Sunday, February 24, 2008

2008 Austrian-Hungarian season in philatelic press

May the 90 years celebrations of World War One ending and - with it - the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have inspired philatelic press? In any case, it is difficult to believe in mere coincidences: the four British and French magazines are talking about the philatelic and postal history of this part of Europa.

On the Northern shores of the Channel, the sexagenarian British Austrian Philatelic Society is leading the movement. Its honorary secretary wrote for Stamp Magazine of February 2008 a general articles on the Empire and its many philatelic parts, followed by Adrian Keppel's article about the centenary 1908 stamp issue for the 60th birthday of Franz-Joseph coronation. The following month, Gibbons Stamp Monthly opens its pages to the APS members with five articles: ideas for Austrian collections, Vienna's poste restante and pneumatic post, postage due and personalised stamps of Austria. The magazine plans to publish such special features prepared by philatelic associations regularly.

On Southern Channel shores (i.e. France), sculptor and politic specialist of national symbols (including postage stamps) Michel Coste animates the move on the other side of the Empire, in March 2008 issues. In L'Écho de la timbrologie, after a long reflexion on the renewal of postage stamp image thank to the numerization, he presents the main lines of his Panorama des timbres-poste de Hongrie, a timeline presented research of the evolution of Hungarian stamps. It is a sequel of the same work for stamps of France that can be watch at the Musée de La Poste in Paris. In Timbres magazine, the same Coste develops the evolution of Hungarian definitive stamps, from the same Panorama, and with hints for some further studies for definitive stamp evolution in the other Eastern European countries.

Have good reading and long thoughts.

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