FIP Philatelic Literature Commission

At the World Philatelic Exhibition PORTUGAL 2010 in Lisbon, Congress Centre, Auditorium 2

1. Welcome and Roll Call
2. Approval of the minutes of our Commission Meeting in Bucharest (June 26, 2008)
3. Report on activities 2008-2010 (Bureau and Delegates)
4. Questions, Discussion, Suggestions
5. Next meeting

SAD NEWS

For the second time we have to start this Newsletter on a sad note – the death of Yves Tardy on 12^th March 2010 at the age of 77 years. Yves was President of the Fédération Française des Associations Philatéliques since 2006. His exhibit “Empire non-dentelé 1853-1862” was awarded Gold at ESPAÑA 2004 (FIP).

We also record the passing of Carl Stieg of California on 10^th January 2010. He was a widely acknowledged authority on the postal stationery of the Australian States and in 2001 he made an enormous contribution to philatelic research with publication of the definitive work Victorian Postal Stationery 1869-1917.

1. COMMISSION REPORTS TO CONGRESS

The Chairman of each FIP Commission is required to provide a report on the work of the Commission since the previous Congress. The report of our Chairman appears below.

REPORT TO THE 2010 FIP CONGRESS

Piraeus, 11 June 2010

The Philatelic Literature Commission is pleased to be able to make a successful report to Congress. 

Following the elections at the Bucharest Congress 2008, the Commission Bureau members have been allocated with the following tasks:

Chairman Anthony Virvilis (Greece) contacts with FIP Board, FIP Commissions, UPU, AIEP and AIJP, seminars, website and co-ordination of Bureau activities, 

Secretary Norman Banfield (New Zealand) general administration, invitations, preparation of agenda, keeping of minutes, list of delegates, Commission Newsletter, record management, relations with FIAP and delegates of FIAP countries, 

Bureau members Liu Jia Wei (China) responsible for Literature written in East Asian languages, Eric Hamberg (Sweden) responsible for Bureau projects, Michael Dixon (USA) relations with FIAF and delegates of FIAF countries,  and Karl-Fanz Lindner (Germany) relations with FEPA and delegates of FEPA countries. The last two were appointed by the Chairman.

At first we would like to pay tribute to the Commission's losses, namely Charles Peterson, past Chairman and Yves Tardy, our newly appointed delegate from France. Both will be missed.

Delegates

One of the first concerns was the increase of FIP countries represented in our Comission. We are happy to report that, till today, the new recruited delegates appointed by the national Federations, amount to 10, increasing the countries' number represented in our Commission to 63. 

Website

Following the request of our past Bureau member Toke Norby for someone else to undertake the task of Commission's website, we have, with their kind permission and support ,succesfully and efficiently transferred it to the domain of the Hellenic Philotelic Society and Anthony Chazapis was offered to undertake the role of new webmaster, on a voluntary basis.

In order to enhance the spread of the philatelic knowledge and the promotion of the Philatelic Literature we have initiated three projects:

Project 1 List of Large Gold and Gold medals awarded to Literature exhibits in FIP or FEPA-FIAF-FIAP exhibitions. Despite the fact that we already have the specific data, we did not manage, due to overload, to upload them to the Commission's website. It will be done shortly.

Project 2 List of Literature Awards in FIP member countries. So far five countries have responded. In addition, we have uploaded the Literature Awards of the three Continental Federations as well as the list of FIP medal recipients for research.

Project 3 List of philatelic periodicals at present published in every country.  So far 29 countries are listed, showing a panorama of the philatelic press worldwide.

In addition to the above, Brian Birch Archives are expanding each year. They contain today:

An Introduction, Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers (1.768 pages), Philatelic Bibliophile's Companion (739), Philatelic Translations (218), Philatelic Bookplates (586), Current-Awareness and Retrospective Indexes (193), Bibliography of Periodicals (568) and a Bibliography of his General Literature (288).

Thanks to the infatigable Brian Birch, there are in total 4.361 pages of immense wealth of information for the researcher and student of Philatelic Literature alike, which are increased every year by 10% at minimum.

