Rebirth of the L'OP

After an absence of 23 years the L'OP lives again! thanks to the new vitality of our colleague society in Cairo, the Philatelic Society of Egypt. This latest issue is No 132 in the series, dated January 2002, shows just what can be done when the will is there. The Editor of the new issue is one of our members, Lucien Toutounji (ESC 264), ably supported by Hisham Bassyouny (ESC 391), the late Nabil el-Hadidi (ESC 369,), and Dr Mohamed Adel Farid (ESC 495). The new issue, of 40 pages at A5 size uses the previous cover's Arabesque design by Alfredo Dazzi first used in 1965. In a mixture of Arabic and English it containes several interesting articles notably Lucien Toutanji on the 1948/49 Palestine war mail and a most comprehensive guide (in Arabic) to the watermarks on Egyptian stamps. It also gives news about recent Egyptian successes at international competitions.

The aim, says Hisham Bassyouny, is to publish four times a year. Donations will be welcomed, helping to allow an improvement in standards, and he has set a subscription rate (postage included) of $US25 annually. He may be contacted at PO Box 142 Cairo; or by email at hisham@bassyouny.net