The Chinese Imperial Post Office Tie-Prints, 1894-1904: Reprint of the Kelleher & Rogers Auction Catalog - Sale Number 35

This book is a reprint of the outstanding 2021 auction catalog of Kelleher & Rogers sale of Chinese I.P.O. Tie Prints. The Chinese Imperial Post, which was the first national postal system in China, was established under Sir Robert Hart in February 1897; however, China did not become a member of the U.PU. until 1914. This meant that Chinese stamps were not recognized for payment of postage on mail addressed outside China, even though there were no longer any domestic postal charges for such mail. According to Hosea B. Morse, a senior official of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service who assisted in the organization of the Imperial Post, the sender or Chinese post office franked foreign mail with both Chinese stamps at the U.P.U. rate and the equivalent foreign stamps as prepaid mail, and this was then passed to the appropriate foreign post office for canceling the stamps and onward transmission overseas. There was an infrequently used alternative to the necessity of applying the actual Chinese stamps or postage.The period from 1899 through 1904 is generally known as the I.P.O. (Imperial Post Office) tie-print period, as the foreign stamps on these letters remained uncanceled until handled by the foreign post office. Consequently, each district Imperial Post Office applied its specific I.P.O. tie-print to the foreign stamps. These combination covers represent a fascinating and colorful collecting field with a multitude of unusual domestic origins, usages, and foreign destinations. Following postal treaties with the various Foreign Powers in 1902-1905, foreign postage stamps were no longer required on international mail.Some 500 items of mail matter with I.P.O. tie-prints have been recorded, which, if truly accurate, means that the collection of approximately 280 covers and cards being offered in this auction catalog contains a staggering amount of such surviving mail. There is no doubt that this comprehensive collection is the largest such ever formed for the I.P.O. tie-prints.In this sale, there are 26 major towns or postal districts represented utilizing I.P.O. tie-prints. The first town to use the IPO. tie-prints was Swatow, beginning in January 1899, and the collection has a January 19, 1899 usage on cover. In some other early instances, the Shanghai I.P.O. tie-print was employed on mail originating from offices that did not yet have their own tie-print. What is fascinating is the handling of mail from the smaller or outlying localities by the district post offices. The collection includes examples from most such documented towns, in many cases with their own tombstone or non-standard types of cancellations. Foochow is equally fascinating with mail originating in Pagoda Anchorage and Foochow Arsenal passing through this district office. In the case of the district offices, the cancellation of Chinese stamps by dollar daters during parts of the 1899 period represent a study in itself as far as late usages. The five Foreign Post Offices, other than the British Post Office, are represented, with two examples from the Russian Post Office originating in Hankow and presumably carried on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and three U.S. Postal Agency usages from Chungking, Foochow, and Nanking. Finally, the IPO. covers and cards in this collection also depict important and noteworthy examples of the treatment of registered and underpaid (Postage-due) mail. The contents of this sale represent approximately twenty-five years of active and diligent search throughout both the auction and private sectors in the formation of this extraordinary collection.Made available by Kelleher & Rogers and Exhibitors Press. Read more