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MBPC was inaugurated on 1 January 2006. It came about as the result of a merger between two eminent specialist societies, the Great Britain Decimal Stamp Book Study Circle (GB DSB SC) and the British Decimal Stamps Study Circle (BDSSC).

GB DSB SC was founded in 1971 and, since then, has been concerned with the study, reporting and cataloguing of decimal stamp books. Its reputation is such that its cataloguing nomenclatures are now widely accepted as the standard worldwide.

BDSSC was founded in 1975 and dealt primarily with the collating and reporting of information on the decimal stamp sheet issues.

In the autumn of 2005, GB DSB SC decided to expand its scope to cover all aspects of modern GB philately dealing with all stamps and related material issued since the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, in all formats. As part of that expansion, it seemed sensible to seek a merger with BDSSC and that was agreed by the memberships of the two Circles.

So, MBPC came into being.

The Circle will continue to issue six editions each year of the award winning ‘The Bookmark’ Journal. All new issue reports are supported by illustrations and diagrams where appropriate. The conclusions gained from research are included as soon as the results are available, enabling members to search for any elusive material that may exist. Technical articles for the collector who wishes to specialise in greater depth are regularly included. ‘The Bookmark’ Journal also deals with items relating to the stamp issues – for example, packet and parcel labels, point of sale material etc.

Sample pages of 'The Bookmark' Journal

The Circle runs ‘members only’ postal auctions six times a year, an auction list accompanying each issue of the Journal. Details of these also appear elsewhere on the website.

Sample Auction pages

Members are encouraged to air their views, share their research and findings and to submit articles for publication to the Editor. An active ‘Wants and Offers’ column proves popular with members.

The Circle’s catalogue is being rewritten and issued in parts. This is an ongoing exercise. The first part, dealing with self-adhesive stamp books, was published in September 2005. An update is scheduled for the end of 2008. Details are given elsewhere on the website

The status of the Circle, like that of its predecessors, is widely recognised. Many prominent dealers are members and Royal Mail has granted permission to include stamp images in the Circle’s logo.

The affairs of the Circle are administered by a Committee elected each year by the membership. Detailed annual accounts and reports of the Officers are published in ‘The Bookmark’ Journal.

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