India’s Stamp Journal, 1945-89

Edited by India’s greatest dealer and surely the greatest journalist of the modern era (post 1940), Jal Cooper. While The Philatelic Journal of India (PJI) is unbeatable in the period 1897 to say 1920s, it declined in its contents in the late 1930s / 1940s onward. Thankfully the void was filled by India’s Stamp Journal (ISJ), which saw its heydays between the 1940s and the 1960s (Cooper died 1972). Different from PJI in that it had a very strong writer as its editor, it is great to read the ISJ’s editorials with Cooper having a go at the postal authorities as well as politicians. Apart from it, ISJ contained many original articles, some from the pen of Cooper (for example Early Indian Cancellations was serialised in the journal before it was brought out as a book), as well as important reprints. After Cooper died, A. H. Dalal and P. M. Medhora, another two well-know philatelists became editors and carried the baton efficiently.

A rare journal very difficult to find (I have been trying to complete my run for 8 years now but not yet successful).  Thius set comprises the years 1945, 1947-49, 1956-60, and 1962-89 (37 years complete). The condition is Very Fine with no markings or toning.