which does not allow the beholder to miss its strong points, and yet has the good manners not to shout them blatantly at him." There is advise on mounting, arranging, hinging, storing, labeling (calligraphy how-tos "never allow the pen to run half dry"), etc.

The advice I did not find in the book is how to maintain my enthusiasm beyond the acquisition of this one particular piece.  Perhaps I just don't have the collecting gene - the ability to sustain enthusiasm in a directed fashion over time. ?? Maybe it's time to "back-burner" the process.  What I do know is that the immediate problem is simply proper storage before I determine what's next.  Right now my lovely cover is still in the sleeve in which I purchased it, propped on the piano.  I want to keep it where I see it lest I forget it is a beginning, not an end.

I'm looking forward to purusing the next stamp club auction. Perhaps it will be where I'll find more inspiration.