Index to the Philatelic Translation
Series of Translations

Although this document is only intended to exist in electronic form, I find it very convenient to have a hard copy to hand. It is easier to refer to a book than wait the five or ten minutes it takes to start up and close down a computer, just to obtain a single reference or check a fact. Books also give you the big picture of the document as a whole rather than the small-screen glimpses we have all got used to. Accordingly, I printed and had bound a copy of this document in February 2006, which I have called the First edition, for convenience. Late in the same year, I decided to extend the scope of the document to include my other philatelic translations and changed the name of the document from Index to the Philat. Trans. Series of Translations to its current title. This lead me to print a Second edition to record the change. Henceforth, I will have a copy bound each January, or thereabouts, provided the document has increased in size by at least ten percent since the previous printing. At the same time I will send an update to the web files on http://fipliterature.org, where the electronic version of this document is hosted. Since printing and binding is quite an expensive undertaking, I donate the obsolete bound volumes to important philatelic libraries round the world.

1^st edition, February 2006:- A single bound copy of 125 pages. It was donated to the Western Philatelic Library of Sunnyvale, California, when it was replaced in my library by the 2^nd edition.

2^nd edition, January 2007:- A single bound copy of 132 pages. To be donated to the Collectors Club of New York, when it is replaced in my library by the 3^rd edition

3^rd edition, December 2008:- A single bound copy of 191 pages. It was donated to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library of Denver, Colorado, when it was replaced in my library by the 4^th edition. This edition was requested earlier than usual by Anthony Virvilis, the incoming President of the FIP Literature Commission.

4^th edition, January 2010:- A single bound copy of 218 pages. It was donated to the American Philatelic Research Library of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, when it was replaced in my library by the 5th edition.

5^th edition, January 2010:- A single bound copy of 218 pages. It was donated to the National Philatelic Society of London, UK, when it was replaced in my library by the 6th edition. After I retired in 2009, the voumes dated 2010 were the first ones produced by a contract printer. A second copy of this document was produced in error. Rather than waste it, I bound the two copies and designated this copy the fifth edition.

6^th edition, January 2011:- A single bound copy of 240 pages. It was donated to the Royal Philatelic Society London, UK, when it was replaced in my library by the 7th edition.

This work is dedicated to

Betty Howarth

Over the period 1972 to 2004, Betty translated many hundreds of philatelic articles, extracts from books and even complete books for me, never once accepting any recompense. She produced most of the first five hundred translations which follow, including virtually all of the longer ones.

Both I and the philatelic community are forever in her debt.

Foreword

In spite of my just having spent the previous three years of my life as an undergraduate in the Department of Metallurgy in the University of Liverpool, I registered for a postgraduate Master of Engineering Degree in 1970. The subject of my researches - Nitriding steel components without a deleterious surface layer of nitrides, the so-called white layer, - was very well covered in the scientific literature and I soon amassed a large number of technical papers, many of which were published in foreign languages. Over the two years of my research, I became adept at finding existing translations of these technical papers, to the extent that I subsequently published an article on the subject in a specialist library periodical(1).

Inevitably, there were papers of which no translation existed and here I made use of the services of the Engineering Faculty's Librarian Betty Howarth who used the quiet periods of her duties to produce translations for the Faculty staff.

Although I have found other sources for translations from the more-difficult languages, notably the American Philatelic Society's Translation Service - run for so many years by Dmytro Bykovetz, she has produced the majority of the first 500 translations listed in this Index. Undoubtedly, this work must be dedicated to Betty Howarth with thanks from a grateful student.

Starting somewhat belatedly with Translation 400, I decided to add the translator's name to the credits on each translation. Wherever possible, I have added the appropriate name retrospectively. However, many of the American Philatelic Society's translators work anonymously which, coupled with my suspect memory, means that many entries will never have the translator's name added.

Finally, I must thank Francis Kiddle who offered to host this and other unpublished documents relating to my long-term projects, on the FIP Literature Commission web site at http://fipliterature.org.

Brian John Birch
Standish, UK

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