the philatelic writing of reports.pdfa4 1 report re9 2006 april philatelic bulletin poll -results...

The Philatelic Writing ofGlenn H Morgan

REPORTS AND POLLS

First edition. Collated by the author in 2015,the 175th anniversary year of the postage stamp.

Copyright © Glenn H. Morgan FRPSL, UK.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder and publisher.

Glenn H Morgan asserts his rights as set out in sections 77 and 78 of the CopyrightDesigns and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work wherever it is

published commercially and whenever any adaptation of this work is published orproduced, including any sound recordings or files made or based upon this work.

The information contained within this publication was accurate to the best of the author'sknowledge at time of original publication. The author and publisher make no guarantee asto, and assume no responsibility for, the correctness, sufficiency or completeness of such

information.

YearMonth / Season Title of Literature Item

Publication / Publisher Page Size Pages Type

GHM Ref

1993 - NPS Library: Report 1992-93 Season Private Circulation

A4 6 Report re1


A4 1 Report re2


A4 1 Report re3

1999 - NPS Library: Milestones 1936-2003 Private Circulation

A4 2 Report re3a

2000 June The Stamp Show 2000 Literature Reading Area: A Record

Private Circulation

A4 3 Report re4

2000 - NPS Library: Report 1999-2000 Season

Private Circulation

A4 1 Report re5

2001 - NPS Library: Report 2000-01Season

PrivateCirculation

A4 1 Report re6

2004 - Philatelic Bulletin Poll - Results and Comments regarding 2004

Private Circulation

A4 7 Report re7


A4 1 Report re8


A4 1 Report re9

2006 April Philatelic Bulletin Poll -Results regarding 2005 programme

Philatelic Bulletin [GB]

A5 5 Report re10

2006 May Philatelic Bulletin Poll - A selection of voters' views regarding 2005


A5 5 Report re11

2006 - The NPS Library Today and Tomorrow Stamp Lover [GB]

A4 2 Report re12

2006 - The William Parmenter Bequest Stamp Lover [GB]

A4 2 Report re13


A4 2 Report re14

2006 - The NPS Library Today and in the Future

Unpublished A4 2 Report re15

2007 April Philatelic Bulletin Poll - Results regarding 2006 programme


A5 2 Report re16

2007 May Philatelic Bulletin Poll -A selection of voters' views regarding 2006


A5 2 Report re17

2007 28 June The NPS Library Open Day 2007 Stamp Lover [GB]

A4 2 Report re18

2007 - The Specialist: Advanced Collector One Year On

Royal Mail's Website

A4 1 Report re19


A4 1 Report re20

The Librarian 1992-93 Season Staffing - During my first year in office, I have received tremendous help from members of the Library staff. I wish, therefore, to place on record my thanks to those who have given so generously of their time and knowledge for the benefit of the NPS. Without this assistance the Library simply could not function. My thanks, then, go to David Beech, Ian Crane, Ted Halliday, Dick Pratt, George Smith, Bill Stone, Richard West and Roy Wright. Special thanks and congratulations must go to our Deputy Librarian, Mr Whittaker, whose substantial contribution over a period of some fifteen years was marked by an Honorary Life Membership by Council. To our newest recruit, Mrs Elizabeth Graham, I say 'welcome aboard'. Work Undertaken - A considerable number of tasks have been completed (largely behind the scenes) in the past twelve months. Much of this work has involved sorting, boxing and identifying unwanted duplicate material for disposal via a literature auction to be held Q294. Highlights for the year include the following: o Thousands of donated journals have been checked against holdings and gaps filled. o Several dozen new monographs and handbooks have been acquired either by gift, purchase or by direct approach to author or publisher. o Almost 500 books donated by a public library have been sorted and those not already held are ready to be catalogued and added to NPS holdings. o Hundreds of new magazines and specialist journals have been put on the shelves. o The Library office was redesigned to give more usable space and improved security and both the Library and office were redecorated and recarpeted. o A committee was established that appraised the Library facilities and came-up with several new ideas to improve services to members. These will be made known in due course once details have been approved by Council. o Day-to-day operations that are needed to ensure the successful running of the Library were undertaken. This included photocopying, replying to numerous postal and personal enquiries, logging books in and out, cataloguing acquisitions, etc. o The book binding programme continued, with financial assistance being gratefully received from the British Philatelic Trust. Donations - This past year has seen sizeable donations of literature from the British Library Philatelic Collections and Stamp Magazine. Many individuals, societies, publishers and authors have also made gifts to the Library and the Librarian is extremely grateful for their generosity. It is appropriate here to mention that the NPS is always ready to accept unwanted philatelic literature, either to add to its holdings, to use in exchanges with other philatelic libraries or to sell in aid of Library funds if already held. Members are encouraged never to throw away anything because even one spare issue of a journal could complete a run and thus allow binding to be undertaken. ....and finally - The Library is there for your benefit. Please consider making more use of it. Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian

NATIONAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT FOR 1993/1994 SEASON The themes for this 1993/4 season report are very much ones of thanks and success. This success is headed by the literature auction that realised almost £5,000 from 580 lots. The Library Committee will ensure that the money is spent in a wise manner that will best enhance facilities and holdings. Thanks go to the members who participated by bidding, and to the many society helpers who made it happen by undertaking the numerous jobs involved - the enormity of their contribution cannot be understated. A great deal of work has already been undertaken since the sale, including sorting hundreds of commercial and specialist magazines and dozens of books and catalogues, in readiness for a 1995 auction. The binding sponsorship scheme has proved to be a most successful way for members to show their appreciation of the research facilities provided at the library. Status reports in Stamp Lover will keep members up to date on this important development and will list supporters. Thanks to those of you who have taken part so far. If you feel that you would like to participate, then please make contact. Thanks also goes the British Philatelic Trust for its generous on-going finacial support of the binding programme. On the people front, Bill Stone resigned from the Library Committee, so thanks are due to him for his valuable contribution over a long period. During the year, assistance has been received from Mrs Elizabeth Graham and Messrs Austin, Beech, Crane, Finlayson, Furnell, Halliday, Littlebury, Muldares (RJW- spell????), Pratt, Smith, Sylvester, West, Whittaker and Wright. Thank you all for making the Honorary Librarian's job that much easier by undertaking so many of the tasks that are required for the smooth running of a national specialist library. The 1994/5 season is scheduled to see continuing enhancements, including improved signage, the launch of a series of information sheets on holdings and services, rearrangement of shelving to help users find books more easily, not forgetting the second literature sale. Help is always welcomed, so if you can spare some time, please do not hesitate to come forward. Finally, if you have not visited the library at '107' for some time, do pop in and see the improvements made. However, as I write, we are still in the grips of railway industrial action, which, coupled with holidays, makes it important to remember to telephone before travelling long distances to ensure that the library will be open. Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian.

NATIONAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY LIBRARY REPORT 1994/5 SEASON I am pleased to report that the library has experienced another successful year in several areas. The main highlights have been: (1) our second literature auction, which raised circa £2,500; (2) the typing of hundreds of new index cards covering several aspects of our holdings; (3) improvements to signage; (4) that all books and monographs are now sorted into a straight A-Z order, with the name of the country clearly displayed on protruding cards and (5) the creation of a series of information sheets covering many aspects of our collections Other important work undertaken has included (a) the gradual repacking of auction catalogues to protect them; (b) the creation of a philatelic bureaux collection of bulletins from many overseas postal administrations; and (c) the removal to the stack room of all but the past two years-worth of foreign language periodicals, as they are scarcely ever consulted. On the staffing front, I have received tremendous help and support, as ever, from all members of the library committee, and others, so thanks to Elizabeth, Brian A, Brian S, David, Dick, George, Ian, Michael, Richard, Roy (to whom we send our best wishes for a return to better health), Ted, Tony, and not forgetting our stalwart Deputy Librarian, Mr Whittaker. I would add that most of what has been achieved in this past year would not have happened had it not been for these people. Much work still needs to be undertaken in several aspects of library holdings and areas for focusing on in the 1995/6 season includes (i) amalgamtion of all periodicals into a straight A-Z run by title; (ii) a major expansion of our binding programme to clear some of the substantial backlog, probably by taking on an additonal binding company to supplement the excellent work undertaken by Tony Finlayson. (Finding someone with the same quality of workmanship as Tony will not be easy); (iii) acquisition of (primarily) recently published books and monographs lacking from our holdings; (iv) preparation of the 1996 literature sale, probably to be held much later in the year; (v) creation of a philatelic exhibitions section, contents for which are currently in over thirty boxes in the basement. These contain many fascinating and unique articles covering the whole spectrum of philatley, and finally (vi) expansion of the shelving along the back wall and left hand side to provide more space. If you feel able to help in any way towards furthering the aims of the library, or, indeed, any other aspect of NPS work, such as the role of Treasurer or Secretary, then do not hesitate to contact the office. Glenn H Morgan Honorary Librarian

LIBRARY REPORT - 1995/6 SEASON Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian The 1995/6 season has been one of intense activity. None of this could have been achieved without the tremendous assistance of the library staff and my personal thanks goes out to each of them. Tragically, Roy Wright died and his help and friendship is missed. My thanks also to the supporters amongst the membership, be they helpers, donors or users of the library. Proposed activity detailed in the 1994/5 report was all achieved, plus much more, including: - moving the 3 glazed book cabinets into the outer office to increase open shelving space; - shelving the back and left hand walls; - setting shelving to a uniform A4 height to improve appearance and ease re-arrangement; - re-ordering all periodicals into one A-Z run, instead of several separate runs; - commissioning a 2nd bindery to increase the rate of binding to 350 volumes this year; - lotting preparation for the third literature auction, due to be held on Saturday, 19 October; - despatch of 350 literature request letters to secure new books/monographs at the cost of the initial letter and follow-up thank you postage only. 245 new items have resulted so far; - transferring over 2,000 index card records to a new computerised database of holdings; - repacking auction catalogue holdings to offer greater protection of contents; - sorting over sixty boxes of philatelic bureau new-issue information bulletins; - sorting and cataloguing our stamp exhibition holdings.

NPS COUNCIL MEETING 7 APRIL 1997 LIBRARIANS REPORT DONATION LETTER PROGRAMME: An update on successes: 540 letters requesting books, etc despatched 391 new items acquired for library at end of March with new items still arriving daily 367 letters of thanks despatched 907 letters despatched in total since scheme started £4,594 is the retail value of items acquired £353 is the cost to the NPS (postage only charged - stationery donated by GHM) Breakdown of Acquisitions: 004 Binding cases 010 Indexes to periodicals 002 Videos 015 Exhibition catalogues/bulletins/palmares 008 CDs 005 3.5" diskettes 008 Ongoing subscriptions to specialised or commercial journals 007 Ongoing subscriptions to books/monographs as published 074 Stamp catalogues 258 Books/monographs .ends NATIONAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY LIBRARY REPORT FOR 1996/7 SEASON The library continues to grow in physical size and philatelic importance. Highlights were: o Hundreds of periodicals and books/monographs added to holdings, most the result of donation request letters despatched throughout the year; o The Librarian represented the society at PACIFIC 97 and at the IPLA (International Philatelic Libraries Association) meeting. New contacts and many donations resulted;

o A 4 page listing of missing periodicals circulated to 1,000 members and societies worldwide, resulting in 128 gaps being filled, with dozens more already promised; o Computer-generated labelling of country/theme divider cards continued; o Thousands of duplicate journals sorted into title order and filed for exchanges; o Hundreds more index cards created and added to cabinets for self-service by users; o Manual records of holdings continued to be added to new library computer system, for eventual self-service use by users. As with all NPS roles, every library activity has been done by a loyal team of volunteers. I especially wish to thank Mrs Elizabeth Graham, Mr H Whittaker, Colonel Ted Halliday, Mr George Smith and Mr Michael Furnell for their regular attendance and help over the past year. Thanks also to Bill Stotton for his work with Elizabeth and Ted on computerising library records, and to our binding companies comprising Tony Finlayson and Blissets. My thanks to the British Philatelic Trust for its continuing support of our binding programme and to John Littlebury for all that he does for the NPS in his capacity as BPT Secretary. Finally, to the many donors, sponsors, suppliers and users of the library I give my thanks, for without you all, the facility would stagnate. I will conclude this report with two disappointments. Firstly, it will not be possible to hold a literature auction this year due to other commitments on previously available helpers. Is there a member willing to do this task and put something back into your membership, please? If not busy elsewhere, it is not onerous and can be done at your own pace with no strict deadlines. Secondly, I am disappointed that the library continues to be under-utilised considering the gems that it holds and the catchment area that its central London location offers. There has been a limit on the hours that we can open the library in the past three seasons due to lack of volunteer staff. The number of visitors and book borrowings has, not surprisingly, suffered as a result: Philatelic Season: 1990/1 1991/2 1992/3 1993/4 1994/5 1995/6 1996/7 Number of Users: 662 804 782 690 532 535 533 No. of Items Loaned: 567 478 458 512 467 402 408 Can you help me reverse this trend by helping to staff YOUR library, please? And do try to pop-in when time permits to see what we are all doing to make the facilities even better. Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian and Vice President

