BOOK NOTES
New philatelic handbook focuses on Carpatho-Ukraine
"Handbook of Carpatho-Ukrainian Philately" by Jay Carrigan and Ingert Kuzych. Ukrainian Philatelic Resources, P.O. Box 3, Springfield VA 22150. ii + 74 pages. Price $10 postpaid to the United States, $12 postpaid to Canada or overseas surface, $18 overseas air.
The latest release from Ukrainian Philatelic Resources is "Handbook of Carpatho-Ukrainian Philately." This publication is the most comprehensive English-language treatment ever of this obscure yet fascinating area of philately.
Because of its tumultuous past, Carpatho-Ukraine is an area that is avidly collected by Eastern European specialists, including, but not limited to, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian philatelists.
Three main chapters in this profusely illustrated book cover all facets of Carpatho-Ukrainian collecting. Chapter 1 introduces the region Carpatho-Ukraine, how it came to attain independence, and its stamps of 1939 and 1945. Also presented is information on Carpatho-Ukrainian postal rates, watermarks on stamps and local issues.
The second chapter is a comprehensive catalogue of Carpatho-Ukrainian stamps that includes all major varieties of the 110 stamps issued by this short-lived entity, as well as their prices. Supplementing this chapter is an appendix of unissued stamps: a listing of overprinted Hungarian revenue stamps that were prepared but never went into circulation.
Chapter 3 deals with Carpatho-Ukrainian postal stationery, and is the most complete such listing ever compiled. Included are all of the various stationery products prepared in March of 1939 for Carpatho-Ukraine's first-ever stamp issue, the famous 3-koruny blue. In 1945, when Carpatho-Ukraine again regained its independence, no less than 22 distinct Hungarian postal card types were overprinted into Carpatho-Ukrainian stationery. Quality control, however, was not that stringent, so many varieties were created; they are all carefully described and priced in this book.
A fourth "bonus" chapter concludes the handbook. It covers the 1941 provisional postal cards overprinted in the town of Kolomyia - just outside of Carpatho-Ukraine proper. Other than the Carpatho-Ukrainian issues detailed in the first three chapters, these overprinted Soviet postal cards were the only other Ukrainian-produced postal items from World War II.
The authors of the handbook are both well-known philatelists. Jay Carrigan is a respected national philatelic judge specializing in World War II-era postal releases. Ingert Kuzych is the president of the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic society and a prolific author and researcher. This is his third Ukrainian philatelic handbook.
The pages of "Handbook of Carpatho-Ukrainian Philately" first appeared in the journal Ukrainian Philatelist in the fall of 2005. They have been repackaged into this special publication to make them available to a wider audience.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 5, 2006, No. 6, Vol. LXXIV
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