Although unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of knowing the late Winthrop S. Boggs, the first fifty years of this study owes much to his more than thirty years study of Afghan stamps. In his draft manuscript on Afghan stamps, he dedicated his work to B. Gordon Jones and Adrian E. Hopkins "who were dear friends, over many years with whom the writer shared the pleasure and enthusiasm of the philatelic problems of Afghanistan. Both gave generously of their knowledge and counsel."

I would like to continue to dedicate this work to these pioneers and also to add Theodore Light and the late Winthrop S. Boggs, Frank E. Patterson, III, Franklin R. Bruns, Jr. for the fundamental research Boggs, Light and Patterson have done in unravelling the mysteries of Afghan philately and in bringing to the attention of the philatelic world, and for the encouragement and support the late Frank Bruns gave me while he was the curator of the Smithsonian philatelic collection.