LIBRARY REPORT 1997/8 SEASON The highlight of the season was when the library team reached the finals of the prestigious Royal Mail Rowland Hill Awards in a British Philatelic Trust category. This was excellent recognition for the extensive voluntary work put in by Elizabeth Graham, Michael Furnell, Ted Halliday, George Smith, Ted Wilson and Mr Whittaker. Unfortunately, we lost the services of Mr Whittaker this year after nearly 2 decades of outstanding commitment to the society. His methodical way of working, intense knowledge of philatelic literature and his personal guidance to me is sadly missed. His many friends in the society wish him well. We suffered our first, and hopefully last, flood. It was fortunate that we escaped with minimal loss, thanks largely to the immediate help given by Susan and John from the Trust and NPS members who were on-site. To see Elizabeth and Ted with three umbrellas deflecting cascading water away from books must have added humour to an otherwise serious event. Library holdings continue to be improved, especially periodicals. This follows intense activity designed to fill gaps and add new titles to the shelves. Sincere thanks to our many supporters, whether they have given one missing copy of a magazine or hundreds, as is the case with Amos Press, Richard West and Norman Williams. Each donor has been written to and acknowledged in Stamp Lover. Special thanks go to the British Philatelic Trust for its continuing annual support of the library through the binding grant and in so many other ways. As we approach our centenary year, the library has much work to do, but I believe that we have probably never been in a better position to advance than we are now. The team looks forward to helping members in the year ahead and hopes that more collectors will take advantage of our facilities. Ending on a personal note, I cannot continue as a Vice President, but have enjoyed serving you in that capacity for the past three years. I wish my successor well. Glenn H. Morgan, Honorary Librarian

NPS LIBRARY (NPSL) REPORT: 1998/99 SEASON NPSL has experienced a successful year with much work accomplished and much still to do, as ever. I am fortunate in having a fine team supporting me and wish to thank Elizabeth Graham, Michael Furnell, Ted Halliday, Peter Mellor, Dick Pratt, David Sibley, George Smith, Bill Stotten and Ted Wilson for the sterling work that they each do for the society and for the library in particular. Without this voluntary service we could not function. Users are up on last year, which is encouraging, but work still needs to be done to get even more collectors to utilise the excellent facilities on offer. An Internet project has been started, which we hope will expose NPSL to a wider audience and an announcement in this regard will be made in due course. Adding our entire holdings to a Microsoft Access database continues apace. It is hoped that the year 2000 will see all items searchable on screen and on-line around the world, possibly even on sale as a CD-ROM, all enabling you to plan what you wish to see in advance of your actual visit. Individuals and organisations still amaze me with their generosity. We continue to receive excellent assistance and financial support from the British Philatelic Trust; whilst many friends and members of the society have been especially kind with their donations of philatelic literature this past season. We aim for each donation to be acknowledged, so please continue to bear us in mind and “think NPSL” if having a clear out at home, for we endeavour not to waste anything given to us. Pride of place this year under acquisitions must go to Argyll Etkin Limited who most generously donated their philatelic periodicals and exhibitions catalogue collections to us. Once the huge quantity has been fully sorted and amalgamated into our holdings, it will have substantially added to the status of our library. We are deeply grateful to them for entrusting this material to our care and for helping to make it available to generations of collectors to come. My team and I look forward to serving you in the year ahead. Glenn H. Morgan, Honorary Librarian, NPSL

NATIONAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY LIBRARY : MILESTONES SEASON No. OF No. OF YEAR USERS LOANS 1990/1 662 567 1991/2 804 478 1992/3 782 458 1993/4 690 512 1994/5 532 467 1995/6 535 402 1996/7 533 408 1990 Patrick J Frost librarian. 1991

Patrick J Frost Librarian. Resigned in September 1991. Work commitments prevented his continuing in position.

1991

Ian D Crane appointed librarian in September 1991. - Library Policy Document produced by Ian Crane. Dec Large Stamp Magazine donation of philatelic literature received. Dec Proposal to extend library into outer office area. 1992 - Precious ‘Brown’ Index microfilmed. Feb Library Five Year Plan prepared by Library Committee. Ian D Crane hands over the reigns at September AGM. Apr Library Rules displayed in library. Apr Day library usage fee raised to £2 from £1.50. £10 still for society bookings. Jul Camden libraries (Holborn) donation of around one ton of books!

1992

Glenn H Morgan appointed Librarian in September 1992. Nov Mr H Whittaker awarded Honorary Life Membership of the NPS. The precious BROWN index to periodicals was microfilmed. 1993 May Structural changes to library outer office undertaken. Jul Mrs Elizabeth Graham offers her services. Ex UCL cataloguer. Aug Newspaper Bay created in Stack Room. Mr Whittaker made Honorary Life Member in recognition of his work in the library over

many years. 1994 Jan Offsite store in Tabernacle Street vacated. Balance donated to BPT at Basingstoke. Apr Decision taken not to open library on Mondays. Apr NPM granted OK for its staff to use the library for its research. Apr (20th) Literature auction. Brian Sylvester auctioneer on the day. Dec Library security an issue. Some items ‘missing’. Many subsequently found misplaced. Dec Warning notice displayed regarding theft and resultant prosecution if caught.

1995 Mar Periodical binding sponsorship scheme initiated. 13 members responded immediately. Apr (Tues 25th) Second NPSL literature auction. Apr Shelving all adjusted to take A4 publications (previously all different heights). Apr Artificial split of Commonwealth and Foreign for books abolished. GB still separate. Singkle

A-Z run instituted, with projecting divider cards to help users. Apr Concern over lack of space and shelving. May Literature auction grosses £2,500 approx. May Library security issues discussed. May Library questionnaire on services produced. Jun £1,500 p.a. periodical binding grant from BPT awarded for three years. Aug Re-shelving of all English language periodicals undertaken as a single run. Aug (Mrs H A) Alma Lee donates index cabinet to library to mark resignation from Council. Oct Brass plaque affixed to The Alma Lee Cabinet. Oct First supply of library information sheets produced. Nov 80 boxes of duplicates prepared for 1996 literature sale. Nov NPS added to BL directory of national lending libraries. Nov PO Bureau material finally sorted and added to shelving. Brian Austin filled his estate car

with the material that GHM had sorted at home over many months. Dec Library Procedure Manual produced. Dec 100 book request letters written. Dec Quote for shelving for end wall £1442+VAT. Left wall £732+VAT from Serrotta. Dec Formulation of library staff duty rota. Bureau materials sorted for first time in years and shelved in Bureau bay. 1996 Jan 50 more book request letters written. Jan Duty librarian attendance fee set at £5 – deemed too little. Reviewed. Jan 20 page A4 listing of periodical titles held produced. Provided to APRL and BL. Feb Stampex multi-media show involved NPS library items loaned to show. May President concerned at volume of duplicate periodicals held. May Mr De Bono was expelled from NPS for library theft. May 100 more letters for books sent. May First consignment of periodicals for binding sent to new bindery. May GHM was invited to talk to European Philatelic Trusts. Cancelled! Jun Foreign periodical duplicates offered on fixed price sheet in Stamp Lover. Jun The “Alma Lee Cabinet” was donated by Alma Lee following her resignation from Council

and as a mark of her thanks for her time with the society. £300 value. Jun 16 boxes of philatelic literature donated by Richard West. Jun CAPEX IPLA meeting attended by 20 librarians, including GHM + IDC+DRB. Jun William Parmenter donates £125 for Mexicana binding. Jun 50 more letters for books sent. 180 additions to library by scheme to this date. Jun Periodicals sorted into strict A-Z order by Ted Halliday. Jul Back and left-hand walls shelving installed by Serrotta. Oct (19th) saw 3rd literature auction. The three glazed cabinets moved from inside library to outer office. 1997 Nov Stack room vacated by BPT. Strong room vacated by NPS. Nov Nine boxes of literature donated by LNW and BL. Missing periodicals listing circulated to all NPS members with huge response from members. GHM represented NPSL at IPLA meeting at Pacifica 97. 1998 Jan In a few months, the Missing Periodicals exercise had netted 1280 additions to our holdings

at a cost of £120. 35 titles had their runs completed. Jan 2,885 books on computer at this stage. Developing well. Jan Council agrees to give library £1,500 p.a., towards binding, from membership subs source.

Feb Mr Whittaker resigned after 17 (approx) years. Card, radio/cassette and book token sent. Feb GHM interview in Philatelic Bulletin. Highlighted library. Flood in library outer office and basement. Not serious. The NPSL library team were nominated as finalists in the Royal Mail Rowland Hill Awards

ceremony at BAFTA. 1999 “NPSL” coined by GHM as a more modern name for the library. April Negotiations began with GBPS via Ian Harvey for them to donate their library to NPSL. May Argyll Etkin made a donation of their exhibitions and periodicals collections. These amounted

to circa 185 linear feet of shelving. A preliminary sort revealed at least 50 new titles to be added to our collections. No strings attached to acquisition. Peter, Ted W and Dick P undertook removal.

May NPS to run Stamp Show 2000 literature area. Potential for 300/500 new items for our holdings. Michael Furnell in charge of operation.

May Decision made to produce a CD-ROM of holdings in time for Stamp Show 2000. May Negotiations began with China PSL via Dick Pratt for them to donate their extensive library to

NPSL. June Display at RPSL for centenary resulted in closer liaison with NPS 2000 Jan 150 Half height A4 boxes donated by Charisma Colourprint for NPSL. Feb Major “donation” made to a recycling plant of duplicate holding that had refused to shift. Mch HSBC donated a £250 binding machine for NPSL use. Mch HSBC Creative studio redesigned NPS leaflet ready for TSS2000. April Charisma Colourprint generously donated 15,000 application forms for NPS use at TSS2000. May TSS2000. Major involvement of GHM precluded him from much other work. June Ten large boxes of books donated by BPT from TSS2000 for NPSL. June Donations to BL resulted in them being able to bind 36 volumes that were incomplete. 2001 Sep Ron Wood volunteered to be Periodicals Acquisitions Manager. Len Barnes working volunteered to help in library. Initially packing foreign language

materials. Sep Literature Auction cleared £434.43. Mike Thomson was auctioneer. Sep Minor “flood” in basement. Nothing of value lost to the torrent. Sep Binding Grant of £2,500 from BPT (Grant 6). Sep Council agreed to GHMs request that £500 per annum be given to NPSL from subscription

income. 2002 2003 CENTENARY OF NPSL.

TSS2000 Final Report on Literature Area

Introduction It is a requirement of the International Federation of Philately (FIP) that every exhibition under its patronage has an area set aside where visitors can access the literature entries. The National Philatelic Society (NPS) was approached by The British Philatelic Trust (BPT) last December to manage the literature reading area at The Stamp Show 2000 (TSS2000). It readily accepted the role and this Final Report contains a record of the facilities provided and the success of this feature of the show.

Staffing The area was under the overall control of Glenn Morgan, who had almost forty voluntary helpers working on the stand during the seven days of the show. He drew on the past experiences of those who had been involved with literature areas at the 1970, 1980 and 1990 London exhibitions, ensuring that best practices were adopted at TSS2000. - Public days used seven staff for each shift. (1 for book sales; 3 for book loans; 1 for Internet area; 2 for security) - Public days were broken into four shifts of 2.25 hours. (0945-1200; 1145-1400; 1345-1600; 1545-1800, plus 1745-2000 on Thursday late night opening)

Facilities The area comprised of 75 square metres, with:

- Five tables with twenty seats where visitors examined the competitive literature entries.

- Three PCs. The web site UKPHILATELY.ORG.UK was established during April and TSS2000 was the launch-pad for this exciting new development initiated by BPT. For technical telecom reasons, the site was made available on CD-ROMs, rather than being on-line. The feature attracted a lot of interest, but could probably have been promoted more both before and during the show. Limited staffing resources precluded this from happening.

- A large counter area where staff managed the loan of the literature entries. The basic procedure involved completing a simple form recording name and address details and the catalogue entry number. The book was then given to the visitor to read, under the supervision of security staff. It had been intended to charge a refundable deposit on the valuable books, but this proved to be unnecessary.

- A literature sales counter where books published by BPT and NPS were sold from. Over £250-worth of books were sold.

- Eight Display panels featured photographs of activities within the British Philatelic Centre. This helped to make a bare wall area more attractive and the aims of the centre became more obvious to visitors and potential new NPS members.

- ASCAT catalogue area. For the closing day, the NPS offered to staff this stand for the Association of Catalogue and Album Manufacturers. The feature was re-sited within the literature reading area,

giving the show a central focal point for literature. The NPS gained an additional sixty books for its library by undertaking this exercise, at no extra cost to anyone. It also gave ASCAT a show presence on a day when they were travelling back to Germany to prepare for WIPA in Vienna.