Newsletter

Our Secretary, with the help of our Commission's delegates, has published the last two years 4 Newsletters (including July 2010). The Commission's Newsletter, full of news, is sent to all delegates, member Federations, major Philatelic Organisations etc, and, at the same time, is uploaded to our website.The Newsletter is a vital forum for information, appropriate place to exchange ideas etc and all delegates are asked to support it, providing their contribution to the Secretary.

Exhibitions

During 2008 the philatelic world enjoyed 5 international exhibitions under FIP or Continental Federations patronage where the Literature Class was included. At these shows, 2 Large Gold and 24 Gold medals were awarded to Philatelic Literature entries.

In 2009, we had 6 shows where 2 Large Gold and  16 Gold medals were given.

In 2010 we shall have 5 exhibitions of that kind. The first 2 (ANTVERPIA and LONDON) have already in their Palmares 3 Large Gold and 17 Gold medals. We sincerely hope the next exhibitions to come this year, to have similar good results.

Youth Literature

The Commission for Youth Philately has initiated the first Youth Literature Award-a competition for books or articles, including web or electronic publications, written by young authors up to age 21 years., which is fully supported by our Commission. The first awards shall be given in PORTUGAL'10, next October.

Contacts

Contacts have been maintained with individual delegates on a one to one basis through emails and the list of delegates is kept fully up to date due to our Secretary; the latest version can be found on our website. Also of importance, close contact is maintained with most of the Chairmen of the other FIP Commissions and, particularly, with the President of AIJP Wolfgang Maassen, whom we will continue to support in his tasks and initiatives. 

I would like to express my sincere thanks for the collaboration offered to Paulo Comelli, FIP Director responsible for our Commission, the Commission Bureau members, the Commission delegates, the Commission's Secretary, and our Webmaster and, finally, Brian Birch who has entrusted his valuable Archives with the Commission's website.

Anthony Virvilis
Chairman

2. BUREAU MEMBERSHIP

We welcome to new Delegates: Ivan Martinas from Croatia, Magdy Moukhtar from Egypt and Patrick Choy from Singapore. 

With this Newsletter is an updated list of Commission Delegates as at 1 July 2010.

Please check this list and if there are errors or omissions please advise the Secretary. It is very difficult to keep track of all the changes in postal and email addresses and is very time consuming if there are problems in sending emails. 

3. WEBSITE – WHAT IS NEW

The following items are new or have been updated:

• Delegates Addresses – updated
• Newsletter for July 2009
• Under ‘History’ – Continental Literature Awards and Awards per Country

4. PROPOSED ADDITION TO THE ‘GUIDELINES’

Judging of CDs

In the last Newsletter it was suggested that some guidance is required when judging CDs and it was proposed to add a note to the Guidelines. 

The suggestion made to the Commission was that this should come under the heading of Treatment of Contents or Authorship. The only comment received from Delegates was that this aspect should come under Technical Matters and not Authorship. The reason given was that Treatment of Contents or Authorship is how well the author has managed to put the work together so that it can be understood and used by the student. 

The previous suggestion was:

JUDGING OF CDs

The marking system is the same as for hardcopy literature.  However, there are differences.

Technical Matters: At 15% would include such things as ease to load, compatibility with your software (even though nominally the same software, some CDs can be difficult or nigh impossible to open depending on the country). Clarity of images, use of contents page, index etc are all important considerations, but all this is fairly logical.

Treatment of Contents or Authorship 40%: This is  where the big difference comes - 'authorship' is how well has the author managed to put it together so that it can be understood and used by the student.  For a CD to gain higher marks, it must use the unique features of a CD.  For instance, has it got a search capability, one of the key matters for electronic literature.  If it is just a cheaper form of publishing than a hardcopy book, it would not score highly on authorship.  What we should be looking for is somebody who understands and uses the unique features of electronic media.

Research (40%) and Presentation (5%) are the same standards as we use for books.

The new suggestion is:

JUDGING OF CDs

The marking system is the same as for hardcopy literature.  However, there are differences.

