American Philatelist Review
POSTAL HISTORY of the SPANISH PHILIPPINES, 1565-1898
{This review by Joseph D. Hahn appeared in the American Philatelist, April 2001
edition.}
What a little golden treasure this book is! The authors have done an outstanding
job in tracing the postal history of the Spanish Philippines from Galleon Mail, when
the Philippines were under the Spanish Colonial Government in Mexico (bet you didn’t
know that), up through the UPU period and the end of Spanish rule in 1898.
This work is very well researched and abounds with arcane knowledge. It covers such
aspects as: The Manila-Acapulco route; Mail via the Cape of Good Hope; Rates and
Procedures for Mail carried by Spanish Ships; Shipping and Mail Routes; Mail Processed
by the Spanish Postal System; Mail Processed by the British Postal System; Early
British Presence in the Philippines; Other European Influence in the Philippines;
Early Manila Ship Letter Postal Procedures; Ship Letter Mail Routes and Rates to
Britain; Mail to Great Britain posted at the Manila Post Office; Mail to Great Britain
Carried by Non-British Ships; Historical Sketch of Overland Suez Route by British
Packets; Development of the Mail Route Across Egypt; Development of the Mail Route
East of Suez; and Mediterranean Sea Routes by British Packet Ships, to name just
a few of the subjects covered.
There are six appendices: Examples of Postal Markings Applied to Philippine Stampless
Mail; Major Address of Mail from the Philippines; Monetary Units on Postal Issues;
Examples of Spanish Philippine Postal Cancellations; Examples of Registration Markings
of the Spanish Philippines; and Examples of Private Business Markings. Seven plus
pages of References are provided.
There are some typos that do not seriously detract from the work, but had someone
proofread it other than the authors, I suspect these could have been eliminated.
Still, this is one of the best works on Postal History I have ever seen.