- NPS membership drive. Staff took the opportunity to advise visitors of the benefits of joining the society. Eight new members joined at the show, which must be seen as a bonus as the purpose of attending was not to overtly sell the NPS.

- Stamp Lover magazine. Approximately 1,500 back issues of the NPS magazine were given away to visitors to the stand. These copies are now in the hands of interested collectors, rather than cluttering the basement of Charterhouse Street. Additional new memberships may result.

-Special Prizes Cabinets. Two large glazed display cabinets held the special prizes awarded to exhibitors. They attracted a lot of interest from visitors and were able to be under constant supervision thanks to their position on the stand.

- Show information. Dozens of questions were answered about such issues as where the toilets were and where the Dr Who stand was to be found, etc.

- Message board. Visitors were able to leave messages on a Post-It Note board. Several messages resulted in collectors meeting friends at pre-arranged times.

- IPLA Gifts. Around a dozen library members of the International Philatelic Libraries Association (IPLA) visiting the show received a gift of several books for their respective libraries. This NPSL initiative has not been adopted at previous world exhibitions and it is hoped that it will set a trend.

- IPLA Package Collection Centre. Arrangements were made for IPLA members to leave unsealed packages and letters for friends and colleagues at the stand. This facility, which had been publicised in advance, was disappointingly not utilised by anyone.

- A meeting point. The stand acted as a central point for any collector, but especially NPS members, to meet-up.

Book Lending Statistics The 1990 exhibition at Alexandra Palace reported that in a ten day period 400 books had been lent to visitors for examination. Ten years on, with doom and gloom merchants claiming that the hobby is in decline, TSS2000 beat those figures in just seven days. The literature reading area staff lent 473 books to 202 visitors. The daily breakdown was:

DAY OF SHOW BOOKS LENT No. OF READERS MONDAY 12 3

TUESDAY 62 33 WEDNESDAY 70 35

THURSDAY 59 28 FRIDAY 115 40

SATURDAY 88 32 SUNDAY 67 31

TOTAL VISITORS 473 202

(The Monday resulted in very few people reading the books, which is quite normal for a first day, when visitors are most keen on buying from the dealers. Also, the £10 entry fee on day one will have deterred many visitors from attending the show.) The two most popular books given-out were the Large Gold work on Egypt and a huge Airmails tome.

It is believed that no books were lost during the period of the show, although a couple of items were never received from the judging panel, so were unavailable for examination by visitors.

Thanks On a personal level, I wish to express my thanks to Royal Mail, the British Philatelic Trust, my team of helpers and Opex for the support that they all provided to me both before and during the show. In particular, I wish to single-out Rachel Lonsdale of Royal Mail for ‘bearing with me’ over a lengthy period. Also, my thanks to Susan Ellis, Ian Harvey, David Huggins, Francis Kiddle, Dickie Pratt and Richard West for their varied and many contributions to the success of the literature reading area. The generous gift of the prestige booklets, miniature sheetlet and Millennium books was unexpected and drew many appreciative comments by my team of helpers and, indeed, myself. They instructed me to thank Royal Mail, which it gives me great pleasure to do here.

Conclusion Arranging and running the literature reading area involved a lot of work for what was only a very small part of the overall show. However, the effort was well worthwhile. Certainly, the many visitors to the stand were appreciative, which is the most important thing. It is not the purpose of this Final Report to comment on TSS2000 as a whole. However, it must be noted that it was a tremendous success. As the organiser, Royal Mail is to be congratulated and thanked by those who love philately for rescuing the event at such short notice. The show was of a world class standard and all that took part in its creation should be proud of this achievement. It was years ago when I last heard the hobby of stamp collecting being spoken of with such interest and enthusiasm by so many members of the non-collecting public. There is now a solid base on which to build for the future and this opportunity must not be lost.

(Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian, National Philatelic Society, London. 30 May 2000)

NPSL ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1999/2000 SEASON The 1999/2000 season was split into two halves. The second half of last year was spent on library matters; whilst the first half of this year involved website preparations and working on The Stamp Show 2000 literature reading area. Running a library involves more work than many will realise and our constantly improving reputation and an active acquisitions policy is putting the team under considerable strain. It is proving difficult to catch-up with the work in-hand, let alone get ahead of things. We clearly need more help. So, even if you can only commit to undertaking a ‘one-off’ small project, please contact me if you feel able to spare some time for the benefit of NPSL and your fellow members. The successful launch of the www.ukphilately.org.uk/nps website could not have happened without the generosity and support of the British Philatelic Trust. NPSL expresses its gratitude for this and its continuing help and funding of library activities. It is now possible to access an ever-increasing amount of NPSL holdings on the web, including books, monographs and periodicals. We look forward to further developing this resource over the coming months to include other aspects of our materials. TSS2000 preparations precluded the library team from doing much more than running the day-to-day operations. At the show we managed 40 staff in an area covering 75 square metres and the stand included glazed cabinets holding the special prizes, three PCs with the UKPhilately web site, seating for 24 readers and a book sales area. The main purpose of the stand was to lend the competitive literature entries and we lent 473 books to 202 readers during the seven days of the show. We acquired over 200 additional items for the library and as we also ran the ASCAT stand on the final day this resulted in a further 60 new catalogue additions for NPSL. Our auctioneer Mike Thomson kindly offered to prepare, lot and run a literature auction on behalf of the library, so please bid generously this afternoon as funds are in aid of NPSL and its periodical binding programme. Finally, but most importantly, on the people front it gives me pleasure to record my thanks to the library team for their many and varied contributions to the success of NPSL. Thanks also to those individuals, firms and philatelic organisations that made donations of time, money or literature for the library. We could not exist without your kind support. GLENN H MORGAN, Honorary Librarian, NPSL.

http://www.ukphilately.org.uk/nps

LIBRARY REPORT 2000-01 SEASON After the hectic activities surrounding The Stamp Show 2000, it was perhaps inevitable that the past season would be somewhat quieter. Much of the limited volunteer time was spent on consolidating our holdings, filling gaps and rearranging shelving and I gratefully acknowledge the time given so willingly by this small band of helpers. Infrequently used periodicals have been rehoused in the basement storage area in an attempt at creating space within the library itself. New materials continue to arrive at a startling rate and keeping-up with the day-to-day operation is proving to be a major challenge. The donations arriving from around the world continue to enhance the status of the library. Visitor numbers are steady and frequent help is offered to those users posing philatelic questions. The binding programme has been restarted and the financial assistance of the British Philatelic Trust is gratefully recognised in this respect. Without this major contribution, NPSL would not be in a position to conserve many of the hundreds of periodicals received annually. Finally, please remember that the library does not run itself. It is managed by unpaid members of the NPS who have made a conscious decision to put something back into their hobby. As with most aspects of life, there are “doers” and “takers” among our membership. If you are a “doer”, then why not consider offering a hand when you have a spare couple of hours – or perhaps even more regularly? All help is truly appreciated, for the existing team simply cannot cope with the volume of work that needs doing and we are having to cut back on what we want to achieve for you. Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian

Bulletin stamps poll Glenn H Morgan FRPSL announces your favourite stamps and Bulletin authors of 2004, and prize draw results IN DECEMBER you were invited to vote for your favourite set of special stamps of 2004, also your favourite individual stamp and Bulletin author. This was the 19th annual stamp poll and, as in previous years, a good response was received from almost 1,200 readers in all parts of the world. A number of respondents added comments and opinions to their voting form, and a selection of these is featured towards the end of this report. It would be interesting to see how different the results would have been if a similar number of non-collectors were approached for their views on the years’ stamp design. Do philatelists have a different eye for minuscule art to the rest of the population or is good – and bad – design seen by all in the same way? ………………………………………………………………………… Favourite set As always, points were allocated for each vote for the set; three points for first choice, two points for second, and one point for third. This enabled us to get a clear picture of the relative popularity of each issue. The voting was as shown opposite. The Woodland Animals set was the winner, with Classic Locomotives and Ocean Liners in second and third places. For interest, past winners were: 1987 Flowers; 1988 Linnean Society, 1989 Birds; 1990 Queen Mother; 1991 Maps; 1992 Wintertime; 1993 Autumn; 1994 Age of Steam; 1995 Christmas; 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII); 1998 Lighthouses; 1999 Scientists’ Tale; 2000 Tree and Leaf; 2001 Weather; 2002 London Bridges; and 2003 Extreme Endeavours. …………………………………………………………………………… Favourite stamps The Woodland Animals stamp showing a red squirrel was your favourite individual stamp, with the Woodland Animals Pine Martin design just a few votes behind in second place. The Ocean Liners RMS Queen Mary 2 design narrowly beat the Classic Locomotives GWR Manor Class design into third place. Almost 100 readers chose not to vote for their favourite individual stamp. 50 of the 75 individual stamp designs attracted 10 or less votes each (including six stamps with zero points) and 65 out of the 75 under 20 votes each. When the single stamps are put back into their sets, four of

the 12 stamp issues attracted under 20 votes for the entire set. These were Northern Ireland (10 votes); Entente Cordiale (14); Lord of the Rings (17) and Occasions (19). The runaway winner, however, was Woodland Animals with 495 votes – almost three times the number of votes when compared to its nearest rival. Ocean Liners (167 votes) and Classic Locomotives (152) came second and third in popularity. For the record, the previous favourite individual stamps were: 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands 19p; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII) 26p; 1998 Endangered Species 20p; 1999 Scientists’ Tale 64p; 2000 Above and Beyond 19p; 2001 Flags – Union Jack; 2002 London Bridges 1st Class; and 2003 Coronation 1st (Cecil Beaton’s Coronation portrait of the Queen). …………………………………………………………………………… Favourite Bulletin authors This was the ninth year that a poll was conducted. Douglas Myall was again your favourite author, beating his nearest rival by 121 votes. There were some kind words expressed about Douglas, including: “As a Machin enthusiast, his articles are always interesting” and “Mr Myall is always interesting and topical – he encourages me, too!”. Dorothy Martin, James Mackay and Ron Negus came second, third and fourth. Two readers chose our Editor as being most worthy of the title ‘favourite author’. It is easy to forget the amount of work that John puts in to get each issue of the Bulletin to print, so, despite being ineligible for the competition, I would like to give him an honourable mention here. 152 readers failed to complete this section of the form, several considering all the authors to be their favourite, others declaring that they had no particular favourite. One reader summed-up his opinion by stating, “All articles are so interesting and well written that it is too difficult to choose!”. …………………………………………………………………………… Draw winners All the voting forms went into two draws. The four winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE STAMPS draw were Mrs C Whitaker (Yarm, Cleveland), Mr J W Miller (Rainham, Essex), H Duplay Lucien (St Etienne, France) and Mr D A W King (Swaythling, Southampton). The winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE BULLETIN AUTHOR draw were Delia Pardin (Turin, Italy) and Mr G Durrant (Eye, Suffolk). ……………………………………………………………………………

Favourite stamps and sets. FAVOURITE STAMPS The number following each stamp description (headed ‘Stamp’ below) is as shown in December’s Bulletin Set / value Stamp Votes Woodland Animals 1st 59 186 Woodland Animals 1st 54 179 Ocean Liners 1st 30 68 Locomotives 42p 4 66 Woodland Animals 1st 58 43 Ocean Liners 42p 32 38 Locomotives E 3 33 Ocean Liners 47p 33 31 Woodland Animals 1st 63 28 Locomotives 68p 6 21 Christmas 1st 71 20 RHS 47p 40 19 Ocean Liners E 31 18 Wales 2nd 42 18 Woodland Animals 1st 56 18 RSA 1st 48 17 Crimean War 1st 65 17 Locomotives 28p 2 16 RHS 1st 37 15 Woodland Animals 1st 60 15 Entente Cordiale 57p 29 13 Christmas 2nd 70 13 Woodland Animals 1st 62 12 Wales 68p 47 11 Locomotives 20p 1 10 Ocean Liners 68p 35 8 Crimean War 68p 68 8 RHS E 38 7 Christmas £1.12 75 7 Occasions 1st 10 6 RHS 42p 39 6 RHS 68p 41 6 Woodland Animals 1st 55 6 Locomotives 47p 5 5 Occasions 1st 9 5 RHS 2nd 36 5 Occasions 1st 7 4 Lord of the Rings 1st 12 4 Lord of the Rings 1st 15 4 N. Ireland 1st 23 4 Ocean Liners 57p 34 4 RSA 40p 49 4 Woodland Animals 1st 57 4 Woodland Animals 1st 61 4 Crimean War 2nd 64 4 Lord of the Rings 1st 13 3

N. Ireland 2nd 22 3 Wales 1st 43 3 RSA 43p 50 3 RSA 68p 53 3 Crimean War 57p 67 3 Occasions 1st 8 2 Occasions 1st 11 2 Lord of the Rings 1st 16 2 Lord of the Rings 1st 21 2 N. Ireland 47p 26 2 Wales 47p 46 2 RSA 47p 51 2 Christmas 68p 74 2 Lord of the Rings 1st 18 1 Lord of the Rings 1st 20 1 N. Ireland E 24 1 Entente Cordiale 28p 28 1 Wales 40p 44 1 Wales 43p 45 1 RSA 57p 52 1 Crimean War 48p 66 1 Christmas 40p 72 1 Christmas 57p 73 1 Lord of the Rings 1st 14 0 Lord of the Rings 1st 17 0 Lord of the Rings 1st 19 0 N. Ireland 42p 25 0 N. Ireland 68p 27 0 Crimean War £1.12 69 0 FAVOURITE SETS Issue Votes % of Vote Woodland Animals 1896 28 Classic Locomotives 1436 21 Ocean Liners 1338 20 RHS 625 9 Crimean War 488 7 Christmas 391 6 Lord of the Rings 216 3 Wales 145 2 RSA 104 1.5 Occasions 78 1 N. Ireland 70 1 Entente Cordiale 36 0.5

…………………………………………………………………………… Your views A number of you added comments to your voting form.

