GPA 92 British Empire & Foreign Countries: Online
To be held on November 19th/20th, this specialised auction of nearly 1,700 lots features the remarkable collection of Cinderellas, Locals and the Unusual formed by the late Jim Czyl of Illinois, the exceptional Arthur Moyles collection of Malta postal history, fine Cyprus formed by John Chillingworth, further material from the RJ Maddocks collection of Cameroons and the latest of our regular sections of specialised Falkland Islands & Antarctica, featuring the outstanding collection formed by the ‘founding father of Polar Philately’, the late HEJ ‘Harry’ Evans.
James C Czyl
1947 – 2014
James C ‘Jim’ Czyl was born in Harvey, Illinois, on March 6 1947 and until his recent death was
considered one of the leading authorities on ‘cinderellas’ and the local posts of the world. He had been a contributing editor to ‘Cinderella Scene’ in Linn’s Stamp News. Jim was an active member of many philatelic societies including the Cinderella Stamp Club, the Collectors Club of Chicago, the Chicago Philatelic Society, the American Philatelic Society, the S. Allan Taylor Society, and a founding member of the Lundy Collectors Club USA.
Sometimes described as ‘labels purporting to be stamps’, cinderellas embrace any item that appears to be a stamp’, cinderellas embrace any item that appears to be a stamp but is officially recognised. These include ‘bogus’ or privately produced issues. Jim provided his own contributions to the field, founding and operating Czyl’s Penny Post and Posen Local Post among others, his productions commemorating a range of subjects, including Lundy. Our photograph here shows Jim visiting the island’s battered postbox on one of his eight visits.
As well as this attractive kaleidoscope of phantoms, Jim researched and acquired many of the important rarities in the field of Local Posts, including examples of the famous Trinidad ‘Lady Mcleod’, the earliest stamp used in any British colony, as well as the ever popular Lake Lefroy Cycle Mails, and the only known example of the Sombrero Island 1892 1d. purchased when Grosvenor sold the collection of the late Norman Williams in 2000.
Jim’s extensive collection reflected a great fondness for all material in the philatelic world that is not mainstream, his great tendency always toward the unusual or neglected. As a result, this section of lots also includes a number of rare proofs, essays, revenues and telegraphs.
HEJ ‘Harry’ Evans
1925 – 2014
In August this year the philatelic world sadly lost another of its most highly regarded and stalwart figures. HEJ ‘Harry’ Evans, recognised as the founding father of organised Polar Philately, had in December 1952 set up the Polar Postal History Society of Great Britain, an organisation which he then ran, as Secretary and Treasurer, for the next 40 years, from 1953 to 1992. When the Society decided upon the establishment of a formal committee, Harry continued as President, holding this post until the end of his life. Over the years Harry had contributed regularly to the society Journal, The Polar Post, and also served as Packet Superintendent and Cover Offers Coordinator, the productions placed for sale having often been his inspiration. It has been said that there can hardly be a polar cover collector in the world who has never owned a ‘Evans’ item.
When the American Society of Polar Philatelists was formed in 1955, Harry was one of the founding members, and he was also an active participant in the activities of the Falkland Islands Philatelic Study Group.
Harry’s knowledge of his area was encyclopaedic and he enjoyed greatly his researches into lesser known subjects, meeting and corresponding with other experts around the world and forming strong friendships. Over the years he formed a remarkable collection and remained an active buyer and seller to the end. The Harry Evans collection provides a fascinating balance of classic and modern Antarctic material whilst also including many exceptional items of Whaling Mail, Operation Tabarin and South Georgia.