Calvin Waters Christian (September 8, 1905 – January 14, 1997), of California, was a philatelist known to his fellow philatelists as “Bert.” Bert specialized in the collecting and study of classic United States stamps, but was especially known for his collection and detailed study of the United States 1861 series of postage stamps.
He was particularly interested in stamps of that era that were printed and issued with an ink-absorbent grille on their face.
Much of Christian’s unpublished research was eventually published by Don L. Evans in his book, The United States 1¢ Franklin 1861-1867.
He was also a frequent contributor to the Chronicle of U.S. Classic Postal Issues.
Christian was presented with both the Chase and Brookman cups by the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society.