Starting with general adverse comments, these related to the lack of second class values (6 were 2nd, 34 1st) – despite newspapers apparently stating that up to 70% of all mail posted is second class. Also, the cost of collecting “an over-ambitious issuing policy” was proving “far too

expensive” for some with a few choosing not to continue into 2005. One elderly reader wrote that “after 70 years of collecting I’m oh so near to packing-up in disgust”. Let’s hope that he reconsiders. “Staff look as if I have spoilt their day when asked for anything as mundane as stamps” is hopefully not a typical reaction from Royal Mail staff on the front line. Several readers complained that “the special stamps need to be available more than just on the issue day” and that they “disappear before the general public is aware of them”. Others commented that it was “yet another year of very second rate stamps”. Harsh! The increasing addition of “extras” was, perhaps surprisingly, only commented on by one reader, who wrote, “every issue has either a M/S, Prestige Book or Smilers sheet, or a combination”. The Occasions (“atrocious”) and Lord of the Rings set resulted in few votes or comments. Several readers remarked on the number of designs in 2004 that were “too dark”, “uninspiring” “out of focus”, “drab” or in “unrealistic” colours (especially the ongoing British Journey series and RHS issues). One reader went so far as to say, “I feel that the British Journey series is so dark and dreary that people would be put off visiting our lovely countryside”. One collectors concluded, “words at the miniature scale are NOT a good idea”, so the RSA issue did not score very well possibly because of this. The Ocean Liners and Woodland Animals received no anti-comments. The Classic Locomotives 20p design “should have been 2nd class, as it had a limited life-span before a postal rate rise” according to one reader. Another wrote that the “Railway miniature sheet was a joke, as it was too big to fit onto the M/S postcard”. Voters appear not to have understood the Entente Cordiale (or DIScordiale, as one reader put it). The 28p value (depicting lace 1) scored just one point, while the 57p value (showing Coccinelle) received 13 of your votes.) One reader has already come up with his design ideas to celebrate the 200th anniversary in 2104 – “they should show Britannia and Marianne linking arms against a backdrop of the Union Flag and the French Tricolour”. One for the Stamp Advisory Committee’s diary, I think! The Crimean War issue was reproduced in monochrome, as the designs were taken from contemporary black and white photographs commissioned by Queen Victoria. Several readers thought that they

should have been reproduced in colour - although Auguste and Louis Lumiere did not invent colour photography until 1907! The decision to produce yet another secular Christmas issue was cause for concern to several voters and views such as “Rubbish”, “Thumbs down for make believe Christmas stamps. Surely this was an opportunity for depicting what CHRISTmas is about” and “Christmas is not just about children.” were typical. “To call these Christmas stamps is a great travesty – nothing to do with Christ-mas at all. Don’t give me the line – [followers of] other religions would be offended – they in their countries show their festivals!” was perhaps the strongest viewpoint. However, it is not all doom and gloom, as there were many favourable comments about the designs and the overall special stamps programme. “The stamps of 2004 were, in general, a big improvement on the 2003 stamps”, “the best year in ages”, “It is extremely difficult to make my decisions with so many excellent stamps”, “I have noticed a big improvement in the past couple of years” and “I expect that this years votes will be all over the board – there are so many great stamps” were some of the kindest general observations. One reader noted that “at last, most issues have a caption that adequately describes the subject matter – without them they mean very little and are just pictures”. Clearly, if transport and wildlife themes are featured, then the stamps will be well received by many voters and especially so by one Guildford reader who wrote “as I have an active interest in railways and ocean liners and wildlife, last year was a truly Vintage one!”. “The woodland animals are absolutely superb. The degree of difficulty in obtaining such portraits is what makes it the best set” was typical. The Occasions “showed great wit and formed a pleasing, coherent set” and the Christmas designs were “much improved over previous years”. The Crimean War issue resulted in one reader commenting that “I grew to love the Crimean set as I used the stamps – those eyes from the past seemed to say so much about the suffering”. Another wrote, “this set was a great honour to the men of the Crimean war. I was very pleased with this set”. There was only one comment made about the Lord of the Rings set and that was “I am pleased that the LOTR set stuck to the original book, rather than the Hollywood-type sets from New Zealand”. All of the above comments – pro and anti – are perfectly valid, of course. For many years, I have been involved in print and production and know that when it comes to design matters everyone has a view! The special

stamps programme continues to live up to its one-time strapline of “stamps stimulate”. Long may this prove to be the case. ……………………………………………………………………………Special thanks to all who returned the voting form, particularly those overseas readers who responded from Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, BFPOs, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and USA. (2,160 words)

NPS Library Report 2003-4

The past season was not without its surprises. The need to relocate the library from the ground to first and second floors has been well documented, but it would be remiss of me not to record some of the impact that this gave the library team. Hundreds of crates had to be filled and yards of shelving and cabinets were relocated. The crates then needed emptying and the shelves filling-up again. It may not sound much, until you realise what a Herculean effort this actually was.

My business commitments largely excluded me from helping, so the team undertook the bulk of the work. All members owe a huge debt of gratitude to these volunteers for their support. “Thank you” seems inadequate, for without this hastily assembled team, I dread to think how the move could have been undertaken.

I have one major concern following the move and this relates to the large drop in users of this wonderful facility. As I write these words it is the end of June and after three months of meetings and weekday openings there is no sign of these numbers increasing to their previous levels. I would encourage all members who are able to visit us to do so, for there is nothing more depressing than to have my team sit there all day waiting for a visitor.

The move meant that duplicate holdings have now largely been disposed of. Many specialist societies have benefited from the acquisition of spares for their newer members. This gesture by NPSL has already borne fruit in the form of gaps being filled in our own holdings of several titles. Look out for the balance of duplicates being offered in the monthly auctions over the coming season. This highly necessary action has freed-up valuable space in the basement, needed for our own holdings now that we have less room available upstairs.

The new location means that it has been necessary to restrict access to the second floor, now home to our older periodicals. It has not been possible to staff two separate rooms due to the ongoing lack of suitable volunteers. This is an unfortunate turn of events at a time when the society is so keen to expand its benefits to members. My wish for the new season is that more of our time is spent on the management of our holdings, book acquisitions and the filling of gaps in our periodicals.

My thanks go to all members, societies, collectors, dealers and publishers who have added to our holdings this past year. Despite all the problems associated with the move, NPSL has continued to expand at its usual annual rate. NPSL thanks the British Philatelic Trust and its team for all their support, especially during the building refurbishment programme.

Finally, Ted Halliday and Michael Furnell both celebrated a ‘special’ birthday earlier this year and it was especially pleasing to have these milestones marked by the society at a joint reception prior to the May evening meeting. Long may these two stalwarts of the society continue to be of service to the membership.

(Published Stamp Lover 2004)

LIBRARIAN’S REPORT 2004-2005 SEASON Another year has passed and the library appears to continue to serve the needs of its users, based on feedback provided. Visitor numbers continue to remain at a level below that prior to the move to split-levels and I would once again encourage members to take greater advantage of this excellent facility. It both surprises and disappoints me that so many have never even stepped over the threshold into the library. We don’t bite! The ‘day-to-day’ matters of managing a library take-up most of the team’s time, leaving little time for other projects and it is only due to the

generosity of many that the library is enjoyed by the few. A big ‘thank

you’ to everyone – corporate and individual - who has donated materials this past season. ‘Spare’ time has been spent on disposing of the mountain of duplicate

materials and regular visitors to the Saturday meetings will know that a large box containing unwanted periodicals and leaflets is made available to members for them to take, hopefully in exchange for a small donation to library funds. Cataloguing of the Gibbons Archive of stamp catalogues has resulted in a collection larger than that of Stanley Gibbons. The Melville Archive of books and pamphlets has also been catalogued. An audit of holdings is underway, which is revealing that some items have gone missing from the shelves. If anyone comes across any NPSL items for sale that do not bear a WITHDRAWN handstamp with signature, perhaps they would be kind enough to contact me. Similarly, if anyone has anything at home that is library property, then no questions will be asked if you return it to us, as accidents can happen. Finally, the team of volunteer helpers who staff and run the library deserve your grateful thanks for their commitment and hard work – they certainly have mine. Glenn H Morgan FRPSL Honorary Librarian

Results of 2005 Bulletin readers poll by Glenn H Morgan FRPSL

In December you were invited to vote for your favourite set of special stamps of 2005, and your favourite individual stamp and Bulletin author. This was the 20th annual stamp poll and, as in previous years, a good response was received from 1,100 readers in many parts of the world, marginally down on last year. British stamps continue to be a talking point among collectors and it seems that no-one is without a view, which is how it should be. I spent several evenings this past winter entering the votes for the 2005 Stamp Poll into my laptop, but in many ways this was not necessary. If I was to invite you to jot down your favourite and least well-liked stamp set of the year, there is a good chance that you would be correct on both counts! Trafalgar was easily the winner in the Battle of the Stamps and the Changing Tastes in Britain issue was found to be completely unpalatable to almost every reader of the Bulletin who voted. It is a shame that the Castles MS did not qualify for voting (they are high value definitives, not special stamps, after all), as it was bound to have polled very highly due its use of intaglio printing – always a favourite printing process with stamp collectors. The employment of two other previously utilised designs in miniature sheet formats – i.e. the End of WWII and London 2012 Games – also precluded their inclusion. Next month I will record many of the views expressed by voters, for although they were not solicited, they do give a good flavour of what the average collector is feeling about Royal Mail special stamps. “They’re all horrid!” was fortunately not a typical response, but it does make me question why this particular reader collects modern British stamps and how he still felt able to recommend his favourite set of the year (Magic!). …………………………………..………………………………………… Favourite set As always, points were allocated for each vote for the set; three points for first choice, two points for second and one point for third. This enabled me to get a clear picture of the relative popularity of each issue. The voting was as shown opposite. As already revealed above, the Trafalgar issue was the outright winner (with 1743 votes) – a factor of approaching two-to-one, Trooping the Colour came second (919) and in third place was the British Journey: South West England issue (642). For interest, past winners were: 1987 Flowers; 1988 Linnean Society, 1989 Birds; 1990 Queen Mother; 1991 Maps; 1992 Wintertime; 1993 Autumn; 1994 Age of Steam; 1995 Christmas; 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII); 1998 Lighthouses;

1999 Scientists’ Tale; 2000 Tree and Leaf; 2001 Weather; 2002 London Bridges; 2003 Extreme Endeavours; and 2004 Woodlands Animals. ……………………………………..……………………………………… Favourite stamps The 1st class Trooping the Colour stamp showing Her Majesty taking the salute was your favourite individual stamp by a mile, with the 2nd class British Journey: South West England design depicting Studland Bay in second place with just over half the number of votes. The Royal Wedding 30p value with a design showing the happy couple was in third place. The future of the British Monarchy appears safe, with two out of the three favourite stamps being royalty related! 54 of the 77 individual stamp designs attracted 10 or fewer votes each (including 15 stamps with zero points – up from six last year) and 62 out of the 77 designs received under 20 votes each. For the record, the previous favourite individual stamps were: 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands 19p; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII) 26p; 1998 Endangered Species 20p; 1999 Scientists’ Tale 64p; 2000 Above and Beyond 19p; 2001 Flags – Union Jack; 2002 London Bridges 1st Class; 2003 Coronation 1st (Cecil Beaton’s Coronation portrait of the Queen); and 2004 Woodland Animals 1st class Red squirrel. When the single stamps are put back into their sets and votes re-counted, three of the 13 stamp issues attracted 20 or fewer votes for the entire set. These were Magic! (20 votes), Jane Eyre (6) and Changing Tastes (2). The top four sets were Trooping the Colour (177 votes), British Journey: South West England (127), Christmas (112) and Trafalgar (108). Quite a different result from when you chose your favourite sets. ………………………………………..…………………………………… Favourite Bulletin authors This was the 10th year that a poll was conducted. Douglas Myall (Mainly Machins articles) was once again your favourite author, narrowly beating his nearest rival, Nigel Fordham with his fascinating Trafalgar-based series, by a mere 41 votes. Nigel’s articles were regarded by one reader as “very well researched articles, written in a very readable style. Much appreciated by an ex-Navy man”. Ron Negus and Dorothy Martin came third and fourth respectively. Disappointingly, 190 readers failed to complete this section of the form, although this is probably due to the high editorial standards set by our Editor, thereby making a decision difficult, rather than indifference on the part of voters. Indeed, one reader mentioned that “it is difficult to state a favourite article, as all are of the greatest interest” and another stated that the Bulletin was a “monthly gem”, so while the stamps come in for criticism, the Bulletin continues to find favour with its audience. ……………………………………………………………………………

Draw winners All the voting forms went into two draws. The four winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE STAMPS draw were Robert W Reid (Glasgow), G van Cleave (Japan), Peter D Chamberlain (Rushden) and Tim Wells (Wootton Bassett). The winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE BULLETIN AUTHOR draw were Mrs A Willis (Great Bookham) and P J Smith (Stroud). …………………………………………………………………………… Favourite stamps and sets.