Technical Matters: At 15% would include such things as ease to load, compatibility with your software (even though nominally the same software, some CDs can be difficult or impossible to open depending on the country). Clarity of images, use of contents page, index etc are all important considerations. For a CD to gain high marks under this heading, it must use the unique features of a CD.  For instance, has it got a search capability, one of the key matters for electronic literature.

Treatment of Contents or Authorship 40%, Research (40%) and Presentation (5%) are the same standards as we use for hard copy books.

Could Delegates please give their views on this proposal so that a paragraph can be added to the Guidelines for judging. Please email the Chairman at anvirvilis@yahoo.gr and the Secretary at normanb@xtra.co.nz so that comments can be combined and put to the Bureau members.

5. CHARLIE PETERSON PHILATELIC LITERATURE LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

At its meeting on 23 February 2010, the APS Board considered the Charlie Peterson Philatelic Literature Life Achievement Award to recognize an individual’s achievements in furthering philatelic knowledge through philatelic literature. The Award will honour achievements through philatelic publication (in print and electronic media), editorship, or the judging of philatelic literature. The five person selection committee shall comprise current and former APRL presidents supplemented by members nominated by the APS President. The Charlie Peterson

Philatelic Literature Life Achievement Award will be presented annually at Stampshow. 

6. EXHIBITION RESULTS

For the exhibition results a few more titles than normal are listed – this shows that a lot of good books are being published each year. As an exhibitor and as a judge it is essential to have access to philatelic literature. As a judge I was told “Read, read, read”.

LONDON 2010

The Literature Class included only Catalogues and Handbooks – no journals.

Catalogues – one Large Gold and two Gold awards.

- Ulrich Ferchenbauer, Austria: Österreich 1850-1918 Spezial Katalog 96 points, Large Gold

- EDIFIL, SA, Spain: Specialised catalogue of Stamps of Spain and Colonies: Volumes I - III  93 points, Gold

- Fiorenzo Longhi, Italy: Aerofilia Italiana Catalogo Storico Descrittivo 1898-1941 Second Edition 92 points, Gold

The titles and the awards suggest that in some cases there is little difference between a specialised catalogue and a handbook.

Handbooks – one Large Gold and 10 Gold awards.

- American Philatelic Society, USA: Understanding Transatlantic Mail 95 points, Large Gold

The Gold awards were:

- Ziya and Bulent Agaogullari and Pabuccuoglu: Illustrated Ottoman-Turkish Postmarks 1840-1929 90 points

- Manfred Amrheim, USA: Philatelic Literature, A history and Select Bibliography from 1861: Volume 4, Europe less Greece and Turkey, Balkans, Nordic and the UK: 90 points

- Mario Carloni-Cercená, Italy: Storia Postale del Dodecaneso 90 points

- Kenneth G Clark, UK: The History & Postal History of Japan’s Wars: Volume II 90 points

- Hugh Feldman, UK: U.S. Contract Mail Routes by Water (Star Routes 1824-1875) 92 pts

- Grear Britain Philatelic Society, UK: Discovering Seahorses 90 points

- Wolfgang Maassen, Germany: The History of Philatelic Expertising in Germany 90 points

- Damir Novakovic, Croatia: The Stamps and Postal History of Trieste, Pola, Fiume, Istria and Slovene Littoral under Yugoslav Military Administration 1945-1947 90 points

- The Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation, Canada: The Large Queen Stamps of Canada and Their Use 90 points

- Vaccari RRL, Italy: Letter Mail from and to the Old Italian States 1850-1870 will full colour illustrations by M Mentaschi and T Mathà 93 points

7. AROUND THE WORLD

ARGENTINA from Orlando Eloy Corres

2009 was a busy year for collectors, exhibitors and authors with many important activities, including exhibitions and press releases organized by both FAEF Philatelic Literature Commission and FAEF Member' Societies. The following is a short review:

NATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

The JUVENEX 2009 National Exhibition of Youth Philately, One Frame and Philatelic Literature was held in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, on 24-28 November 2009. Entry required just one copy of a book or periodical. There was NO entry fee. 

            The publications go into a philatelic library of Philatelic & Numismatic Societies and Municipal Museum of Río Grande, and are available to members of all societies from provincial state of Tierra del Fuego, in south extreme of Americas, near to Antarctica. 

