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by Linda Lee MAP
Where is further information available? It is important to keep up with what’s happening in the exhibition world. The rules for thematic exhibiting are guidelines. New exhibitors will soon find that judges, thematic societies and other exhibitors often have different interpretations about these rules. There are also many finer points to serious exhibiting. It is therefore very important to keep up by having regular discussions with judges at exhibitions, with other exhibitors through correspondence and meetings and to read widely. Useful texts include the various publications on specific themes and Philatelic Terms Illustrated by James Mackay (1987) from Stanley Gibbons and the Handbook of Thematic Philately by W E J van den Bold (1994). Most stamp magazines including “Stamp News” have special articles on thematic collecting. Web sites are also useful for finding material on the chosen theme. Stamp catalogues are a must. A good world catalogue is most useful and specialist catalogues can be consulted at State Council Libraries such as the Philas Library in Sydney NSW. Auction catalogues are a good source for finding out the range of material available, including the unusual and elusive. Stamp dealers are also very good sources and most have thematic boxes and albums on their stands at exhibitions. Australia has two thematic societies: the Thematic Society of Australia caters for collectors and exhibitors and Thematics Queensland caters for exhibitors. Both have regular meetings, publications and library facilities. The International Association for Philatelic Exhibitors (NAPE) has a very useful journal and regular meetings at Australian exhibitions. The Australian Philatelic Federation’s “One Up Club” can help thematic exhibitors to improve their entries. The American Topical Association is also a very good source of information on a range of themes. If you decide not to exhibit your thematic study, you could try to write it up for your amusement and to show at clubs. A display written up in a thematic way is always very interesting. I have a couple of traditional collections that I enjoy, so if you are a traditional collector why not have a thematic collection too! If you decide to exhibit your thematic collection for the first time, why not try a one frame entry. One Frame National Exhibitions are held regularly. Check on the Australian Philatelic Federation website www.apf.org.au or in “APF News”. Useful addresses include: Thematics Queensland NAPE APF “One Up Club” |
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