CANADA - IMPERIAL PENNY POSTAGE 1898; Fred Fawn, 2004, Spiral Bound, 154 pages, 8.5 x 11 - BNAPS Exhibit Series #32. Published by the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS) and Auxano Philatelic Services, Calgary, AB. Stock # B4h923.321 (Colour Version) - $C104.00; B4h923.32 (Black & White Version) - $C36.95.
CANADA - IMPERIAL PENNY POSTAGE 1898, Fred Fawn's International Gold medal winning collection of the stamp colloquially and fondly called 'The Map Stamp', is presented for quiet review by interested collectors. The book attempts for the first time to allow access to all facets of this single-value stamp issue, and is meant for the novice as well as the advanced philatelist.
Development of the stamp is illustrated by a number of historical documents, unique essays and correspondence between the Postmasters of Canada and Great Britain. Readers will also find an exchange of letters between Canada's Postmaster General and a major proponent of the Imperial Penny Postage scheme, Sir William Mulock, and Sir Sandford Fleming. Fleming, Chief Engineer of Canada's first trans-continental railway and designer of the country's first postage stamp, submitted a design for the Imperial Penny Postage stamp, a photograph of which is included.
The Map Stamp's three-colour printing, a first in the British Empire and the Americas, added to its great popularity. The sequence of the printing was a source of controversy for decades. Documents shown in the exhibit establish the order of the printing. This affordable and available single-value stamp issue challenged philatelists to collect its many aspects.
On more than half of the 128 pages of the exhibit are one-of-a-kind items which cannot be seen elsewhere. The material also includes identification of proofs, colour classifications, a wide range of postmarks and a powerful selection of Map Stamp postal history. Appended are selected articles, previously published by the author in BNA Topics, The Canadian Philatelist and Maple Leaves, affording the reader insight into specific aspects of the stamp.
Fred Fawn is a student of several philatelic areas. The Map Stamp has been on his agenda for over 25 years. He has been Chairman of the BNAPS Map Stamp Study Group since 1999. This exhibit became the first Canada/BNA single-stamp exhibit to receive a Gold award at a World Philatelic Exhibition.
Ken Ellison's newest book, BRITISH COLUMBIA HOTEL COVERS, 1880 to 1920, explores the postal history aspect of early British Columbia hotels. Included are many fine examples of illustrated envelopes supplied by hotels to guests wishing to write relatives and friends, postcards of some of the hotels, stamps of the day and postmarks from many parts of British Columbia.
Popular with viewers, though less so with philatelic judges, the book offers an insight into past structures, hotel rates, people - both the transient guests and hotel proprietors - and shows accommodations available in both urban and small communities as well as in mining towns in the early days of the province.
Ken Ellison is the author/exhibitor of two previous BNAPS books, 'Force 'C' - Postal History Of The Canadian Army In Hong Kong' (Exhibit Series # 8, 1998), and a similar work, 'British Columbia Agricultural Exhibitions' (2003). He has also written or co-edited several local histories, including 'Price Ellison - History Of An Okanagan Pioneer Family' (1988), 'Valley Of Dreams' (an illustrated history of Vernon, BC - 1992), 'Irrigation Is King!' (the story of water/irrigation in Oyama, BC - 2000) and 'A Family Album' (an Ellison family pictorial history - 2001).
George Arfken's EARLY CANADA POST CARDS, 1871-1911 tells the story of the development, diversity and attractiveness of Canadian Postal Cards from their initiation in 1871 to the end of the reign of King Edward VII. There are over 160 illustrations in color.
Printing errors, plate flaws and paper varieties. are not part of this book. Attention is centered on the cards - why they were issued, where they went, the messages they carried, the regulations authorizing the post cards and, sometimes, the regulations they broke. The fascinating saga of the gradual acceptance of private post cards by the Canada Post Office is included. The evolution of the private post card from a simple, rather restricted, start to the picture post cards we use today is shown.
