Sergio Bresciani

1998, Rome, Raybaudi Editore. Cover price Euro 36.15. Volume of 132 pages with colour and b/w photos. Format 20x28, canvas binding with colour dust jacket. Limited print-run of 650.

Sergio Bresciani, orthodontist, lecturer in implant surgery at the University of Parma and avid collector, published this very detailed study of a much disputed stamp. Written in Italian and English, the book tells the story of how it was decided to "cancel" King Vittorio Emanuele III’s head with the signature of Pietro Badoglio. One of the leading lights in the operation was Mario Fano, Undersecretary of Posts and Telecommunications, who arranged a meeting with the local director of the Post Office in Naples and two printers in order to set up the project, which had been ordered by Supreme Command. Some tests were done and a few initial print runs were made, with the stamps being quickly sent to the King for his opinion and his consent. The King, however, received the stamps during the very days in which rumours were circulating about his forced abdication and the appointment of Pietro Badoglio as regent in his stead. The King, indisposed to step down, felt that his image was despoiled by Badoglio’s signature, and so the idea was shelved. Of the 20,000 samples sent out, it is not known how many were incinerated or how remained in circulation, but they certainly belong to the category of unissued stamps.