FAVOURITE INDIVIDUAL STAMPS The number following each stamp description and face value is as shown in December’s Bulletin. Issue Value No. Votes Trooping the Colour 1st 39 115 SW England 2nd 11 061 Royal Wedding 30p 28 058 Christmas 1st 73 046 Christmas 42p 74 035 SW England 40p 13 034 The Ashes 1st 62 032 The Ashes 1st 63 032 Trafalgar 68p 70 031 Trafalgar 1st 67 030 Classic ITV 1st 57 029 World Heritage Sites 68p 36 028 Classic ITV 2nd 56 028 The Ashes 68p 65 027 Trooping the Colour £1.12 43 023 World Heritage Sites 2nd 31 019 Trafalgar 1st 66 016 World Heritage Sites 1st 32 015 Trooping the Colour 2nd 38 015 Trafalgar 42p 69 015 Farm Animals 1st 05 014 SW England 43p 14 013 Christmas 2nd 72 013 World Heritage Sites 2nd 30 010 Farm Animals 1st 08 009 SW England 68p 16 009 Trooping the Colour 42p 40 009 Motorcycles 47p 47 009 Trafalgar 42p 68 009 Magic! 1st 23 008 World Heritage Sites 47p 34 008 Trooping the Colour 68p 42 008 Trooping the Colour 60p 41 007 Trafalgar 68p 71 007

Christmas 60p 75 007 Christmas £1.12 77 007 SW England 1st 12 006 World Heritage Sites 68p 37 006 Motorcycles 1st 44 006 Magic! 40p 24 005 Magic! 47p 25 005 Royal Wedding 68p 29 005 Motorcycles 42p 46 005 SW England 57p 15 004 Jane Eyre 2nd 17 004 World Heritage Sites 47p 35 004 Christmas 68p 76 004 Farm Animals 1st 03 003 Motorcycles 40p 45 003 Motorcycles 60p 48 003 Classic ITV 68p 61 003 Farm Animals 1st 01 002 Farm Animals 1st 02 002 Farm Animals 1st 10 002 Magic! £1.12 27 002 Motorcycles 68p 49 002 Changing Tastes 2nd 50 002 Classic ITV 68p 60 002 Farm Animals 1st 07 001 Jane Eyre 1st 18 001 Jane Eyre 68p 21 001 Classic ITV 47p 59 001 Farm Animals 1st 04 000 Farm Animals 1st 06 000 Farm Animals 1st 09 000 Jane Eyre 40p 19 000 Jane Eyre 57p 20 000 Jane Eyre £1.12 22 000 Magic! 68p 26 000 World Heritage Sites 1st 33 000 Changing Tastes 1st 51 000 Changing Tastes 42p 52 000 Changing Tastes 47p 53 000 Changing Tastes 60p 54 000 Changing Tastes 68p 55 000 Classic ITV 42p 58 000 The Ashes 68p 64 000

FAVOURITE SETS Issue Votes Trafalgar 1743 Trooping the Colour 919 British Journey: South West England 642 Motorcycles 585 World Heritage Sites 574 Christmas 458 The Ashes 340 Farm Animals 305 Royal Wedding 194 Classic ITV 189 Magic! 149 Jane Eyre 119 Changing Tastes in Britain 65 …………………………………………………………………………… (1400 words)

Bulletin Poll A selection of voters’ views, by Glenn H Morgan FRPSL

Last month saw the publication of the results of the annual Bulletin stamp poll designed to find the favourite stamp set and single from the 2005 issues and to announce the Bulletin author with the most votes. This month, voter’s comments that accompanied some of their forms are recorded. General Comments Unlike last year, the general comments were incredibly negative. “I must say that by the time 1 November was reached I was glad to philatelically draw breath”, “they are just churned out and are never seen on mail”, “another year of dreadful, meaningless, rubbish designs most of which were incomprehensible”, “not a vintage year, but by no means the worst, either”, “a disappointing year” and “let’s hope that 2006 has more original stamp designs, as 2005 has been yet another disastrous year. Take a look back to the 1970s when stamp designs stood out as real miniature works of art!” were several of the views expressed by voters. “Once again too may stamp issues for one year – and in too many formats. No fewer than three issues were not part of the planned programmes, but later additions”. The way that some stamp designs had been cropped was noted by one reader, citing stamps 32 and 41 in particular. There was “a plea for a 2nd class stamp in every issue” and one voter concluded “not an easy choice – so many of the ‘stamps’ are totally unsuitable to this job”. A reader was in reflective mood when he stated “will Royal Mail ever surpass The Penny Black or the Machin for quiet, efficient symbols of good taste and effectiveness? These two adhesives say more about Britain than all the coloured labels – and there are FAR TOO MANY of them each year”. Royal Mail has steadily increased the number of miniature sheets available to collectors and readers picked-up on this point: “miniature sheets were strictly limited to one every few years. Now they are appearing like wallpaper. No doubt this is the Post Office’s way of generating more income” and “overall there were far too many MS. Jane Eyre had a miniature sheet as well as a Prestige book which for a dreary issue would kill off the new collector before he had begun” were typical comments about this point. Once again the opportunity was taken by readers to complain about the fact that the (well-liked) MS for Trafalgar (and the recent 2006 Brunel issue) did not fit on its Stamp Card and “can I ask that this specific point be brought to the attention of the Stamp Advisory Committee.

Alternatively stop producing MS cards” summed-up views. Perhaps Royal Mail product managers could take note, as this is an annual objection from its customer base. One disillusioned reader advised us that he “…stopped buying British stamps after the Millennium disaster issue and you haven’t enticed me back yet!” By way of balance, I will let three voters have the final say when they state that 2005 was “overall a pretty good year and next year looks even better!”, “I’ve noticed a marked improvement in the design of British stamps over the last year” and “…congratulations on a very good year. No ‘duds’ at all”. ………………………..…………………………………………………… Specific Issue Comments Taking each issue in turn, the comments shown below consist of many of those provided, so if there is a negative emphasis on a particular issue, this is the slant from voters and not from me. Farm Animals “Would have been better if photographs had been used, like last year’s woodland animals set”, “why no indication of the breeds depicted?”, “probably not to everyone’s taste” and “absolutely dire” were the comments made about this interesting and distinctly different artistic treatment of British farmyard animals. These stamps brought back to me happy childhood memories of my Mum reading story books comprising thick, shiny cardboard pages with rounded corners, so the comment “sweet, but as if from an infants first reader” is probably about right. British Journeys: South West England This set scored particularly well in voting this year when compared with the previous sets in this series. The “….views of my home area touched my nostalgic vein and as they showed such stunning views, I’ve voted them number one”, but “too dull” and “uninspiring” were responses from those perhaps less familiar with the views depicted. Last year the allegedly unnatural colours used were objected to, which was successfully addressed with this part (and the 2006 concluding set) of the series. Jane Eyre This issue failed to inspire many positive comments and “…truly hideous”, “appalling”, “dismal”, “awful”, “ugly and dull”, “a set of ugly old women”, “...one of the worst designs ever inflicted on us” and “Jane Eyre was plain, not grotesque, and the set was very disappointing” summed-up most feelings. However one reader thought “I am guessing that not too many people will have liked these dark sketches, but I did. It prompted me to dig out the book and read it again… and Wuthering Heights, too”. Magic! Surprisingly, the only responses to this issue, which had utilised innovative interactive effects, were “uninventive” and “magic is a

wonder, full of surprises. I had hoped an artist might have expressed these qualities”. Royal Wedding “…as nice a design as Princess Anne’s” was, I assume, a compliment, and “Charles and Camilla looked great on Stamp 28. It was nice to see someone in the Royal Family look so happy” summed-up the positive views of one of our American readers, as did “the Royal Wedding stamps should have been issued as singles, not just as a MS, as they deserved to be used postally more” “On close inspection one wonders if the designer was a Camilla fan. Can I put the 30p stamp up for ‘the stamp with the greatest number of chins ever portrayed on a Royal person’ for a Guinness record?” was an amusing, albeit disrespectful, response that came all the way from a reader living in Thailand. World Heritage Sites “…a very good choice to show the essence of both countries” and “uninspiring” were two conflicting views. Almost everyone who voted for this set also voted for the British Journey South West England stamps and one reader believes that Royal Mail has “got scenery (stunning or gentle) off to a tee”. Trooping the Colour This was a high-scoring issue that resulted in just the one note-worthy comment, where a voter asks “why do we have a photograph of a guardsman who appears to be blowing his nose in his glove (stamp 38)?” Take another look; he certainly could be seen to be lacking a handkerchief! Motorcycles “Nice, but monotonous”, “all look the same” and “boring and repetitive”, were three anti-comments, but this was balanced with “the BSA makes a lovely simple composition – a classic motorcycle” and a long-term biker stated that the stamps “reminded me of the splendid sights and sounds of the single cylinder machines’ dum, dum, dum, dum throb as they burnt past you on the A4!”. Changing Tastes in Britain Based on the voting alone, this set was almost universally disliked. “Good to see the return of original artwork rather than photographs with labels” and “I loved the child-like simplicity of the stamps, except that it was difficult to work-out the food/drink being depicted” were the closest things to generous observations. “These were quite ghastly – like banana republic labels”, “pointless and gaudy” and “worst set of the year – appalling” were more typical responses. Picking-up on the healthy eating campaign underway by government and consumers alike, one reader asked “why was someone eating chips ever illustrated? It would have been far better to have portrayed healthy foods which children and adults are encouraged to eat”. This is an interesting point, as such a depiction would have fitted perfectly into the ‘changing tastes’ theme, as more of us comply with the Five-a-Day crusade.

Classic ITV Considering that we are allegedly a nation of TV watchers, it was surprising that this issue did not score higher and that only two views on the issued stamps were expressed, which on the one hand was “horrible posters” and on the other “has every attribute that I’d look for in a set; lettering in keeping with the subject depicted, Queen’s head and value distinct and well placed, with the Inspector Morse stamp very cleverly done”. The absence of a Coronation Street stamp despite this being the result of an open vote by TV viewers that favoured Emmerdale, “seems to border on the criminal”. The Ashes “Winning the Ashes, great though it was, did not justify an issue, nor the use of pictures of living persons” and “…truly embarrassing. The Australian’s usually win and they’ve never bothered to issue four stamps because it’s such a regular occurrence. What next?” were quite strong views expressed against this issue. Trafalgar Royal Mail was on to a winner with its commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar issue, but even here a couple of anti-comments were received. “An issue well worth celebrating - I liked it a lot”, “magnificent” and “the cream of the crop” summed-up most voter’s opinions. The only complaints were “even the Trafalgar stamps were the second worst issue and only the comic book characters from Alderney were worse. They should have been bigger and should have shown much better battle scenes. The Commonwealth issues were superb” and “a splendid opportunity was missed with the Trafalgar set; the same width, but greater height, would have shown the paintings to maximum advantage”. Christmas The final issue of the year seemed to meet the demands of those who felt that another secular issue was inappropriate and that it was “so lovely to have a Nativity issue once again”. Not all agreed with the treatment though, and “why so politically correct?”, “let’s go back to non-religious subjects” and “worst issue ever” were comments made by readers. “As Hindu’s are upset with the 68p stamp, may Christian’s be upset that the most used Christmas stamp, the second class, shows brown faces?” was an extreme and possibly ill-informed view from one lady reader. The numerous comments made, especially the negative ones, proves that Royal Mail does not really stand a chance of satisfying all of its customers, all of the time, despite going to great lengths to produce an interesting and varied special stamps programme each year. Let’s also not forget that people are more likely to take the opportunity to complain when it is presented, rather than praise!