          The Jury of Philatelic Literature was Dr Eliseo Rubén Otero (FIP judge) and Orlando Eloy Corres (FIAF judge). There were 27 entries: 14 Books / handbooks, 12 Periodicals and 1 Article. The top awards were:

Judging is to FIP rules but as a national exhibition, medal levels are one step higher.

A full list of the entries and awards can be found on the Federación Argentina de Entidades Filatélicas FAEF website - www.faef.org.ar  [Ed: Also some photographs!]

Muestra Regional de Literatura Filatélica Rosario 2009 (Philatelic Literature Regional Exhibition Rosario 2009). This Non Competitive exhibition was held in Rosario, province of Santa Fe, from October 28 to November 1st, 2009, celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Reseña Filatélica" magazine, organized by Asociación de Cronistas Filatélicos de Argentina and Reseña Filatélica, sponsored by Correo Oficial de la República Argentina (Argentine Official Post), Municipality of Rosario and Federación Argentina de Entidades Filatélicas FAEF.

The exhibition catalogue listed 98 exhibits, including books, catalogues and handbooks, all published in Argentina.

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS. Argentinian literature was entered into China 2009 (vermeil and two silver medals) and Italia 2009 (a large silver and a silver).

Catalogues published in Argentina during 2009

• Sellos Postales Argentinos 1856-2010, by Daniel Hugo Mello Teggia.
  Stamps & postal stationery catalogue, full colour 536 pages, in Spanish.
• Catálogo Especializado de Sellos Postales de la República Argentina, by José Luis Götig and Guillermo Jalil. Argentine's stamps & postal stationery catalogue, full colour 504 pages, hardback, Spanish language.
• Catálogo de Matasellos Antárticos Argentinos / Argentine Antarctic Date Stamps Catalogue, by Salvador Alaimo, publ. by the author. 94 pages with illustrations, bilingual Spanish-English.
• Próceres y Riquezas I. Catálogo Especializado de Sellos Postales, by Darío Antonio Bardi, publ. Cefini, Biblioteca de Investiagación Nº 3. 80 pages with illustrations. Spanish language.
  

Books and handbooks published in Argentina during 2009

• La Línea. Rutas y Tarifas de la Compañía General Aeropostal y Air France (1928-1940), by Miguel Emilio Ravignani. Publ. Biblioteca Cefiba, 72 pages, with illlustrations. Spanish language.
• El Calentamiento Global, by Salvador Alaimo, publ. Grupo de Filatelia Naval, Biblioteca del Coleccionista Filatélico Nº 4. 60 pages with illustrations, bilingual Spanish-English.
• Mariposas de Papel. La Argentina a Través de sus Sellos Postales. by Graciela Nieto Ortiz, publ. by Gobierno de La Rioja. 800 pages with illustration, Spanish language.
• La Filatelia en la Meteorología Marina, by Salvador Alaimo, publ. Grupo de Filatelia Naval, Biblioteca del Coleccionista Filatélico Nº 5. 66 pages with illustrations, bilingual Spanish-English.
• Juvenex 2009, Exposición Nacional de Clase Juventud, Un Marco y Literatura Filatélica. Exhibition catalogue/palmares publ. by Sociedad de Filatelia y Numismática de Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego. 32 pages with illustration, Spanish language.
• Rosario 2009, Muestra Regional de Literatura Filatélica. Exhibition catalogue publ. by Asociación de Cronistas Filatélicos de Argentina. 16 pages with illustration, Spanish language.
  

Magazines, bulletins and newsletters published in Argentina during 2009

A total of 18 different titles with the number of issues during the year –

Electronic bulletins and newsletters published in Argentina during 2009

• La Hojita - Noticias Scouts filatélicas, electronic journal - 18
• Boletín Electrónico Podium, electronic bulletin - 12
• El Reverso, electronic bulletin 1 

BELGIUM

Monacophil 2009 Catalogue: With the opportunity of Monacophil 2009 dedicated to the Belgian Philately, its president Patrick Maselis undertook the difficult task of preparing six books on Belgian philatelic subjects not studied before. The result was magnificent. 

