OPUS 17
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Summary :
OPUS is AEP's flagship publication. This 2017 edition is devoted to Nordic Countries with 13 articles, plus 3 articles of general interest. Summaries are given below.
1) The Danish newspaper mail service and newspaper stamps
Lars Jørgensen
The author provides us with a very detailed study concerning how newspapers and periodicals were mailed in Denmark, from the 17th century until the present day. He illustrates each period by analysing a wide variety of documents, in order to explain the rates and methods used.
2) 1814-1874. The postal relations between the Finnish and the Italian peninsulas
Lorenzo Carra
As this edition of Opus will be presented at the Finlandia 2017 International Stamp Exhibition in Tampere, the author has made a review of the few letters known exchanged between Italy and Finland before the UPU. He examines each letter in detail, before concluding his article with a peculiar personal memory.
3) Émancipation et russification du Grand-Duché de Finlande
Hubert Caprasse
The author provides an overview of the history of Finland under Russian domination between 1809 and 1917. A period, in which Finland became conscious of its own identity, was followed by a time of intense russification, before the country gained independence after the fall of the Tsarist regime in 1917. Various key moments of this century are reflected in its postal history, which the author illustrates with a wide variety of rare and even unique pieces.
4) The 1920 issues of North Ingermanland
Heikki Kähäri
The author explains the reasons behind the creation and use of two stamp series in Ingria, where the predominantly Finnish population in the north of the region attempted to take advantage of the chaos in Soviet Russia to gain its independence in 1919-1920, so that it could subsequently become part of Finland. Very fine philatelic pieces are used to illustrate the rapid succession of events during this short period.
5) Mail from Riga to Portugal in the 19th century
Luís Frazão
The author shows us a few very rare letters posted from Riga to Lisbon between 1813 and 1853. He provides us with a detailed analysis of all the postmarks found on these letters, while explaining the rates - including incorrect rates - for the different weights and routes.
6) A registered letter from Lisbon to Riga in 1821
Luís Frazão
The author describes a registered letter, which was posted from Lisbon to Riga in 1821. He provides us with a very detailed study of the postmarks used during this period, in order to guarantee that registered letters would arrive at their destination.
7) Courriers franco-suédois insuffisamment affranchis (1874-1900), combinaisons avec timbres-taxe
Francis Carcenac
The author provides us with a very detailed study of the charges applied for mail sent with insufficient postage between France and Sweden from 1874 till 1900. He analyses some very rare letters that were subject to charges during this period, which he divides into two parts: 1874-1875 and 1876-1900.
8) La mission française au Scoresby Sund (1932-1933)
Serge Kahn
The author describes in detail the French expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot to Scoresby Sund, on the east coast of Greenland, in 1932-1933. He shows us an impressive number of letters, cards and telegrams posted by Charcot and other members of the French mission during this expedition.
9) Le drame de l’expédition polaire Andrée
François Thénard
The author provides us with a detailed account of the Andrée polar expedition in 1897. This expedition, which set out to reach the North Pole by balloon, ended with the tragic death of the three Swedish aeronauts. It was only 33 years later that their remains were discovered.
10) The deathly cold and the echoes of silence. The first Soviet drifting bases at the North Pole: beyond the boundaries of the unknown, in search of the future
Claudio Ernesto Manzati
The author shows us his impressive collection of documents concerning the Russian drifting bases in the arctic regions from 1937 till 2015. These bases, which are numbered NP1 - NP40, have produced extremely interesting postal documents. We accompany the author on his very difficult quest for documents concerning, above all, the first four bases, NP1 - NP4, and when he expresses - and encourages us to share - his delight at making a number of fine discoveries.
11) Letters from Sweden to the Space Station
Igor Rodin
The author shows us two letters posted from Sweden to Russia, so that they could be sent to the Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov at the Space Station ISS. These two letters reached the ISS station in the “Progress MS-01” spaceship and spent 72 days in space.
12) Une découverte exceptionnelle : Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, la surcharge “5” clandestine du XIXe siècle
An exceptional discovery: Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, unrecorded “5” overprint of the 19th century
Jean-Jacques Tillard
The author tells us about his recent discoveries concerning the existence of a second type of overprint on the 1885 SaintPierre-et-Miquelon stamp: the 4c. lilac-brown on grey, overprinted with “5” and “S P M”. He shows us and describes the six listed pieces with this overprint, which remained unknown for over a century.
13) Le French Shore de Terre-Neuve : nouvelles découvertes
French Shore of Newfoundland: an update
Henk Slabbinck
The author tells us about some recent discoveries, which serve as a footnote to his book Mail from the French Shore of Newfoundland. He shows us and describes four letters posted from Newfoundland to France between 1859 and 1893.
Articles d'intérêt général
14) Aerial formations of the «BlueArmy» of Gen. Józef Haller and the French military mission in Poland, in postal documents 1917-1923
Jacek Kosmala
The author describes how a Polish army was created and trained in France towards the end of the First World War. This army contributed to the victory of the allies and went on to play an important role in Poland, whose newly regained independence would soon be threatened. The author shows many examples, some rare and others unique, of correspondence sent by members of this army.
15) Alfred-Ludovic Legoussat Saint-Edme (1820-1903) (Suite et fin de de l’article paru dans OPUS 15, p. 166-169)
Arnaud de La Mettrie
The author has returned to the archives of the Saint-Edme family. Having reconstructed the postal career of a one member of the family during the Napoleonic period and Restoration (Opus XV), he continues his research, by tracing the postal career of Alfred Legoussat Saint-Edme, who was also a talented painter, man of letters and photographer.
16) Une histoire postale vécue en 2016
Postal history written in 2016
Patrick Maselis
The author tells us about his incredible adventure in Equatorial Guinea. Wishing to please his philatelist friends, he purchased hundreds of stamps, so that he could send them postcards of this rarely visited country, only to discover that his generous initiative was doomed to failure, as the international postal service no longer operates in Equatorial Guinea...
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