I close with a reminder for Royal Mail received from a Merseyside reader who states “you are supposed to be running a postal service, not selling collector’s items”. ………………………..…………………………………………………… Special thanks to all who returned the voting form, particularly those overseas readers who responded from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macao SAR, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and USA. (1840 words)

The NPS Library Today and Tomorrow

The National Philatelic Society Library (NPSL): A Society Library and a National Asset

"To maintain, preserve and conserve the Library as a major resource of philately; available and accessible to NPS members and to a wider public and to serve as an aid to scholarship" The first time that there is reference to book or periodical holdings, or mention of a librarian in the list of society officers, is 1903. So, for more than 100 years the library has been serving JPS and, latterly, NPS members. It is acknowledged that NPSL is the most easily accessible philatelic library in Britain. If you wish to undertake deep research, or simply browse through the latest magazine or catalogue, members can visit us without relatively little formality or fuss. NPSL holdings comprise roughly 1,800 linear feet of shelving and cover all stamp collecting disciplines. The library caters for members at every level of experience within the hobby and for those with all types of philatelic interest, however obscure. There are an increasing number of multimedia titles, together with books, monographs, newspapers, catalogues and exhibition publications. Our periodical collections go back to the 1860s when the hobby - still in its infancy - was becoming organised and first written about. There is an ongoing project to maintain a database of NPSL holdings of books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues – no small task considering its extent. These records are on our Internet site at www.ukphilately.org.uk/nps/db/database.htm enabling members to plan their visit in advance. Black and white photocopying is available at 10p per single side of A4 (A3: 20p a side). As the library and photocopier are now sited on different floors, it is regretted that it is no longer possible to offer an instant service. The duty librarian may need to wait until cover can be provided and members are asked to be understanding of this constraint. In any event, copying is subject to the international laws of copyright and if there is any risk that material might be damaged by copying, then we regret that we will not allow reproduction. However, almost all requests can be met - just ask if in doubt. The well documented fire brigade health and safety review of ‘107’ resulted in the library moving from the ground floor to the first and second levels. Member access to the second floor periodical holdings is not feasible due to a lack of suitable volunteers. If you need to examine any periodicals going back more than circa five years, then please ring in advance if possible, or expect to wait until the duty librarian has the opportunity to gain access. The first floor contains recent periodicals and newspapers, all books and monographs, current and recent auction catalogues, philatelic bureau literature, the Lambert Archive of worldwide article clippings, etc. Members are free to examine these holdings, as all are on open shelves. The basement storage area has been made strictly off limits to almost everyone by our landlords and there is only Monday to Friday access by those who are authorised, so unfortunately weekend requests to bring something from downstairs must be declined. The basement holds the exhibition catalogues collection, the Stanley Gibbons archive of catalogues (which is more extensive than SGs own!), duplicate holdings and older materials that are rarely - if ever - consulted. The generosity of individual collectors and organisations is always a source of amazement. The volume of donations in any year amounts to many feet of shelf space, representing thousands of pounds worth of financial support. We invite all members to ‘think NPSL’ when considering disposal of any philatelic literature, whether it is a single book or a whole library. Our largest continuous benefactors are you, the membership, paying your subscriptions each year - something that we do not take for granted. So, the future is secured for NPSL, although there is one concern which centres around getting more people to take advantage of its facilities. The library contains a wealth of material not easily found

elsewhere and it is a great source of disappointment that more members do not visit. Until the move-round at the Centre we used to get around 400 visitors each season. This is now seriously down and we would like to see this figure dramatically increase again in the coming years. Based on feedback, those who use our services are clearly satisfied. The scope of holdings improves daily and a publicity campaign has been instigated to put across our strengths to those yet to take advantage of this aspect of their annual subscription. The library team are volunteers and work hard to enhance the status of this research facility – why not show your thanks by becoming a user, however infrequently you can make it? We revel in a challenge, being serious collectors ourselves, so see if we can help you solve where that strange postmark you’ve been pondering over came from, or where that local stamp may have been used. We are more than willing to share our knowledge with members and if you’re a ‘first timer’, then ask the duty librarian for a quick tour to help you get your bearings.

Glenn H Morgan FRPSL, Honorary Librarian, NPSL

THE WILLIAM PARMENTER BEQUEST Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian, NPSL

It was with great sorrow that the society learnt in November that William (Bill) Parmenter had died that month at the age of seventy following a terrible stroke last July. Bill was often to be seen at NPS meetings and was a regular attendee at the PCGB Congress and I would invariably travel home with him as we lived on the same train route. On a couple of occasions he had mentioned to me that he had arranged in his Will for his philatelic library to pass to the NPS upon his death. I had thanked him and assumed that we were talking about a couple of boxes of material, so nothing had quite prepared me for the letter from his brother Ian, acting in the role of his executor, advising me that almost 2000 items of philatelic literature was coming our way! Specialising in all aspects of Latin and South American philately, Bill’s library strongly reflected this. It also contained non-philatelic books relating to the history of his chosen field, all of which we were also given in this generous bequest. The quality and scope of the material was especially pleasing, with many items being either specially bound or enclosed within a custom-made protective slip-case. A couple of years prior to his death Bill and I had agreed that anything that was surplus to requirements would be sold and the proceeds used to further the aims of NPSL. This will result in members being able to purchase some fascinating works in due course via the NPS auctions and/or literature sales lists. The NPS library has benefited greatly in areas where it was especially weak, such as Venezuela and El Salvador, indeed previously we had no holdings of these two countries. Other philatelic categories have been strengthened, such as our handbooks, auction catalogues and more general works of literature, for example stamp printing and production. So who was Bill, the person? Outwardly perhaps he appeared to be a retiring and private individual, although he very much enjoyed a good laugh and was in reality a sociable chap – possibly the result of having been born in a public house in his local High Street! His hair probably helped define him visually in later years, for it was pure white and unusually long. He played soccer at a high level at his various RAF camps, after he had signed-up for an RAF career as a boy entrant at 15. He would think nothing of cycling 100 miles in a single day in his youth, so clearly he was once extremely fit. Sadly, at 21 he had an accident that saw him cycle into the back of a vehicle and suffer facial injuries. He did not cycle again. He left the RAF aged 22, had a few short-term jobs and finally settled-down in a career as a draughtsman working initially for Marconi and then for British Telecommunications for the next 25/30 years. He was never destined to marry, but clearly was destined to be a ‘Brentwood man’ through-and-through. He was baptised and confirmed in the town, attended Sunday School and Boys Brigade there, went to the local C of E schools, lived in the neighbourhood, joined local clubs and societies and eventually died and was buried with his parents in the local cemetery.

A bookplate will be placed in all literature retained by NPSL and also within the new books purchased from sales proceeds to permanently record Bill’s generosity and to act as a lasting memorial to a kind individual and a good friend of the National Philatelic Society who is sadly missed.

YOUR DEATH, OR PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE! Bill had the foresight many years ago to think about what should happen to his philatelic library after his death. However, he was an exception, as most collectors fail to make any provisions for their philatelic literature, leaving it to the executor to decide upon its disposal. In practice, the family member, trust company or solicitor frequently has no idea about philately or who to contact within the hobby. Sadly, when a loved one dies it is often necessary to quickly clear the family home. It is a stressful period and often people want to just take the easy way out by hiring a skip to dispose of “all those old useless books and magazines” that are cluttering up the home and that mean nothing to them. Think of the loving care that you have taken to acquire the works of reference that have given you so much pleasure and which have helped you to write-up your collection, or perhaps allowed you to make fortuitous purchases down the years. They deserve a better ending than a landfill site. There is an uncomplicated way to ensure that this sad fate does not happen to your library, however small or large it is, and that is to have the material recorded in your Last Will and Testament, with the beneficiary being your favourite philatelic library. The exact legal wording to be used in your Will must be agreed with your Solicitor first, but the text below is typical of what they may choose to use and demonstrates how simple it is to protect you against the wasteful destruction of your literature. “I GIVE AND BEQUEATH absolutely and free of Inheritance Tax to the NATIONAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY currently of 107 Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6PT all the philatelic literature of which I die possessed and I declare that the receipt of the Secretary or other proper Officer of the said Society at the time that the same shall be handed over by my Trustees shall be a good discharge to my Trustees.” It is hoped that like Bill and other NPS members, you will consider the National Philatelic Society’s Library to be the ideal repository for your works of literature after your death. (990 words)

NPSL REPORT 0406 There is a lot of activity relating to the library at present, but two matters have come up that you’re

your attention BEFORE the next Council meeting. The first informs you of a major bequest and the second matter relates to a proposal to dispose of one element of our holdings. THE WILLIAM PARMENTER LIBRARY BEQUEST Council is aware that Bill Parmenter sadly passed away last November. He had been a good supporter of the NPS and he had always told me that NPSL would benefit from his will upon his death. I expected a couple of boxes of books and always expressed my thanks whenever the subject was raised by him. I received confirmation from his executor yesterday that NPSL has been left almost 2000 books. Yes, TWO THOUSAND. This is, of course, a major bequest and I am in possession of a large index of his holdings, much of which relates to Latin and South America, areas that we are not particularly strong in. I have accepted the bequest on behalf of the society (how could we say no!) and have been in discussion with Bill’s

executor regarding the logistics of acquiring the material. I will bullet points below: Material available in approximately one month’s time. Items located at Brentwood, approx 15 miles from 107. It will be boxed by the executor (Bill’s brother). I have offered to help, should he require my

assistance. There are NO restrictions on what we do with the material. If we choose to put it all in a skip,

that is fine with the Executor. Needless to say this will not occur. There are some non-philatelic books that I have also accepted (mainly historical reference

works that back-up the philatelic works). I made it clear to Executor that these would be sold and profits ploughed into book purchasing in Bill’s memory. He is fine with that.

All retained volumes will bear a simple, dignified bookplate in Bill’s memory. The Estate is prepared to pay £200-£300 towards transportation to 107. My friend has offered to help with transportation and lugging, but we will need help at 107 to

take material off back of van and into basement, 1st/2nd floors on the day. Much of the material has been bound, including auction cats and periodicals, so these will

enter our holdings in preference to our loose copies. I understand that the binding has been done professionally by an antiquarian book dealer from Brentwood.

Have we got the space at 107? Mmmmmmm!!!! Ted and I spent a goodly amount of time yesterday most critically examining space utilisation and have already instituted a project to clear every single duplicate item from the premises. This will free-up a major amount of space, as will the condensing of materials, moving Lambert Archive to basement (see below) and disposing of newspapers (again, see below).

There will be an opportunity to sell duplicate and unwanted material through our auctions. Mike, this will impact on you and your team, potentially, so will need to liaise with you in due course to work out the best way of handling this, please. Too early to do this at present, though, as we are unclear on what will need selling.

This is a great opportunity for NPSL to enhance its holdings and for the society to enhance its reputation and we WILL manage to accommodate everything somehow. It will be difficult, but I’m up

for the challenge and I know that I have Council’s full support. Obviously, with the enormity of the bequest slowly sinking in, it is likely that I have missed a couple of points logistically (access to basement at a weekend, for example), so welcome any further guidance or comment from fellow Councillors. NEWSPAPER HOLDINGS PROPOSAL Background: NPSL possesses several newsprint publications. They are taking-up a lot of space in the basement and need culling to make room for more important holdings (Incidentally, The Parmenter bequest came in after my decision to cull this material.)

Proposal:

Remove all holdings of the following titles: Mekeel’s and Stamp Collector. Remove all except the most recent six months holdings of: Linn’s Stamp News. (New copy

arrives, oldest gets put out for members to take) Retain all holdings of the British publication Stamp Weekly (bound, in good condition and

requested by the membership) and Canadian Stamp News (which is less ephemeral and is accessed every so often).

Benefits: Disposal of the above materials would result in a great saving of one of our scarcest resources – space. These titles take-up THIRTY FOUR Banker’s boxes, the equivalent of SEVENTEEN Dexion shelves in the Stack. This space is better used for accommodating the Lambert Archive (rarely accessed. Ted possesses Brian Trotter’s verbal approval to remove this archive from level one to basement) – freeing lots of space on the first floor for the NZPS’s and Parmenter libraries. Rationale:

Only one member is known to look at this title – the current issue each time, never old copies. The stock is degrading fast due to the acid content of the newsprint. The Royal has just undertaken a similar exercise for the same reasons. Even APRL is

considering microfilming this stock due to space and deteriorating condition. The “news” content of these newspapers is largely ephemeral and mainly advertising. Our holdings are broken runs with several whole and part years, plus “odd” issues missing.

I request that Council approves the urgent disposal of the material recorded above by sending me a one-line email ASAP. I suggest that it is offered to members first (although no-one from RPSLs worldwide membership wanted their copies recently) and then recycle leftovers if this is feasible, or dispose with the office rubbish if not. Library Update for next Council meeting follows…… RPSL DISPOSALS PROJECT NPSL has benefited greatly from the decision by The Royal to dispose of its duplicate exhibition and periodicals holdings. A total of 20 “Stamp Lover” boxes-worth have now been assimilated into our holdings. A letter of thanks to Chris Harman (President RPSL) will be sent. NZPS of GB PROPOSAL Matters are progressing behind the scenes with NZPS, who are preparing a position paper for our joint agreement. NPS council will be shown this in due course. No urgency.