The books of large format in French and English with superb illustrations covering 2.690 pages are the following:

Dr. Jacques Stes: 1849-1949 Essais de Belgique, Catalogue raisonne des essais de timbres de Belgique– 849-1949 Belgium proofs, Descriptive catalogue of the proofs of the Belgian stamps,

Claude J. P. Delbeke RDP: La Poste Maritime Belge, La poste transatlantique (Nord & Sud). La relation Belgique-Congo, Les liaisons transmanches Belges -The Belgian Maritime Mail, Transatlantic maritime mail (North & South), The connection Belgium-Congo, The Belgian cross Channel connection,

Patrick Maselis, Vincent Schouberects, Leo Tavano: Histoire postal de l'enclave LADO - Postal history of the enclave LADO,

Dr. Jan Huys, Pierre Kaiser: Royaume de Belgique, Les destinations etrangères au depart de la Belgique durant le regne du roi Leopold I, 1849-1865, Affranchisement avec les Epaulettes, les Medaillons et l'emission de 1865, 

Luk van Pamel: 1 centime medaillon 1861-1866,

Henk Slabbinck RDP: Roue Ailee - Winged wheel

CHINESE TAIPEI

Two books published in 2010 are:

Atlas of Official Value-declared Envelopes in Taiwan Postal District (1951-2010) by Jung-I Yang, 240 pages, hardbound, all-colour in Chinese with English summary of each chapter

China Junk – Indicia Postal Cards (1914-1936) by Huei-Ching Ho, 226 pages, hardbound, all-colour in Chinese with English summary of each chapter.

[With acknowledgment to the FIP Postal Stationery Commission Newsletter July 2010.

Further details from the Commission’s website www.postalstationery.org

CROATIA from Ivan Martinas

Books recently published in Croatia include:

Stamps and Postal History of Trieste, Pola, Fiume, Istria and Slovene Littoral under Yugoslave Military Administration 1945-1947 by Damir Novakovic. In English, an extremely detailed handbook and priced catalogue, detailed illustrations and plating of the stamps and overprints, cancellations and covers, in color, received a Gold at ITALIA 2009, Alpe-Adria 2010, ANTVERPIA 2010 and LONDON 2010, 2009, 890 + 21 pages

Philatelic societies that have magazines are: HFD Karlovac, HFD Zadar, FD Poštar Zagreb, HDOFM Zagreb, HFD Zagreb and FD Arena Pula.

The Croatian Philatelic Federation publishes: Hrvatska filatelija (four times a year) and Glasnik HFS (monthly). CPF has an internet page: HYPERLINK www.hfs-cpf.hr www.hfs-cpf.hr 

DENMARK

Our former webmaster and Board member Toke Norby published his new authoritative book on 30 ores provisional 1955-1956 in 256 fully coloured pages.

The Crawford medal of the Royal Philatelic Society London: this renowned medal was awarded this year to Mrs. Michele Chauvet (France) for her book Les Colonies Françaises, Tarifs et Service Postal 1848-1878, Les Colonies d'Afrique, published in 2009 (520 pages).

It is the second volume of a three volume set, the first Les Colonies d'Amerique (440 pages) published in 2008 and the third Les Colonies d' Oceanie to be published in 2010.

GREECE

Prolific philatelic author John Daes has recently published privately two new interesting studies:

An eye on the Administrative Seals of the General Post Office 1801-1901, pages 688, 2008,

and

The Postmarks of Attica, 2^nd vol. with Annex, pages 529 and 155 respectively, 2009.

ICELAND from Halfdan Helgason

The Icelandic Philatelic Federation has launched its website http://www.is-lif.is

Since 1998 the Federation has published a Stamp Magazine - Frimerkjabladid - a beautiful paper all in colour, which content can be seen on its website. We welcome you to have a look. Articles are a mixture of news, new issues and serious articles – in the latest issue: postal stationery, the “ĺ GILDI ’02-‘03” overprints and the design of the 1948 Hekla volcano issue!

It is in Icelandic but well illustrated.

