From VPS President
Greg Pirozzi
October 2021
Dear VPS Members,
It is my great pleasure to bring to you a magnificent five-part series of articles entitled: “Collecting the Postal History of the Pontifical State During the Period of the Risorgimento, 1796-1870” by member John Yopp of Kentucky.
John has collected this fascinating and complex area for over 50 years. The series spans both the pre-philatelic period (pre-1852) and the introduction of postage stamps (Jan 1852) from the Napoleonic invasion of the Italian peninsula in 1796, to the final unification of the new nation of Italy in 1870. The remarkable level of detailed research and scholarship that John brings to this work certainly brings the history of this period to life !
A separate Appendix contains detailed postal rates of the period, extensive Administrative-Political and Postal-Historical timelines, representative historical maps of the Pontifical State territory and a selection of coins and papal medals spanning the pontificates of Pius VII, Leo XII, Pius VIII, Gregory XVI and Pius IX. The entire work is extensively illustrated with examples of significant postal history from each period, as well as supporting illustrations of many of the locations of the philatelic items.
Taken together, this series represents the most comprehensive and complete philatelic reference source in English in existence for this area of the philately of the Pontifical State. It will serve as a definitive reference for many years to come. At this time, the publication of the full series is only available on our VPS member area website. A brief Introduction article is available to all visitors on our homepage. However, we are exploring future print publication options as well. I want to sincerely thank and commend John for his extraordinary efforts on this project and am most grateful to have the opportunity to help edit and publish this series.
With my best regards,
Greg Pirozzi
VPS President & Editor Vatican Note
To read the introduction article: 
Click On Cover
VPS members can see all of the Pontificate State articles by clicking on the Pontificate States tab located on the VPS Member page.
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