Career
He was one of philately’s foremost writers of philatelic literature. Cabeen was interested in various aspects of American philately, but tended to specialize. He was particularly interested in the United States 3-cent 1851-1857 postage stamps, and, along with Doctor Carroll Chase, was able to successfully plate the stamp, which involves identifying the position of each stamp as it would have appeared on the original printed sheet.
In addition to collecting and studying such classic United States stamps, Cabeen also directed his attention and studies to postal history of Chicago and Illinois.
Richard Cabeen was a prolific writer of philatelic subjects. He originally wrote in 1913 for The Collector"s Journal and Weekly Philatelic Gossip, and, from 1932 to 1969, he wrote a philatelic column for the Chicago Sunday Tribune.
Cabeen also wrote a series of monographs entitled The Chicago Tribune Series of Booklets on United States Stamps, and in 1957 published his book, The Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting, which has been reprinted a number of times. He and Doctor Carroll Chase co-authored The First Hundred Years of Territorial Postmarks 1787-1887, originally a series of articles which was later published in book form.
Richard McPherren Cabeen bequeathed his townhouse to the Collectors Club of Chicago so that it could be used as a center of Chicago philately.
As a measure of gratitude, the Collectors Club of Chicago commissioned Harvy M. Karlen to edit and publish a book entitled, Chicago Postal History: Selections that Honor the Collecting Interests of Richard McP. Cabeen.
