" Editing is an Art Form " .sx The Baton :sx the magazine of the Philatelic Music Circle .sx ISSN 0951-9951 .sx Published three times a year .sx Editor :sx Mrs. Irene Lawford , 22 Bouverie Gardens , Kenton , Middlesex HA3 0RQ .sx Annual membership subscription :sx pounds6 .sx Back numbers of the magazine :sx pounds1 .sx 50 ( $3 ) .sx Not often do we have the chance of reviewing a Presidential Editorial :sx but then Mrs. Lawford is an unusual and distinguished president and editor .sx Her little history , in No .sx 67 , of how The Baton has undergone changes of production method , how it virtually rules the life of its editor , and how an autonomous non - professional ( her words , not ours ) copes with the demands of producing a good society journal , is tremendously impressive .sx Neither of us is especially attracted towards thematic philately , yet we have always enjoyed the care , skill and learning which are so evident in the Philatelic Music Circle's magazine .sx Irene Lawford probably speaks for more philatelic editors than she realises .sx We know she is a member of the Philatelic Writers' Society , and we hope that Quill might reprint her message as a piece of general interest to philatelic writers and editors .sx It ought to go without saying , though we say it just the same , that any collector who enjoys indulging , even on a part-time basis , in the musical theme , should join the Circle and experience the benefits of its editor's erudition and sheer joie-de-vivre .sx Selecting two or three items from such a wealth of stimulating material is quite a task .sx In the two numbers we have picked for comment we found the recent G.B. Thomas Hardy stamps charmingly set to music by David Rye .sx We are familiar enough with The Mellstock Quire , for we are Dorset folk and proud of it , but it came as an unexpected bonus to learn that it was Hardy's grandfather , disguised as " neighbour Yeobright " in The Return , whose playing made the church windows rattle " as if 'twere a thunderstorm " .sx Keeping up with new issues is admirably done , though of course for this year there seems to be a surfeit of Mozart , but Bryan Hunt , that Hampshireman of so many philatelic parts , has translated and edited a fascinating article from Germany about Bach as organist .sx Reinkin said of Bach , after hearing his improvisations for thirty minutes , " I thought that art had died , but I see it lives on in you " ; and Irene Lawford remarks in her 'Presidential' that " editing is definitely an art form !sx " Sherlock Holmes , who played a Stradivarius , and who has also been depicted on stamps , once declared that " Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest " .sx Art in The Baton is liable to produce many lovely surprises , too .sx 'State-of-the-Art Journal' .sx Medi-Theme :sx the Quarterly Bulletin of the Medical Philately Study Group .sx Editor :sx Tom Wilson , 162 Canterbury Road , Kennington , Ashford , Kent TN24 9QD .sx Annual membership subscription :sx pounds5 ( pounds7 .sx 50 overseas) .sx Back numbers :sx pounds1 each .sx Aim of Medi-Theme editor Tom Wilson is to keep his magazine the 'state-of-the-art' journal !sx Our only petty quibble with this idea is that upon looking at Volume 9 , the four issues for 1990 , the contents appear to cover numerous states of a vast array of medical arts .sx But if 'state-of-the-art' means that we enjoyed them all , and felt in better health and better informed when we finished than before we began , then the editor has got it absolutely right .sx Medi-Theme is very useful for its reviews of a wide variety of publications which have relevance to the medical theme , and this latest volume contains several ampoules of pharmaceutical philately .sx There is also an excellent article by George Griffenhagen on Pharmacy in Australia .sx A feature on British stamps revealed the interesting information that Benjamin Franklin , first Postmaster of the United States , and John Keats , the English poet , were both apothecaries .sx Keats appears again as a victim of syphilis in a splendid piece by Professor Alfred Jay Bottet of Yale on The Great Pox .sx The philatelic connections are not far removed ( !sx ) , and we were especially taken by some of the many names given to this disease which presuppose that somebody else must have been to blame for it ; for example , the French Disease , the Spanish Disease , the Chinese Pleasure Disease , the European Illness , the West Indies Disease , the Portuguese Sore , the Neapolitan Disease and the French Pox !sx Did nobody ever hold the British responsible ?sx Nowadays , to judge from the frequency of recent stamps and postmarks , AIDS is thought to be the chief enemy , though Tom Wilson presents a paper about Deafness on Stamps , and Oku Ampofo reviews herbal remedies in Plants that Heal .sx We learn also that American bulk-rate postal markings , and even Agatha Christie , have their medical connotations , and Dr. Allan Hall has begun a series about Physicians on U.S. Stamps and First Day Covers .sx Those of us who are frightened of doctors can take comfort in the fact that the only one to become President of the U.S.A. died within a month of his inauguration .sx Cock-Ups , According to Coqk .sx Captain Coqk provides a lot of very good reading , even if sometimes for the wrong reasons .sx For it is a relatively simple publication , issued monthly , by a smallish society operating in a smallish but internationally distinguished city .sx And it caters not so much for the learned expert but more for the ordinary members who form the bulk of the stamp collecting community anywhere .sx It does contain some excellent specialist articles , but its chief interest to us lies in its role as forum for the opinions of average collectors , opinions which are often overlooked .sx It would be both unkind and misleading to regard Captain Coqk as a repository for gripes and groans , but since it performs this function so well , let us look at a few of the comments which appeared during last year , which saw NZ 1990 in Auckland , as well as Stamp World 90 in London .sx Several readers complain that the new issues of NZ Post are too numerous , often irrelevant to postal rates , and far too expensive for many collectors .sx This is an age-old