THE INDIA STUDY CIRCLE FOR PHILATELY

ISC members have been notified that the 2024 A.G.M. will be held by Zoom at 16.00 hours GMT on Saturday 30th November. Nominations of UK members are invited for the post of Treasurer, with the consent of the nominee, by a proposer and seconder who are both ISC members, to be received by the Secretary before November 2nd. The Member’s Representative is elected annually, nominations being sought at the A.G.M.

ISC Auction no. 242 closed on September 7th. There were 367 lots sold from the 600 offered (61%) with total sales of $23,011. Members have been asked to consign material for Auction no. 243.

Issue no 232 of India Post has been distributed and issue no. 233 has been sent to the printers. Following a recent Committee decision, all issues of India Post may now be downloaded by ISC members from the Website, giving easier access; this includes issue nos. 232 and 233. This conforms with the Committee’s philosophy that the annual ISC subscription pays for all the services provided by the ISC and not just the product of the hard-copy journal. This will not affect the distribution of the printed version.

Following an application from the Association of Legal Deposit Libraries (ALDL), new issues of India Post are being distributed to the British Library, Cambridge University Library and the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, in England, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The Committee considered that this was a worthwhile thing to do with some of the spare copies of India Post and that it could enhance the profile of the ISC. Enquiries are ongoing to find libraries around the world that would also like to receive spare copies of India Post.

The last ISC Handbook to be published was Volume 4 of the Second Series, in 2000. However, Chris Cleal, our Research Co-ordinator, has been working for over 18 months with several ISC members as the general editor for projects that could lead to Handbook volumes, whether on new subjects or updates/ re-writes of previous Handbooks. A new volume, which will be the first of a Third Series, “The Origins of Mail by Rail in India 1860 – 1880” by Chris Bartlett, is on the point of publication. This will be available to buy, at a very reasonable price, via Amazon Print-on-Demand once registration has been completed.

Volume 2 of the Third Series of the Handbook is well on the way. John Warren is renowned for his study of the Sacred Cow issues of Bundi State and he has produced an update of the previous Handbook on this subject, which was published by the late Ray Benns, in 1986. John has obtained approval from Ray’s family to produce an update and Chris (Cleal) is doing the final formatting; it will also be available via Amazon Print-on-Demand.

NOJEX 2024 was held at Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, USA, between the 27th and the 29th of September and there was good participation from the ISC. Awards were presented to Akthem Al-Manaseer (Large Gold Medal and the American Philatelic Society Award of Excellence Predominantly 1900 – 1940, in the General Class, and two Single Frame Gold Medals) and Apratim Bhattacharya (Gold Medal and American Topical Association First Place Medal, in the General Class). Details of their exhibits are listed in the ‘Members’ Awards’ section of the ‘Gallery’ on the ISC Website.

The 1st International Virtual Aerophilatelic & Astrophilatelic Exhibition (AMSIPEX-25) will be held from the 15th to the 23rd of February; submissions are invited before November 25th. World Air Mail Day will be celebrated on February 18th, the date of the first Aerial Post at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) in 1911, the first postally sanctioned air mail flight in the world.

Sandeep Jaiswal, the ISC Program Secretary, has committed to having the ISC as the only convening Society at the Philatelic Show in Boxborough, Massachusetts, USA, from the 18th to the 20th of April. On Saturday the 19th of April, presentations will be arranged at the frames, to be followed by lunch. Sandeep would like to encourage exhibitors to apply. The link to the show is: http://www.nefed.org/ps_index.php .

Arrangements for ISC involvement in EUROPHILEX 2025 at the National Exhibition Centre, just outside Birmingham, UK, from the 7th to the 11th of May are continuing and more details will be issued in due course. General details of EuroPhilEx can be found on their website.

The ISC will be holding a meeting at MIDPEX 2025 on Saturday the 5th July at the Warwickshire Event Centre, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK; further details to come.

BOSTON 2026 World Expo will be a major International Stamp Show, held from the 23rd to the 30th of May 2026 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Sandeep Jaiswal is organizing the ISC input; look out for further details, including information about the details of the dinner that Sandeep will be arranging following the ISC meeting.

The Committee has agreed that there should be celebrations to mark the 75th Anniversary of the ISC, which falls next year, at BOXBORO 2025 and EUROPHILEX 2025. A major proposal, put forward by Sandeep Jaiswal, was that the ISC should produce a high-quality, hard-back souvenir book, the contents of which would include a section on “The History of the ISC” and another with contributions from members. All ISC members have been sent a letter with a request for contributions of their “Favourite Item” together with a paragraph about themselves, which will become part of this permanent record. Every ISC member will receive a free copy (with additional copies available to purchase).