Ultima actualizare la data: 30 decembrie 2022
Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!
In 1993, the British Christmas stamps celebrated the 150th anniversary of the publication of A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens. Within a week of its publication some 6000 copies of the book had been sold at five shillings each. Dickens declared the book “a most prodigious success – the greatest, I think.”
Quentin Blake (1932-), renowned illustrator, cartoonist, caricaturist and children’s writer, was asked to design the five stamps of the set and illustrate the first day cover and the presentation pack. According to the British Philatelic Bulletin Vol. 31/1993, his work has been exhibited on numerous occasions, with a retrospective exhibition at the National Theatre in 1984 and his publications, as author and illustrator, are voluminous, including books for children. He has also provided illustrations for works by Ogden Nash, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Roald Dahl, Sir Clement Freud, Lewis Carroll, Evelyn Waugh, and George Orwell.
We picked up this beautiful Royal Mail advertising poster from the Twitter account of Alexios Papadopoulos and brought it here in order to admire Quentin Blake’s work, get into the season’s spirit and wish our readers.
Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!
FEPA Panel Discussion
“Philately – Forever in the shadows?”
On 25th November, during MONACOPHIL 2022, FEPA hosted a Round Table discussion in front of an audience on the strengths and weaknesses of philately and how it might evolve in the 21st century. Moderator of the event was Charles Epting, CEO of H.R. Harmer.
The five panelists were chosen to be from different philatelic backgrounds:
- Bill Hedley, FEPA President
- Adriano Bergamini, philatelist and exhibitor, Chairman of HELVETIA 2022
- Dieter Michelson, CEO Heinrich Köhler
- Rüdiger Weng, newcomer to high-level philately
- Wolfgang Maassen, President of AIJP and expert in philatelic literature
Comments were received from Alex Haimann, Peter Cockburn, Patrick Maselis, Ms. Birthe King, Gordon Eubanks, and Lars Boettger.
You can read all about it in the January 2023 issue of the FEPA News magazine and view the video right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJd6dKTtNU
The Philatelic Traders’ Society Awards 2022
We have received the official release for the PTS Awards 2022.
London, December 2022: The Philatelic Traders’ Society is delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 PTS Awards. Launched in 2020 to celebrate the best in the business, the awards support creativity, legacy, and business growth. They are well respected within the philatelic community and award winners and runners up proudly display their PTS Award badges. To ensure their credibility, the awards are judged independently by a panel of experts. This year’s judges were Graham Beck, Exploring Stamps and well-recognised collectors Iva Mouritsen and Simon Martin-Redman. The awards also have a People’s Choice Award category voted for by the general public.
Ambassador of the Year. The winner should be someone who actively promotes the hobby and the trade in new and exciting ways.
Joint Winners: Bill Barrell & John Davies, Stamp Active
Joint Runners Up: PTS Council & Suzanne Rae
Legacy champion of the year (open to non PTS Members). The winner should be someone who is actively investing their knowledge to retain it for future generations to come.
Winner: Richard Philatelist
Joint Runners Up: Jack Preuveneers & James Gavin
PTS Contributor of the Year. The winner is someone who has contributed to the PTS but isn’t part of the immediate team and council.
Winner: Tony Shields
Runner Up: Charles Epting & Michael Cortese
Creative Concept of the Year. This is someone who is innovative within philately. Creating an exciting new concept for the trade and the hobby.
Winner: Museum of Philately Rowland Hill Medal
Runner Up: Bill Barrell
People’s Choice Awards 2022
Ambassador of the Year: John Davies, Stamp Active
Legacy Champion of the Year: Philatelovely
PTS Contributor of the Year: Stanley Gibbons
Creative Concept: Stamp Active
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and those who have won awards. A huge thanks to the Philatelic Exporter for their ongoing support with the awards, upcoming editorial feature on the winners and for providing prizes.
For more information, please head to www.thepts.net/ptsawards2022winners
EXFILNA 2023 and JUVENIA 2023
in Teruel next April
The 61st National Philatelic Exhibition and Spanish Championship, EXFILNA 2023, will take place in Teruel from 19 to 23 April 2023. It is organised by the Spanish Federation, FESOFI, and the Spanish Post (Correos). The exhibition is held under the patronage of the City of Teruel and the cooperation of the Royal Mint, the Aragonese Federation of Philatelic Associations, the Association of Dealers in Philately, Numismatics and Collectables, ANFIL, and EDIFIL publishers. It will be hosted in the Bank of Spain and the Youth Centre of the City of Teruel. Exhibits from Brazil, Italy and France are invited to participate.