The Library Today and in the Future Glenn H Morgan, Honorary Librarian

he National Philatelic Society is celebrating 100 years of service to the philatelist this year. The National Philatelic Society Library (NPSL), however, does not celebrate its centenary until 2003. The first date that there is any reference to book or periodical

holdings, or, indeed, mention of a librarian in the list of society officers is 1903. As a result this short article will focus on the library’s current status, rather than being a potted history – that will hopefully be produced in four years time. Philatelists in Britain are fortunate in having available at least three top-flight philatelic libraries. However, it is acknowledged that the most accessible of these is NPSL. If you wish to undertake deep research, or simply browse through the latest magazine or catalogue, every member of the public from any nation on earth can visit us without much formality and with minimal fuss. NPSL holdings comprise roughly 1,750 linear feet of shelving and cover all stamp collecting disciplines. The library caters for collectors at every level of the hobby and for those with all types of philatelic interest, however obscure these may be. There are an increasing number of multimedia titles, as electronic publishing takes hold, together with more traditional books, monographs, newspapers, catalogues, exhibition items and periodicals. These go back as far as the 1860s when the hobby, whilst still in its infancy, was first becoming organised and written about. A project is nearing completion that has involved putting onto a database all NPSL holdings – no small task when you consider the extent of what we have. These records will then be released on our proposed Internet site for anyone to access from any on-line computer, enabling them to plan their visit to us in advance. For those collectors who have not yet ventured onto the net but have a multimedia computer, a CD-ROM version is also under consideration. The generosity of individual collectors and organisations is always a source of amazement to us. The volume of donations in any year amounts to many feet of shelf space, representing hundreds of pounds worth of financial support. We invite all readers to ‘think NPSL’ when considering disposal of any philatelic literature, whether it is a single book or a whole library. This is what the classic philatelic dealers Argyll Etkin Limited recently did. This year saw them donating their huge philatelic periodical and stamp exhibition catalogue libraries to us. This literature amounted to over one hundred feet of shelving and has increased and enhanced our holdings of these two important areas immeasurably. Our largest continuous benefactors (aside from the membership paying their subscriptions each year, of course – something that we do not take for granted) are the trustees of the British Philatelic Trust. Aside from providing the roof over our heads at a peppercorn rent in a central London location close to two tube routes, they also offer so much more assistance, both financially in the form of book binding grants and administratively as well.

T

So, the future looks very rosy for NPSL, although there is one ‘blot on the landscape’ which centres around getting more people to take advantage of its facilities. The library contains a wealth of material not easily found elsewhere and it is a great source of disappointment that more collectors do not visit. We have around 400 visitors each season – roughly two users for each day that we are open for business. We would like to see this figure dramatically increase in the coming years. Based on users’ feedback, those who do use our services are clearly satisfied. The scope of our holdings improves daily and a publicity campaign needs to be instigated to put across our strengths. The library team are all volunteers and work extremely hard to enhance the status of this research facility – why not show your thanks to them by becoming a user, however infrequently you can make it? We revel in a challenge, being serious collectors ourselves, so see if we can help you solve where that strange postmark you’ve been pondering over came from, or where that local stamp may have been used from. We are all too willing to share our knowledge with visitors and if you’re a ‘first timer’, then ask the duty librarian for a quick tour to help you get your bearings. Visiting details NPSL is open most weekdays and many Saturdays throughout every month – in fact over 200 days per annum and all for the cost of one decent football match in the rain! ‘Library Day Membership’ is also available at £2 per visit for non-NPS members. Those intending to use the library are strongly advised to ring the day before on 0171 336 0882 to ensure that a duty librarian will be available to open-up for you. This will avoid a wasted journey on the rare occasions when NPSL cannot be opened on its designated days.

Results of 2006 Bulletin Readers Poll by Glenn H Morgan FRPSL

Last December you were invited to vote for your favourite 2006 set of special stamps and MS, favourite individual stamp, FDC design and presentation pack, plus your preferred Bulletin contributor. This was the 21st annual stamp poll and a good response was received from 1,237 readers residing in many parts of the world, with voting higher than last year. Keying the entries into my laptop soon showed a pattern of popularity with the favourite individual stamp being way ahead of rivals and, as the results below will reveal, I had to type-in the number 77 rather a lot! Thanks to everyone who went to the trouble of voting this year and for all of your comments on the stamps. These have been collated and submitted to the appropriate Royal Mail product managers for their consideration when producing future issues. …………………………………..………………………………………… Favourite set As always, points were allocated for each vote for the set; three points for first choice, two points for second and one point for third. This enabled me to get a clear picture of the relative popularity of each issue. The voting was as shown opposite. The Brunel issue was the outright winner (with 1833 points and 25.5% of total vote), British Journey: England came second (1090 points, 15.2%) and in third place was The Queen’s 80th Birthday issue (798 points, 11.1%). Over 51% of the total vote therefore went to just three sets. For interest, past winners were: 1987 Flowers; 1988 Linnean Society, 1989 Birds; 1990 Queen Mother; 1991 Maps; 1992 Wintertime; 1993 Autumn; 1994 Age of Steam; 1995 Christmas; 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII); 1998 Lighthouses; 1999 Scientists’ Tale; 2000 Tree and Leaf; 2001 Weather; 2002 London Bridges; 2003 Extreme Endeavours, 2004 Woodlands Animals; and 2005 Trafalgar. ……………………………………..………………………………………

Favourite stamps The Lest we Forget stamp from the Miniature Sheet showing the emotive barbed wire and poppy design was decisively your favourite individual stamp (358 votes, 34.1% of total vote) and would have scored even higher had it been available in counter sheets, as some voters felt that as it was in a MS it should not count. The Brunel design depicting the Clifton Suspension Bridge was in second place (78 votes, 7.4%); while the Brunel design showing the Royal Albert Bridge was in third place (54 votes, 5.1%). 58 of the 79 individual stamp designs attracted 10 or fewer votes each (including 11 stamps with zero points) and 69 out of the 79 designs received 20 or fewer votes each. For the record, the previous favourite individual stamps were: 1996 Wildfowl and Wetlands 19p; 1997 The Great Tudor (Henry VIII) 26p; 1998 Endangered Species 20p; 1999 Scientists’ Tale 64p; 2000 Above and Beyond 19p; 2001 Flags – Union Jack; 2002 London Bridges 1st Class; 2003 Coronation 1st (Cecil Beaton’s Coronation portrait of the Queen), 2004 Woodland Animals 1st class Red squirrel; and 2005 Trooping the Colour 1st class. When the single stamps are put back into their sets and votes re-counted, four of the 13 stamp issues attracted 20 or fewer votes for the entire set. These were Victoria Cross (16 votes), Christmas (12), Sounds of Britain (11), and World Cup Winners (just 3). The top four issues were Lest We Forget MS (358 votes), Brunel (201), The Queen’s 80th Birthday (140) and British Journey: England (125). ………………………………………..…………………………………… Favourite FDC envelope and Presentation Pack This was the 1st year that a poll was held to find your favourite Royal Mail FDC envelope design and Presentation Pack design. The four favourites for each were: FDC – Brunel (winner), Animal Tales (2nd), Lest We Forget MS (3rd) and Victoria Cross (4th) Presentation Pack – Brunel (winner), Victoria Cross (2nd), Lest We Forget MS (3rd) and The Queen’s 80th Birthday (4th) ………………………………………..……………………………………

Favourite Bulletin authors This was the 11th year that a poll has been conducted. Douglas Myall (Mainly Machins articles) was once again your favourite author – he appears to be able to do no wrong in your eyes, having a very strong and loyal following. Ron Negus, Dorothy Martin and Richard West came second, third and fourth respectively. ………………………………………………………………………..…… Draw winners The voting forms went into two draws. The four winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE STAMPS draw were Dr C Jansen (Germany), Mrs M A B Kent (Padstow), Mr D Burnham (Cowbridge) and Mr A Groat (Edinburgh). The winners of £50 each in the FAVOURITE BULLETIN AUTHOR draw were Mr R Plummer (Poole) and Mr A Hill (Edgware). ……………………………………………………………………………

Favourite stamps and sets.

FAVOURITE INDIVIDUAL STAMPS The number preceding each stamp description and face value is as shown in December’s Bulletin.

STAMP No.

SET NAME VALUE VOTES

77 Lest We Forget on MS 1st 358 23 Brunel 60p 78 19 Brunel 1st 54 30 Queen's 80th Birthday 2nd 47 32 Queen's 80th Birthday 1st 36 4 Animal Tales 1st 30

10 British Journey: England 1st 28 24 Brunel 68p 24 34 Queen's 80th Birthday 44p 22 79 Celebrating Scotland on MS 72p 21 22 Brunel 47p 20 11 British Journey: England 1st 18 16 British Journey: England 1st 17 20 Brunel 40p 17 14 British Journey: England 1st 16 12 British Journey: England 1st 13 25 Ice Age Animals 1st 13 33 Queen's 80th Birthday 1st 13 9 British Journey: England 1st 11

18 British Journey: England 1st 11 61 Victoria Cross 1st 11 7 Animal Tales 68p 10

49 Modern Architecture 72p 10 57 National Portrait Gallery 1st 9 21 Brunel 42p 8 37 Queen's 80th Birthday 72p 8 45 Modern Architecture 42p 8 8 Animal Tales 68p 7

31 Queen's 80th Birthday 2nd 7 44 Modern Architecture 1st 7 46 Modern Architecture 44p 7 71 Christmas 2nd 7 2 Animal Tales 2nd 6

35 Queen's 80th Birthday 44p 6 78 Celebrating Scotland on MS 72p 6 13 British Journey: England 1st 5 51 National Portrait Gallery 1st 5 54 National Portrait Gallery 1st 5 59 National Portrait Gallery 1st 5 5 Animal Tales 42p 4

28 Ice Age Animals 68p 4 55 National Portrait Gallery 1st 4 56 National Portrait Gallery 1st 4 1 Animal Tales 2nd 3

15 British Journey: England 1st 3 17 British Journey: England 1st 3 26 Ice Age Animals 42p 3

27 Ice Age Animals 47p 3 50 National Portrait Gallery 1st 3 67 Sounds of Britain 42p 3 68 Sounds of Britain 50p 3 69 Sounds of Britain 72p 3 73 Christmas 1st 3 3 Animal Tales 1st 2

47 Modern Architecture 50p 2 60 Victoria Cross 1st 2 70 Sounds of Britain £1.19 2 76 Christmas £1 2 29 Ice Age Animals £1.12 1 36 Queen's 80th Birthday 72p 1 38 World Cup Winners 1st 1 39 World Cup Winners 42p 1 40 World Cup Winners 44p 1 52 National Portrait Gallery 1st 1 53 National Portrait Gallery 1st 1 62 Victoria Cross 64p 1 63 Victoria Cross 64p 1 65 Victoria Cross 72p 1 6 Animal Tales 42p 0

41 World Cup Winners 50p 0 42 World Cup Winners 64p 0 43 World Cup Winners 72p 0 48 Modern Architecture 64p 0 58 National Portrait Gallery 1st 0 64 Victoria Cross 72p 0 66 Sounds of Britain 1st 0 72 Christmas 2nd Large 0 74 Christmas 1st Large 0 75 Christmas 72p 0

……………………………………………………………………………

FAVOURITE SETS SPECIAL STAMPS SET POINTS

Brunel 1833 British Journey: England 1090 The Queen's 80th Birthday 798 Victoria Cross 707 Lest We Forget (MS) 594 National Portrait Gallery 589 Animal Tales 463 Modern Architecture 309 Ice Age Animals 225 Christmas 201 Sounds of Britain 131 World Cup Winners 122 Celebrating Scotland (MS) 120

…………………………………………………………………………… .ENDS (1248 words)

2006 ROYAL MAIL STAMP POLL COMMENTS

Compiled by Glenn H Morgan FRPSL The following pages record all comments, favourable or otherwise, that were received as part of the 2006 Stamp Poll survey broken down by issue and followed by general comments about the Special Stamps programme. All remarks are from collector’s resident in Britain unless marked otherwise at the end of the individual’s comments. ANIMAL TALES …the best series for me. Bright, colourful. Best stamp the “holey” caterpillar. …worst designs by far. …unimaginative, overly simplistic and uninspiring. BRITISH JOURNEYS: ENGLAND …at last some “normal” pictures, less of the drab and dreary stamps from previous series. …a shame that this series was concluded in a rush without the originally proposed further regions just when they finally got the colours right! The first series was awful but this was excellent- far more natural than its predecessors. …much better on the cards. …attractive and an improvement on the rather dull designs of many of the earlier designs in this series. …like them very much. …best of a bad lot, however gaudy and messy in design. …the design of Beachey Head is out of date – the stack fell into the sea some years ago. …England was stunning. BRUNEL …everything a special issue should be – good to look at and commemorated an anniversary of a great Briton. …very interesting and so historic. …liked format and choice of subject matter (A CANADIAN) …depressingly dull and dark. …suffered from small format. Look fine on PHQ cards.

