General precancel catalogs list every stamp seen with every precancel. Over the years these types of listings became larger and larger. So much so that a single volume could not contain them all, and the price for the catalogs became too much for collectors to take. The last general catalog is still widely in use, and considered a classic: the 1940 Hoover Part 1 Standard Precancel Catalog.
After 1940 collectors (and catalog publishers) realized that the only way to catalog every precancel in this way was to split up the catalog by state. This was the way many collectors collected anyway.
| Date/Edition | Title | Publisher | Pages | Original Price |
| 1904 | Catalogue of the Precancelled Postage Stamps of the United States | F.L. SmithGeorge F. Duck | 44 | |
| 1912 | Catalogue of the Precancelled Postage Stamps of the United States | F.L. Smith |
| Date/Edition | Title | Publisher | Pages | Original Price |
| 1918 – Pt. 1 | United States Precancel Catalog | B. Gordon Bushnell | 90 | .25 |
| 1918 – Pt. 2 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | ||
| 1918 – Pt. 3 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | 96 | .25 |
| 1918 – Pt. 4 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | 96 | .25 |
| 1919 – Pt. 5 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | 100 | .25 |
| 1919 – Pt. 6 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | 52 | .25 |
| 1919 – Pt. 7 | United States Precancel Catalog | Bushnell | 60 | .25 |
| 1920 – 8th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Bushnell | 234 | 1.50 |
| 1921 – 9th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (A-M) Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (N-Z) |
Bushnell | 259 |
1.25 0.75 |
| Date/Edition | Title | Publisher | Pages | Original Price |
| 1922, Apr | Standard Precancelled Stamp Catalog (perf. 11) | Bushnell | 96 | 0.60 |
| 1923 | Standard Precancelled Stamp Catalog (perf. 12) | Bushnell | 119 | 1.00 |
| 1923, Aug | Standard Precancelled Stamp Catalog (1922 Series) | Bushnell | 14 | 0.35 |
| 1923, Dec | Standard Precancelled Stamp Catalog (perf. 10) | Bushnell | 201 | 1.00 |
| 1923 | Complete Standard Precancelled Stamp Catalog (all of the above 4 in one edition) |
Bushnell | 430 | 2.00 |
| Date/Edition | Title | Publisher | Pages | Original Price |
| 1925 – 10th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Rotnem | 460+ | 3.00 |
| 1926 – 11th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Rotnem | 586+ | 3.15 |
| 1928 – 12th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Rotnem | 614+ | 3.15 |
| 1929 – 13th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Rotnem | 700+ | 3.15 |
| 1930 – 14th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog | Hoover Bros. | 924+ | 3.25 |
| 1932 – 15th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (Part 1) | Hoover | 361+ | 2.60 |
| 1933/34 – 15th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (Part 2) | Hoover | 1091+ | 4.25 |
| 1940 – 16th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (Part 1: 1844-1920) |
Hoover | 566 | 3.00 |
| 1937 – 16th Ed. | Standard Precancel Stamp Catalog (Part 2: 1922-1935) |
Hoover | 1272 | 6.85 |