Along with EXFILNA 2023, FESOFI also organises the 28th National Exhibition of Youth Philately and Spanish Championship, JUVENIA 2023.
Details on both exhibitions here: https://exposicionesfesofi.es
Guide to the Postal Stationery of Iraq (2nd edition)
A new book published by the Royal Philatelic Society London.
The purpose of this Guide to the Postal Stationery of Iraq, by Clayton Rubec and Akthem Al-Manaseer, is to stimulate interest in this aspect of Iraqi and Mesopotamian philately. We have tried to illustrate the range of postal stationery products used in Mesopotamia from the Ottoman and British administrations, and to list all postal stationery used in Iraq during the Kingdom of Iraq and Republic of Iraq periods. Covering the period from 1863 to 2021, this Second Edition of our text summarizes new information from many sources that is additional to that presented in our First Edition, as published by The Royal Philatelic Society London in 2016. Separately the information presented here can be very difficult to find. Illustrations are mainly drawn from the authors’ own collections except for a few images that were provided by additional sources. Maintenance of precise aspect ratio in the images is not guaranteed. Original printing colours are as estimated by the authors or as cited in published literature. A rarity index that includes four categories of the items is provided. While the authors cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information presented here, because some is drawn from secondary sources, we have made our best effort to do so.
Illustrative images and explanatory text are used wherever possible. The authors have taken some editorial licence to include a few items that stray from a strict definition of postal stationery. This recognizes that collectors may be interested in a broad spectrum of material that complements formally recognized postal stationery. A few examples are highlighted in Sections 2 and 3 of the many possible Ottoman, British India and other postal stationery items that may be found with postmarks from Mesopotamia. These sections are designed only to indicate the range of Iraq-related postal stationery that is possible for a collector.
Where known to the authors, specimens, essays, proofs and examples of printing errors are noted in the text, but more material might be added should they be confirmed. Information on forged items is included for clarity in a few sections. There are eight sections, three appendices and an Index that comprise the text.
If you like to read more and/or order the book, click here.
The Struggle for Dominance
on the Indian Subcontinent 1494-1819
A new book for the first time sheds light on the history and postal history of the Indian subcontinent up to the establishment of British rule.
The philately and postal history of the Indian subcontinent is rich and spans a long period of time. This makes India’s philately one of the largest collecting areas worldwide, encompassing numerous nations as well as feudal and contract states. The body of literature on Indian philately is large and consists out of numerous books and covers all conceivable topics. However, a period that still lacks attention is the fact that the Indian subcontinent was colonized by numerous states before the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Besides well-known nations such as Portugal and Great Britain, this also includes the Netherlands and – as the British’s great opponent for many years – France – as well as rather unknown nations such as Denmark or even the Austrian Netherlands (today’s Belgium).
India was one of focus topics at Monacophil 2022. As is a good tradition, a high-quality book is published on each main topic at the Monacophil. The topic “The Struggle for Dominance on the Indian Subcontinent 1494-1819 – History and Postal History” by Eric Scherer was chosen to accompany the India Salon. The corresponding book for the first time presents the development of the postal services of the various European nations colonizing the Indian subcontinent and places this development in the context of the struggle for dominance. British dominance finally was achieved with the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The British were the only nation that consistently built up domestic postal services and thus made an important contribution to consolidating their rule.
The book comprises almost 200 pages and is written in English and French. In each case, the historical developments are presented and then mirrored with the postal history of the respective nation. The result is a book that is not only of interest to philatelists, but also gives non-philatelists the opportunity to understand the interplay of history, philately and postal history on the basis of an exciting topic – a coffee table book on philately and postal history that is likely also attract the interest among non-philatelists. The book is of high quality and contains numerous historical illustrations and maps. The philatelic items shown come from leading collections of India philatelists around the world and were painstakingly compiled over two years. With the book, a large number of the world’s most important pieces from the various nations have now been brought together in one publication.
The book costs EUR 80 including postage and can be ordered from the Club de Monte Carlo, c/o Musée des Timbres et des Monnaies, Terrasses de Fontvieille, MC – 98000 Monaco. One can also find an order form online at https://www.monacophil.eu/MonacoPhil2022_CatalogueOrderForm.pdf