A few days back I received a marketing email from the French auction house, BEHR Philatelie. This email, touting their upcoming mail auction on 7 September 2023, contained an image presented as Figure 1. The image shows an entire letter from lot no. 23. The starting price is an eye-popping €6,750. I am not going…
Figure 1 shows both sides of a entire letter written in mid-1842 on board the ship ‘Rustomjee Cowasjee’, at anchor off “Rugged Islands” (Chusan, today’s Zhoushan Island) during the first Opium War. Briefly, the East India Company was growing opium in India and dumping it in China. Opium was playing havoc with the Chinese –…
A few days back, an item I purchase comes home (Figure 1). To be honest, at the time I bid on it, I don’t really pay as much attention to the affixed stamps as I should. The one thing that I am sure of, from a cursory glance at the image, is that the cover…
Recently, in an auction, I found an entire from the 1840s which was on the East India Company’s (EIC) paddle steamer, Memnon, when it wrecked in August 1843. While much has been written about this wreck, both from a historical and postal history perspective, I can’t resist penning my two-bits! While the main focus will…
Figure 1 shows an entire (ex-Paul Bulterman) sent from Boxtel, Netherlands to Batavia, Dutch East Indies sent in November 1845. Fragile yet beautiful with various rate marks and handstamps, the letter shows the intended routing at the bottom: “via Marseille / Alexandria / Singapore”. The black borders indicate death and/or mourning. Unable to read the…
This article was translated and republished, with some modifications, as “Non rubare se non per il Bene (la Storia Postale)! / Thou Shall not Steal but for (Postal History) Good!” Cursores, no. 30 (November 2022). Cursores is the journal of the Associazione Italiana di Storia Postale. Members get yearly two copies of this high-class journal…
This article was published,with some modifications, as “India’s First Ship Despatch Handstamp″ in India Post 57 no. 1 whole no. 226 (January – March 2023). India Post is the journal of the India Study Circle for Philately. I have made changes to this blog post in January 2023 so that it is up-to-date. The appearance…
Collectors of postal history of the classic period (time prior to mid-19th century) would be no strangers to the ‘entire’ – a letter on paper which, when folded, serves as its own envelope. Before the introduction of postal reforms, starting from Great Britain in late 1839 and thereafter talking hold rapidly across the world, letters…
A few weeks back I wrote a blog post on an 1834 entire from Calcutta taking the curricle from Morpeth to Edinburgh. In it, I discuss how one needs to know the distances between the various towns the letter passed through in order to figure out the inland rate markings in Great Britain. Further, I…
Some months back, when I was writing up some postal history covers, I came across the one pictured in Figures 1 and 2 from the Indian Mutiny period of 1857-58. It was sent by (later Sir General) Robert Cadell (more about him hopefully in a future post) to Cockenzie House in Prestonpans, nor far from…
Seasoned postal historians caution the inexperienced, who is unable to explain the route or the rate or markings on a particular cover, against jumping to the conclusion that ‘the post office made a mistake’. At the same time, one cannot rule out the possibility, however slim, of them indeed committing errors. Secondly, the postal historian…
A few days back, T. Kesava Prasad of Bengaluru (earlier Bangalore) shared images of a cover (no contents) (Figure 1 and 2) and requested me to help him understand its postal history. Noting on the front right by the recipient indicates it was sent on 14 November 1828. A black rectangular OOTACAMUND / POST NOT…
