All 18 volumes of the Mellone's Planty Photo Encyclopedia of Cacheted First Day Covers, encompassing issues from 1901 through 1939, are now 
available from the American First Day Cover Society, either as digital downloads or computer-printed unbound copies punched for looseleaf notebooks. That includes the long out-of-print Volume 17 that catalogues the Baseball Centennial issue of 1939, Scott 855.
The AFDCS obtained permission from Michael A. Mellone's estate to reprint his important books on first day covers. Eventually, the society hopes to expand and update the listings. Already, Volumes 1 through 6 include updates that were published in First Days, the official journal of the society. The catalogues may be ordered here on the AFDCS website.
"First day cover catalogs are essential for any collector of first day covers," said Publications Committee chair Mick Zais. "They identify cachet makers and establish rough measures of scarcity and desirability. Providing these
catalogs online is a great service that the American First Day Cover Society provides to its members and the public."
Also available are reprints of Mellone's Specialized Cachet Catalog of FDCs of the 1940s and the 1950s. A reprint of the 1960s catalogue should be available soon.
The cachet catalogues by Prof. Earl Planty first appeared in the 1970s, but Mellone's FDC Publishing Co. was responsible for refining and expanding the concept and making the books available to a wider audience. The knowledge contained in these books revolutionized first day cover collecting, allowing philatelists to know what they had and what they 
didn't have.
The AFDCS is the largest not-for-profit first day cover society in the world, with members in more than half a dozen countries. It publishes its award-winning journal, First Days, six times a year, as well as original handbooks, catalogues and YouTube videos, and is a co-sponsor of the annual Great American Stamp Show. It holds an annual cachetmaking contest and encourages philatelic exhibiting and writing about FDCs.
The AFDCS Publications Committee —Zais, Education Department chair Michael Lake, Tris Fall, Doug George and Pat Morgan —is working on reprints of other FDC Publishing works. The AFDCS also offers catalogues for specific issues, ranging from the 1969 Moon Landing stamp (Sc. C76) to Cats and Elvis.
There are lower prices for AFDCS members. Membership begins at $24 a year. The different options are listed here.
