Plating Guide for the HRAD ANY 40 H

Transcription

1 Plating Guide for the HRAD ANY 40 H Knihtisk Series 1: Vol 1., No. 8 Compendium of the observations of Václav Pellant and John Velek with original observations by Dr. Mark Wilson Translation from the Czech with the permission of Spole nosti sb ratelç eskoslovenských knihtiskových známek Rekonstrukce tiskových des k emise Hrad any 40h and the use of Mr. Velek s work with the permission of The American Philatelist KNIHTISK Winchester Virginia

2 Copyright 2003 by Lunasa LLC. All rights reserved. Translated from the original Czech with the special permission of the Spole nosti sb ratelç eskoslovenských knihtiskových známek and The American Philatelist.. Knihtisk is the imprint of Lunasa LLC, of Winchester, Virginia. Knihtisk is a labor of love. Its publications represent the volunteer work of fellow collectors and are sold at prices that merely sustain production. Manufacturing or accepting unauthorized copies undercuts the efforts of contributors and may discourage further work. The only authorized source for copies of Knihtisk publications is Lunasa LLC. Please support this effort to bring out-of-print, highly specialized, or materials hidden behind the veil of other languages into the hands of collectors by refusing to accept copies from unauthorized sources. Of course, you may make print or make electronic copies for your personal use, but you must never release or keep a copy to avoid payment. Please note that series, volumes within series, and numbers within each volume may be published non-sequentially and at irregular intervals. Suggestions for future publications or your own contributions should be sent to the published address of Knihtisk. Caveat: This is an amateur translation by a collector who professes no special knowledge of the Czech language. As a result, there may be unintentional misrepresentations of the meaning of the original text. The alternative would have been to keep the translation private rather than sharing it with other interested collectors. Suggestions for corrections, clarifications, or additional information should be ed to info@knihtisk.com or sent via ordinary mail to Knihtisk, 316 Devland Drive, Winchester, Virginia The Translator This work represents one of the least edited of the Czech originals for the First Design Hradcany. As such, the descriptions lack organization, are inaccurate in some cases, or fail at times to indicate that some features appear only in certain printings. In addition, neither Velek nor Pellant follow what was later to become standardized descriptive language. An attempt has been made to correct this latter shortcoming; thus neither Velek s nor Pellant s actual descriptions are used. Whenever possible, the inadequate illustrations from both articles have been replaced with scans. Cover Illustration: Block of six with perforation guide. November 2003 April 2004 Title page and title normalization. Renumbered from No. 10 to No. 8. ii

3 From Pellant: The Monographs on Czechoslovakian Stamps, Volume I, section on the Hrad any, which was written by Dr. František Kubát, served as the research source for this study. It notes the following plate flaws by position: Plate I: 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 38, 40, 46, 47, 49, 53, 70, 74, 76, 85, 89, 90, 91, 97, 98 = 27 Plate flaws. Plate II: 2, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20, 23, 25, 33, 37, 40, 41, 43, 47, 50, 53, 56, 59, 60, 62, 65, 70, 97, 82, 87, 89, 91, 97 = 28 Plate flaws. Secondary Plate flaws are noted from positions 14, 20, 23, 25, 40, 47, 53, 86, 89, 91 and 92. Consequently, 27% of the stamp positions were identified by the Monographs, which was the basis by which I identified the majority of the sheets, blocks, and strips that I had in my collection. I was also substantially aided by the advice and material loaned by František Hamra from Sob slavi and the nearly complete sheets of Vladislava Hanák from Karlovic which permitted me a cross-check on my reconstructions. I was also helped by the late Jaromír Feigl from Jarom Í, who proofread the descriptions, and Zden k Ryvola from Havlí kov Brod, responsible for the illustrated details. To everyone who helped, my sincere thanks for providing this work on a single stamp from the first issue of Czechoslovakia; for the fine help of the Hrad any collector from another country who helped make this reconstruction possible and who had already done this many years ago, F. Leitenberger from Leipzig. His work was all lost, but was repeated by John Velek 1 from The United States, Ervald Larsen from Denmark, and P. Vouhsem from the DDR. The Hrad any are the premier philatelic delicacy! Prague, October 1982 Václav Pellant 1 When referring to any of Velek s work on the 40h Hrad any, the reader should keep in mind that Velek reverses the plate designations: his Plate I is Pellant s Plate II, and his Plate II is Pellant s Plate I. Czech philatelic literatures observes Pellant s nomenclature as does this document.. iii

4 From Velek Plating, as I understand it, is the reconstruction of a full sheet of stamps by overlapping strips or blocks which have matching plating marks, marginal control numbers or some other key to their position on the sheet. If full sheets or detailed guides exist, plating can be accomplished with singles only. Both methods have been used in compiling the data which follows. Plating has long been the favorite pursuit of serious philatelists but unfortunately the large majority of platable stamps are of a price prohibitive to the average collector. This is not the case with the Hrad any stamps of Czechoslovakia which are plentiful. Another factor of interest to the prospective plater is the profusion of plating marks which keep the task from becoming discouraging to a collector whose time is limited. Armed with an accumulation of Hrad any stamps and the plating guide that follows, a collector can launch himself upon a sea of philatelic bliss which will show gratifying results. John Velek, The American Philatelist From Mark Wilson This publication represents a beginning upon which I hope to write a clearer and more methodical study of the Hrad any 40h and its kindred. There is still much work to be done in identifying the various printings of the plates over time, as well as improving the general descriptions overall. Contributions in the form of additional notes are welcome from all philatelists everywhere, even more so should those notes be accompanied by quality scans. Note that of the two hundred basic stamps for this publication, some forty-nine were not available for illustrations at this writing. What the seductive quality of this simple yet expressive first issue of the Czechoslovakian Republic actually is I cannot say. I can only report that for me it was love at first sight. Mark Wilson, Winchester VA November 2003 iv

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