JAPAN

Competitive Philatelic Literature Events in JAPAN ( 2009 Season)

There are two national exhibitions every year in JAPAN - both include Literature: the “ALL Japan Stamp Exhibition” in April with patronage of Japan Post Co. Ltd. and “Japan Philatelic Exhibition (JAPEX)” in November with patronage of Japan Philatelic Society, Foundation.

All Japan Stamp Exhibition’09: There were 13 entries( 8 Books and 5 Periodicals ) in total. This year the highest award was a Gold medal + special prize to The French Post Office in Yokohamao by Jun Ichi Matumoto. (The gold medal in Literature Class in this show is the second time. The first example was in 2001.) 

Japex’09: There were 22 entries( 7 Books, 13 Periodicals and 2 CD ). Receiving the highest award of Large Vermeils were: Japanese Occupation Issue of China  by Yoshimasa Kojima, and The History & Postal History of Japan Wars Volume 2 by Kenneth G. Clark.

Postal History of Brazil 1809-1877: In May 2010 Yukihiro Shoda has published this book based on his eight frame exhibit. The text of the book is in Japanese followed by a reduced size photocopy of his exhibit. Also included is a CD with the exhibit in colour – this can be read easily. The headings on the pages of the black and white photocopy allow it to be followed and then the detail of the text and covers can be seen on the CD. This approach avoids the high cost of printing 128 pages in colour but allows the exhibit to be viewed easily. Lists of references are provided at the end of each chapter and at the end of the text.

NEW ZEALAND: 

The 12^th New Zealand National Philatelic Literature Exhibition will be held in Palmerston North on 19 March 2011. Notices will be sent out in September. Judging is to FIP rules but as a national exhibition, medal levels are one step higher.

A list of the entries and awards for previous exhibitions can be found on the FIP Philatelic Literature Commission website - fipliterature.org  

SOUTH AFRICA

A new book about "Thematic Exhibiting" has just been published by Wobbe Vegter. The author is an experienced Thematic exhibitor with Large Vermeil and Gold medal awards nationally and internationally. The book in 64 pages explains the hows and whys of thematic exhibiting under a number of headings. See website http://wvegter.hivemind.net 

Contact Wobbe Vegter at wvegter@xsinet.co.za 

SWEDEN

XpoNAT Publications

The Swedish Philatelic Federation publishes a series of qualified exhibits on Swedish Traditional philately and Postal History. To date nine parts have been produced with parts I-V available only on DVD. 

Part I Sweden Gustav V Right Profile

Part II Swedish Local Postal History

Part III Sweden Coat of Arms & Lion Type 1858-1872

Part IV Sweden Postage Due Mail before 1892

Part V Sweden King Oscar II 1885-1911

Part VI Airmail within, to and from Sweden 1809-1930

Part VII Swedish Postal History

Part VIII Sweden: The Deliveries of 4 Skilling Banco 1855-1858

Part IX Swedish Letter Mail to Foreign Destinations from the 18^th Century to UPU

The last book is the exhibit of Gunnar Nilsson and has been awarded three Large Gold medals – Philakorea 2002, Bangkok 2003 and Washington 2006. The 

These are available from the Swedish Philatelic Federation – email: info@sff.nu

The Philatelic Journalist

The official organ of the Association Internationale des Journalistes Philateliques (AIJP) has been upgraded in large format with excellent coloured illustrations and rich contents, as always. Congratulations are due to Michael Maassen and to the President of the Association Wolfgang Maassen.

8. NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS

This is your Newsletter but we do need contributions from you. The aim is to publish two issues each year – so please send us something about philatelic literature events and news in your country, preferably by email – to the Secretary, Norman Banfield:

- email address normanb@xtra.co.nz

- postal address: 14 Rata Road, Raumati Beach, Kapiti 5032, New Zealand.

Thank you to those who have contributed to this issue.

9. EMAIL ADDRESSES

Contact by email is becoming normal today – if you receive this Newsletter by post it means we do not have an email address for you. If you have one, please advise the Secretary, Norman Banfield at: normanb@xtra.co.nz

Edited by Norman Banfield