BOOK NOTES: New philatelic handbook focuses on Ukrainian issues (05/08/05)

BOOK NOTES

New philatelic handbook focuses on Ukrainian issues

"Introductory Handbook of Ukrainian Philately" by Ingert Kuzych. Springfield, Va.: Ukrainian Philatelic Resources, 2005. 170 pp., $18 (plus $3 postage in U.S., $6 to Canada and overseas surface, or $11 overseas air.)

"Introductory Handbook of Ukrainian "Focus on Philately" contributor Ingert Kuzych has authored his monthly articles for The Ukrainian Weekly since 1998. One of the suggestions that he has repeatedly received is to release a compendium of some of his past submissions. Dr. Kuzych has heeded this request but gone one step further and released an "Introductory Handbook of Ukrainian Philately" with entirely fresh articles.

This profusely illustrated, 170-page volume - aimed primarily at the beginning to intermediate collector - was produced in response to continuing interest in Eastern European collecting in general, and Ukrainian philately in particular. This volume admirably succeeds in its aim of giving readers a solid grounding in all of the major facets of Ukrainian stamp collecting.

One of the most diverse and fascinating areas of Eastern European philately is that of Ukraine in its many incarnations. As the second largest country in Europe - and one endowed with abundant natural resources - it underwent an extraordinarily turbulent 20th century at the hands of its many covetous neighbors.

The handbook addresses the variety of Ukrainian philatelic releases in two major sections. Part I, titled "A Survey of Classic Ukrainian Philately," is composed of eight chapters and includes the various postal issues up to about 1950. Covered here are the very first types of stamps produced for Ukrainian territories, the zemstvo issues of the Russian Empire, which were used in 40 locales throughout central and eastern Ukraine.

Then there were the stamps of Ukraine's initial period of autonomy and independence from 1917 to 1920, when, after centuries of occupation, an independent Ukraine was briefly able to regain its freedom from Soviet Russia. Once conquered by the Red Army, Soviet Ukraine issued its own stamps for a while (1920-1923) before being fully absorbed into the USSR.

Then there was Western Ukraine (1918-1919), which broke free from the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I and held out for almost nine months before being overrun by Poland. Another slice of Ukraine became part of Czechoslovakia at the close of the first world war, and it prepared its own stamps as Carpatho-Ukraine at its independence in March of 1939, and again in 1945 after being freed from Hungarian occupation.

Following the second world war, interned Ukrainian soldiers and refugees set about producing distinctive POW and DP camp stamps that functioned to move mails within these sprawling settlements. Many Ukrainian organizations also printed special seals (labels or cinderella stamps) to raise funds.

Part II of this volume, titled "A Survey of Modern Ukrainian Philately and Other Collecting Fields," contains four chapters. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, the newly independent republics set about producing provisional postage stamps until facilities could be brought online to print their own postal products. Ukraine was no exception, and during a three-year period (1992-1995) produced an incredible variety of provisionals that have been very well documented. Subsequently, contemporary Ukraine has issued exquisite postage stamps that are on par with some of the loveliest in the world.

Additional topics covered in this section are Ukrainian topics on foreign stamps and Ukrainian postcards. Every chapter in this handbook also contains an extensive bibliography to allow for follow up research by the avid reader or researcher.

The third part of the book includes three appendices covering philatelic terminology, the Ukrainian alphabet, and a roll call of outstanding past and present Ukraine philatelists, along with their areas of specialization. In addition, a number of historical maps help depict the extent of the various Ukrainian entities.

The handbook is a complete revision and expansion of an earlier version from 1993 that had been out of print for some time.

The main author of this unique handbook is Dr. Kuzych, president of the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society (UPNS). He was assisted by half a dozen other UPNS members who contributed to a number of the chapters.

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