The firm of François Fournier operated from Geneva, Switzerland during the early years of the 20th century. Unlike most forgers who prepared their wares to defraud collectors or post offices, the Fournier firm actually prepared and sold ‘facsimiles’ of existing stamps. These reproductions were created specifically for collectors to help them quickly fill empty spaces in their albums without having to resort to arduous and expensive searches in the philatelic market. The facsimiles were offered to collectors via lists of available stamps sent around the world. Although the Fournier reproductions are not of a quality to fool knowledgeable collectors, they remain readily available in today’s philatelic market and non-specialists have problems telling them apart from the genuine stamps.
I recently purchased the shown unsealed 5 centimes printed matter rate envelope from Geneva Switzerland posted on April 23, 1914 to Aurora, Illinois in the USA. The return address clearly shows that it originated with the Fournier firm. The handstamp at the lower left offers subscriptions to the house magazine LE FAC-SIMILE. Undoubtedly, the enveloped contained a copy of the firm’s latest offerings.
For those interested in details on the operation of the Fournier firm, I can heartily recommend the book by Lowell Ragatz (Fournier’s 1914 Price-list of Philatelic Forgeries
For even more information on Fournier,visit: http://www.jamesbendon.com/fournierforsale/fournier.htm