ICE AGE ANIMALS …disappointing, drab and dreary. …too many issues with no real reason for issuing them, i.e. Ice Age Animals. …dreadful in both design and character. …unattractive, in fact could have been omitted altogether! There seemed little purpose in it. Other than as a filler and boost profits. …not very fond of this set. …just another revenue earner. THE QUEEN’S 80th BIRTHDAY …disappointing, drab and dreary. …did Her Majesty spend her life laughing? …informal photographs a delight, in keeping with the modern concept of monarchy. Sympathetically cropped. …why was black and white chosen? Was it considered an occasion for morning rather than celebration? …good to have second class. …that smile on the 1st class stamp. Wow!! …a poor way to celebrate such a joyous occasion, which should have been colourful and fun! …like with William, you’ve cut top of heads off!! Why?? Why?? WORLD CUP WINNERS …worst sports stamps. Other countries have done the same poor design. …a disappointment. Too much white space. National flags could have been larger. …quite happy with this set. …did nothing for the English team. …nice idea, however the results did not bear fruition. Poor! MODERN ARCHITECTURE …I think you had to be an architect or builder to even know what these stamps were. Was stamp 48 a lavatory in a field? …awful, truly awful. The attempt to show just angles of buildings is rubbish. …bold in concept.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY …simply and obviously (and rightly) dictated by the theme. …a mishmash of designs that jars. …very representative of great Britons. ..made me sit up and go “wow”!! Literally works of art. …suffered from being in a smaller size than normal. VICTORIA CROSS …a very historical set and I liked it very much. …stood head and shoulders above other issues. Perfect balance between photograph and text (A CANADIAN) …we’ve already had a stamp celebrating this, so a bad repetitive idea from the start. A poorly designed set. SOUNDS OF BRITAIN …ugliest set. …jolly and conveyed some thing of the vibrancy of the music being played by the musicians they depicted. …worst designs by far. …Sounds of Britain? These sounds may be heard in Britain but none is of British origin and certainly do not merit a special issue. …worst set of the year. I though they were ghastly. FDC very gaudy. …another dreadfully dull set. …unrepresentative of its title. Can only be described as PC gone completely mad. CHRISTMAS …nice, except two PiP stamps. A shame not to have 6 different designs as normal. …the 1st and 2nd class definitives and Christmas are ugly because of the large 1 and 2 on them. …good, but too small. …the small (definitive size) stamps for Christmas look mean and feeble – what a missed opportunity! Father Christmas on a (chimney) pot just about sums it up. …loved the smaller size. …pleasing to the eye, but did not commemorate the true meaning of Christmas. Was this a politically correct decision, in order not to offend foreigners, like the Hindu who complained last year? …should be a Christian theme every year.

…please rethink the Christmas issue in the light of PiP. Feeble in size and subject matter. ..very low key. …look like cheap labels you would stick on the back of an envelope or a present. RM doesn’t deserve this revenue. …prefer Christian values. …absolutely hate them. Look like USA stamps – cheap and nasty. …did Christmas have to be commemorated by such a piddling little set? …my two year old could design a better set. Poor! LEST WE FORGET (MS) ...nicest stamp by far. Shame only available in MS. …should have been an issue on its own (counters sheets). Excellent, simple design a great reminder of the reason for Remembrance day. …simple, evocative. Why not available as single stamps and given wide publicity? …what a pity it was not produced as a single stamp. …a real shame that this was only available as a MS. It deserved a much wider general use. …didn’t like the MS from which the excellent stamp came. …so good it deserved to be seen by the general public, which it won’t be. …very historical. Loved the Poppy stamp. …wonderful idea. Shame you cannot buy it singly. …probably the most evocative stamp ever produced by Royal Mail, not only a masterpiece in its beauty and simplicity of design but for the scope of the emotions that it provokes. On one small piece of paper you have captured more than a thousand words can say of WWI and WWII, the heroism, the pain, the loss of two generations of young men and women and the futility of war. This stamp far and away outclasses the other stamps issued in 2006. Thank you for reminding us, “We shall not forget”. (AN AMERICAN – I THINK HE LIKED IT!!!) …it seems a shame that it will not be seen by more people. …at last! A thoughtful and provoking stamp. The best of the year. Excellent! …no sign that Royal Mail intends making a donation to the Royal British Legion from its profits on this issue. CELEBRATING SCOTLAND (MS) …quite liked it. …another set of well designed stamps. I like them.

GENERAL COMMENTS - POSITIVE …2006 was the best set of stamps for years. I hope the quality continues. …a mixed year as usual but pretty good overall. …not a bad year. …generally a much better year. …a fine year for British stamps. …standard generally higher this year. …I have guarded hope for the future. …keep up the good work – you are heading in the right direction. …the stamp scene in Britain has definitely improved (A CANADIAN) …there is marked turning point in the level of quality and the use of colour. …having been somewhat less than gracious in some of my comments last year, I would like to compliment Royal Mail on a superb year of stamps in 2006. - TOO MANY STAMPS ...too many MS. …too many Smilers. …oh so many. …sets should be no more than 4 stamps. ...another year with too many issues. 2007 looks to have even more. Please slim the programme down. …As usual I am using the Bulletin Poll to protest at the number of issues. How can you expect young people to take an interest while it is expensive and while they have so little chance to obtain used copies? Emails and mobiles are probably even more influential, I admit. …too many issues, too high face values. Please concentrate on quality rather than quantity. …the proliferation of MS is to be deplored. Giving up FDCs of these. …too many issues this year. …far too many in number. …still too many issues, so that really good designs disappear from use too soon after being placed on sale. I suggest four issues per year only. …once more there are too many issues with increasingly higher outlays if one wishes to keep up to date. …once again far too many stamps in far too many formats. (AN IRISHMAN) …far too many stamps.

- DESIGN ASPECTS …there seems to be a penchant among the selection committee to select stamps showing only parts of stamps, i.e. Modern Architecture and Ice Age Animals. …most of the stamps are plain. Common photographs – 41 of them! Of course, it’s cheaper, but there is nothing imaginative. Where are the British designers and painters? …MS stamps should always be available as single stamps (counter sheets). …in general hideous, especially Animal Tales. …some very poor designs in 2006. With a few exceptions, most were not worth buying. …I thought 2005 was bad, however 2006’s offering is even worse. What a dreadful uninspiring collection of depressingly dull topics and images. …all in all a dreadful year for British stamp design. …another awful year, the only consistency is that it gets worse every year. …another not very inspiring year, and to cap it all you’ll probably issue twice as many next year. - TOO MANY / UNNECESSARY ISSUES …far too many stamps, MS and Smilers. Lots of them unnecessary. …too many issues with no real reason for issuing them, i.e. Ice Age Animals. …far too many. Produced just to milk collectors and add to Royal Mail profits. Few used as postage. …a plethora of MS. - FACE VALUES …too few second class. Why not basic 1st and 2nd class stamps? …please can we have more 2nd class stamps? - PROGRAMME TOO EXPENSIVE …philately is becoming too expensive. …did you notice that collecting British stamps is getting very expensive? Anyway, I now give-up my British stamp collection, which I started in 1952. (A FRENCHMAN) Ending this review on a positive note…….. 2007 PROGRAMME …looking promising already with some excellent sets on the way. Should be a good year.

LIBRARY OPEN DAY Thursday 28 June saw sixteen members take advantage of the Library Open Day that had been organised at short notice by Council to gauge the appetite for such events and to let members see and use the Search Room, perhaps for the first time. It was intentionally an informal and flexible format and visitors arrived and departed to suit themselves throughout the day, including one member who had travelled down from York and was able to make a flying visit on his way home from a business commitment in the Capital. Several one-on-one tours of the Search Room were undertaken and those members previously unfamiliar with the new arrangements were able to see first-hand the superb facilities so generously made available to the National Philatelic Society by the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) and Royal Mail. It is hoped that they will now become regular visitors to the library over the coming months. An afternoon display was undertaken by Peter Mellor, who showed those present some of his interesting collection of material entitled “Overseas for a Halfpenny (1879-1949)”. It included a number of particularly interesting and difficult to obtain items and was well-received by an attentive audience. Peter showed well over 200 pages in two halves with a 30-minute break halfway through where tea/coffee and biscuits were available, together with much conversation on ‘matters philatelic’. In addition to Peter’s display, there were many of the Library’s recent literature arrivals on show, including forthcoming auction catalogues and dozens of copies of the latest specialist society periodicals for members to look through. The venue was the Phoenix Centre, which is Royal Mail’s conference suite adjacent to BPMA, and the room was ideally suited for such meetings.

Peter giving his display It was pleasing to see that socialising was again to the fore – just as it always had been at the British Philatelic Centre prior to the changes to that building that had resulted in restrictions on eating, drinking and the ability to sit in reception chatting. These are important elements of the

hobby, as collectors like nothing better than to discuss their interests with like-minded people over a bite to eat and a drink.

Members looking at Peter’s display The day appeared to be welcomed by those attending, with most members asking when the next mid-week afternoon meeting would be held. Council will consider this possibility and if there are future events of this nature, we will ensure that they do not clash with meetings of The Royal Philatelic Society. Greater notice will also be given in Stamp Lover and other philatelic publications in the hope that even more members - and potential members - will join us.

Members catching-up on their philatelic reading

I will conclude by offering Council’s special thanks to the British Postal Museum & Archive, Royal Mail and NPS staff for their major contribution to the success of the day. Glenn H Morgan FRPSL Honorary Librarian, National Philatelic Society Library

(483 words)

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Advanced Collector - One Year On Since the Advanced Collector section first appeared last October we have brought you regular articles about the great stamp collections, technical details about stamp production and detailed background stories and interviews relating to each Special Stamps issue. Right from the start we have sought your feedback and opinions through The Specialist, which tackles the important stories and events that surround the hobby. These included the London 2010 show, the stamp programme balance and depiction of living people on British stamps. You are continually helping to shape the future of Royal Mail products and services by the comments that you submit – that’s why we want to know what you think about Advanced Collector, or any other part of the Royal Mail web site. For instance does the Royal Mail shop cater for collectors? Would you like to see the full range of material that are currently available from Tallents House to be on this site as well? Navigation around Advanced Collector is always something that can be improved – what one person finds obvious, another will not. If there is any aspect of site navigation that really frustrates you, then let us know. Similarly, if there are subjects that you think should be covered by the Advanced Collector section, then let us know because this is your part of the site, after all. We genuinely want to hear your views about this website, so why not drop us a line by clicking on the below link to the comment form?

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Librarian’s Report 2006/7 Season This past season has seen the move of the library from 107 Charterhouse Street to the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) premises at Mount Pleasant. The preparation work involved was enormous, but, thanks to the volunteers, the task was completed on time and with minimal expenditure to the society. Thanks go to the British Philatelic Trust (BPT) who paid our removal costs, Simon Richards who made off-site storage facilities available to the society and BPMA who so readily welcomed us into their premises. May I encourage members to re-read the Library information sheets contained within the April issue of Stamp Lover and to consider utilising more often the excellent facilities now available within Freeling House, as NPSL deserves better patronage than it receives. We held a Library Open Day at the end of last month to encourage visitors and only time will tell whether this will result in greater use being made of the library going forward. The move of premises was not all that NPSL was involved in for the period 2006/7. During the season we successfully negotiated the permanent loan of the library of The New Zealand Philatelic Society of Great Britain, resulting in NPS members having access to a really impressive collection of additional reading material relating to that country. We also assimilated a lot of new philatelic literature relating to Central and South America as a result of the sad death of long-term NPS member William (Bill) Parmenter. The library also now possesses a better collection of books on the stamps and postal history of China following the equally sad and untimely death of NPS President, Richard W Pratt FRPSL. It is always with mixed emotions when such additions to holdings are received, but depositing within NPSL does help their names to live on and for their libraries to benefit new generations of collectors. This has been my final season as Librarian after 15 years, so may I take this opportunity of passing on my huge thanks to everyone that I ever came across during my time in the position. I will not do a role call for it would be too lengthy, but they include, first and foremost, the terrific team of NPS library volunteer staff, plus BPT staff and Trustees, donors, fellow librarians and archivists from other societies and organisations and, of course, the general membership and Council of the NPS. If I might be permitted to single-out Ted Halliday for special mention, for he has been such a supporter of the library and I would have struggled to have managed had it not been for his extensive knowledge, guidance and friendship down the years. Finally, I wish my successor, Mike Bramwell, an enjoyable time and know that I am leaving the library in a safe pair of hands. Glenn H Morgan FRPSL Honorary Librarian

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