grumble the world over , with which we have considerable sympathy .sx The president's advice is admirable :sx cancel the standing order and fill some older gaps .sx It can be more fun collecting used stamps , even if , as one illustration showed , they have been ruined by three cancellations because the first try , with light , circular datestamps , didn't obliterate them sufficiently .sx ( By the way , New Zealand no longer has post offices ; they are now called Post Shops .sx ) .sx Others grumble about exhibitions , and we enjoyed one suggestion , that the organisers should pay the exhibitors , rather than the other way round , especially if there were no medals being awarded .sx The plethora of exhibition souvenirs came in for criticism :sx and who can honestly deny that there are far too many of them , designed only to extract cash from collectors which would be better spent on the purchase of some real stamps ?sx New Zealanders complained of biased Australian judging ; well , the simple remedy is to stick to cricket and hope the umpire never raises his finger at your efforts .sx In contrast , New Zealanders seem to like their idea of perfinning current and old demonetised stamps as exhibition souvenirs , and hope others may follow their lead .sx Well , we don't , for real perfins are seriously studied nowadays , and it scarcely helps for a responsible philatelic body to create rubbish which may confuse collectors of the future .sx We are told that they are eagerly bought , errors and all , though probably not by the same people who say they cannot afford all the new issues .sx It all shows you cannot please everyone , and this is one of the aspects which makes Captain Coqk such a pleasure to read .sx Among the more serious pieces -sorry if we have rather neglected them -were a most instructive technical explanation about O.C.R. and F.S.M. ( Optical Character Readers and Flat Sorting Machines currently being introduced ) , an account of the Victoria Naval Contingent in the Boxer Rebellion , the 40 cents postal stationery envelopes ( varieties of the old type , and then new ones sold and used several days before the official first day of issue ) , the Edward VII 1/2d Official with inverted overprint , New Zealand telegraphic cancels , and a report about philately in China .sx The November 1990 issue saw the Captain reach his double century , even against some fast Australian bowling , but he has taken a fresh guard and is batting on .sx Captain Coqk is printed and published by the Christchurch ( N.Z. ) Philatelic Society Inc .sx , 27 Worchester Street ( P.O. Box 29 ) , Christchurch , New Zealand , at an annual subscription of NZ$18 , plus postage overseas .sx Good News from Italy .sx In our comments about Fil-Italia , the Journal of the Italy & Colonies Study Circle ( see The Philatelist for March-April 1991 , page 76 ) we mentioned the excellent articles which appeared in Volume 16 during 1990 , but we regretted that the magazine arrived as a bundle of loose sheets , without binding , or even a staple .sx By the time our review was published , but unfortunately not soon enough to amend our text , the first number of Fil-Italia Volume 17 had arrived .sx The Journal is now being produced on new desktop publishing equipment and arrives with a splendid plastic binder .sx Cover price is now pounds4 per copy , but the improvements are well worth the modest increase from the previous pounds3 .sx We congratulate the editor and all concerned .sx This new number includes excellent articles on the postal services of the Papal States , the postal markings of Somalia , the Chiasso-Sofia-Jerusalem Mail Route 1942-43 , and the Italian Post Office in Janina 1902-17 , and updates on ship postmarks , censorship , and perfins .sx Collectors of the Italian area who do not belong to the study circle are strongly advised to join .sx Incidentally , the annual membership is less than the cost of the magazines .sx James Chalmers and the London Mail .sx Dundee and Tayside Chamber of Commerce and Industry have produced a limited number of unique booklets as part of their contribution to the Dundee Octocentenary celebrations .sx The booklet contains extracts from the original Minute Books of the Chamber covering the period 1820-1850 -a most interesting time in philatelic history .sx Postal services were crucial to the merchants involved in the linen trade which dominated the economy of Dundee in the first half of the 19th century .sx Any measure that speeded up the receipt of orders was of vital importance -especially if their competitors in other parts of Britain benefited from any improvement in their mail service .sx The extracts from the Minute books of the Forfarshire Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers and its successor , the Dundee Chamber of Commerce , provide a fascinating record of the mail service as transport moved from the stagecoach to the railways .sx References to highwaymen , William Gladstone and Falmouth are reminders of historical events , personalities and places .sx James Chalmers , inventor of the adhesive postage stamp , played a leading role in the Forfarshire Chamber and drafted several detailed reports explaining how the mail service between London and Dundee could be improved , while continuing to link with the various branch services of which that to the ports of Liverpool and Manchester was of special importance .sx Around 1825 , after extensive campaigning , James Chalmers succeeded in reducing , by one day , the time for mail to reach Edinburgh from London .sx Chalmers was very active during the time of the postal reforms around 1840 and copies of correspondence with Rowland Hill are included in the booklet .sx Dundee Chamber admired the work of Rowland Hill in introducing the Penny Post and set up a committee to raise subscriptions to his Memorial Fund .sx Criticism of the local post office and a plan for a new Post Office in part of the Exchange Coffee House is to be found in the extracts .sx Each of the 1000 limited edition copies of the booklet will be numbered individually .sx A limited number of these will be posted on the first day of Expo 800 -an international trade fair to be held in Dundee from 3 to 6 July 1991 -which Her Majesty the Queen will open on 3rd July .sx