Markand Dave
Country: India
Title in the original language: The Rocket mails of India 1934-44 Part 1 (2 vols) & Part 2 (2 vols)
Publisher: India, Nadiad, Gujarat
Year of publication: 2025 & 2026
ISBN Code: 978-93-343-5638-0
Number of pages: 302
Price: 35 £
Main language: English
Short Description: The Rocket Mails of India is a comprehensive research work documenting the fascinating history of Indian rocket mail experiments conducted between 1934 and 1944 by pioneer aerophilatelist Stephen H. Smith. Drawing upon extensive archival research, contemporary records, postal documents, and previously unpublished material from the author’s collection, the book chronicles the development, operation, and postal significance of rocket-carried mail in India. Richly illustrated and supported by detailed analysis of flights, cachets, covers, and historical context, it provides the most complete study of Indian rocket mails published to date and serves as an important reference for aerophilatelists, postal historians, and researchers worldwide.
The Rocket Mails of India, Part – 2 substantially extends the author’s research into the pioneering rocket experiments of Stephen H. Smith. A major feature of this volume is the detailed reproduction and study of important material from the collections and original records of Stephen Smith and Lady Rachel Sassoon Ezra, providing an exceptional contemporary record of the development of Indian Rocket Mail. The book extensively reproduces and examines Smith’s original Record Cards and Record Sheets (“Personal Notes of Rocket Firings”), together with Lady Ezra’s handwritten Record Cards, correspondence, photographs and other archival material. These primary sources provide new evidence concerning individual rocket firings, quantities carried, experimental objectives, participants and associated philatelic material. Illustrated with nearly 400 images, Part – 2 records numerous new discoveries and previously unrecorded varieties, proofs, labels, essays, printing material and surviving artefacts, while correcting and expanding information published in earlier studies. Cross-referenced with Part – 1, the volume combines original archival research, postal history, aerophilately and experimental rocketry, preserving and documenting the remarkable legacy of Stephen H. Smith and Lady Rachel Sassoon Ezra for future generations of philatelists and researchers.
Where to order: markand7@yahoo.com.