Regulations governing post cards as they passed through Canadian and international mails are explained, with appropriate references and short quotations from Post Office documents. Canada's admission to the Universal Postal Union in 1878 brought more regulations and occasions where the Canada Post Office did not abide by some of them are noted.
UPU admission opened up new opportunities for Canadian writers, and one-cent Canada Post Cards and two cent Canada UPU cards went out to the ends of the earth. Canadians frequently sent one-cent cards to overseas destinations for which a two-cent card was required. The result was a wide variety of postage due markings and sometimes postage due stamps. Can you imagine a registered post card? This book includes the most extensive listing of registered Canada Post Cards yet presented, with many of them illustrated and discussed.
In addition to the fun you can have collecting stamps and covers, collecting post cards offers a special reward. Want to read the message? Just turn over the card - you will find an amazing variety, from legal notices and "salesman will call" to prices current. In the 1880s and 1890s post card messages were often from stamp collectors or dealers offering to buy or trade foreign stamps. Several illustrations are of the message side, rounding out the story.
George Arfken is the author of 'Canada's Small Queen Era 1870-1897', co-author (with Arthur Leggett) of 'Canada's Decimal Era 1859-68', co-author (with Harry Lussey and Horace Harrison) of 'Canada's Registered Mail 1802-1909', and author or co-author of many informative articles in at least six different major philatelic journals.
Ian McTaggart-Cowan's National Gold-award winning exhibit THE LAW STAMPS OF YUKON includes proofs, cancels and many interesting documents. A fabled part of the Canadian North, the Yukon includes the Rocky Mountains from the 60th parallel northward to the Arctic coast, and most of the headwaters of the Yukon River. In scenic terms it is spectacular and has attracted the attention many devotees of wilderness landscapes.
The gold rush of the years around 1898 focussed the attention of the world on the Yukon. Due to an economic depression at the time, thousands of people flooded into central Yukon in search of instant riches. In just a few months the small settlement of Dawson found itself transformed into Dawson City, with a population of 40,000 people! The results were a much more complex society with many more aspects for historians and philatelists to study and report on.
The author first visited Yukon some 50 years ago in his capacity as a Wildlife Ecologist and a member of the Arctic Institute of North America. His then early interest in philately was focussed on revenue stamps and their uses, particularly on the wealth of legal cases reflected in the documents validated by law stamps. The Law Stamps of Yukon were especially fascinating because the founding arrangement involved two series of stamps. One series was attached to a Gold Court charged with adjudicating disagreements within the mining industry. This court was very active for a period of eight years, after which the Territorial Court, responsible for everyday problems, handled most legal cases. The interesting Law Stamps of Yukon offer insight into many day-to-day events of times past.
Ian McTaggart-Cowan has been involved in Canadian philately for many years. In addition to his Yukon exhibit he has also prepared a Gold-award winning exhibit of British Columbia Revenues. Ian has written many articles on revenue subjects as diverse as the Weights and Measures, Gas and Light inspection stamps of Canada, and Federal, Alberta and British Columbia Wildlife stamps.
BNAPS BOOK DEPARTMENT - PUBLISHING RELEASE NOTES - 2004
BRITISH COLUMBIA HOTEL COVERS, 1880 to 1920, Ken Ellison, 2004, Spiral Bound, 138 pages, 8.5 x 11. Published by the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS) and Auxano Philatelic Services, Calgary, AB. Stock # B4h014.1 (Colour Version) - $C84.00; B4h014.0 (Black & White Version) - $C31.95.
EARLY CANADA POST CARDS, 1871-1911; George Arfken, 2004, Spiral Bound, 134 pages, 8.5 x 11. Published by the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS) and Auxano Philatelic Services, Calgary, AB. Stock # B4h015.1 (Colour) - $C94.00.
THE LAW STAMPS OF YUKON; Ian McTaggart-Cowan, 2004, Spiral Bound, 104 pages, 8.5 x 11 - BNAPS Exhibit Series #33); Published by the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS) and Auxano Philatelic Services, Calgary, AB. Stock # B4h923.331 (Colour Version) - $C75.00 ; B4h923.33 (Black & White Version) - $31.95.