Timbre

2019 — New English Original bdg. HC. 4to. (30 x 22 cm). In English and Turkish. 816 p., color ills. Microhistory of the Turkish posts, 1920-2015 - Volume 1: 1920-1950.= Türkiye'de postanin mikrotarihi, 1920-2015. Cilt 1: 1920-1950. Postal history and collecting bring to mind stamps and cancellations. Few people think of forms issued by the post office, even though these are used as commonly and show as much variety. When two collectors decided to focus on postal forms, they noticed the near absence of informative sources. Thus began the first broad study of the postal forms issued by the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey. Microhistory of the Turkish Posts identifies and catalogues various types of postal forms rooted in the Ottoman era. Going well beyond technical information, the authors interpret the physical objects as well as the messages they carry. This enables them to draw intriguing linkages to political, economic, cultural, and social developments, opening new windows into Turkish history. This first volume reviews the emergence of postal forms during the Ottoman era, then covers the thirty-year period beginning in 1920 the year when a nationalist government in Ankara started challenging the authority of the Istanbul-based monarchy. The War of Independence saw the conversion of Ottoman postal forms to nationalist postal matter through either hand- or machine-made overprints; ne types were also produced. Highlighting usages of such rare items, the investigation continues with fascinating series produced up to the onset of bona fide multi-party governance in 1950.