DOCUMENT RESUME IR 057 320 ED 428 772 AUTHOR Carr, Timothy, Comp.; Shumate, Debra, Comp. Postal Service in Colonial America: A Bibliography of TITLE Material in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Postal Museum Branch. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Libraries. INSTITUTION PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 23p. Reference Materials PUB TYPE Bibliographies (131) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. Annotated Bibliographies; Books; *Colonial History (United DESCRIPTORS States); Journal Articles; *Library Collections; Museums; *Resource Materials; Special Libraries Museum Libraries; Postage Stamps; *Postal Service; IDENTIFIERS Smithsonian Institution ABSTRACT This annotated bibliography of materials in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Postal Museum Branch, is intended to promote the study of Colonial American postal service in the library. It focuses on postal service in the European settlements that became the United States. The first section lists 38 books, and the second sections lists 31 journal articles, including the full text of an article on postal services in the colonies. Annotations for five related sources on the Colonial period and two auction catalogs of collections of pre-stamp and stampless covers are also included. (AEF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) CI This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Postal Service in Colonial America O Minor changes have been made to A Bibliography of Material in improve reproduction quality. the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Points of view or opinions stated in this National Postal Museum Branch document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Postal service in America began in the private inns and coffee houses of seventeenth-century seaports. These establishments provided well-known, public places to send and collect letters and packets. The letters and packets were mostly sent to or received from the mother county. Until roads were developed or native trails or paths improved, communication between or among colonies was limited, with sailing ships providing the safest and most reliable method to transport letters and goods. The British were the main colonial power for the thirteen American Colonies, and the only one after 1763. They appointed postmasters, established rates, and introduced postmarks, among The British influence is reflected in select other things. sources throughout the bibliography. Collectors and historians have conducted intensive research Their investigations into Colonial American postal affairs. offer insights into the details of the various posts and the people engaged in the administration of them. Most of the sources noted are from collectors. Many collectors acquire and collect stampless covers, some with postmarks of the Colonial Illustrations of items in their collections often period. accompany their writings. We present the following bibliography to promote the study of Colonial American postal service in this library. Our focus is on the European settlements that became the United States of The annotations are to introduce the subject, and to America. assist one in determining the usefulness of a work. An introduction to Colonial postal affairs may include sources on currency, transportation, literacy, roads, availability of paper and inks, printers and newspapers, and related subjects. Fortunately, many of these subjects are covered by sources in this library. One complete article is presented in the bibliography, and many annotations are lengthy. Two works are in the National Museum of American History (NMAH) Branch Library, and one from the Anacostia Museum (ANAC) Branch Library. Timothy Carr and Debra Shumate compiled this bibliography. Mrs. Shumate was a graduate student in library science at The Catholic University of America when she worked on it. Please send comments about this bibliography to Timothy Carr, Branch 1 2 EST CORT AVELABLE Librarian, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560-0570. We wish to thank Steven M. Roth and Herbert A. Trenchard for assistance with this bibliography. BOOKS Acts of Parliament Relating to the Post Office: From 9 Anne to 1 Victoria 1710-1837. Devon: Britannia Stamp Bureau, 1977. Acts establishing a general post office for all British dominions during Queen Anne's reign (1702-14), with a portion of the revenues to be set aside for war and other affairs of Reprint of first edition, 1838. state (p. 1-6). Index. Benjamin Franklin Exhibition in the National Philatelic Museum, January 15 - March 15, 1951. National Philatelic Museum, 1951. Philadelphia: Exhibition catalog,'with essay on Franklin's service to British as Deputy and Postmaster General, 1737-76, of the American Colonies. Bounds, Harvey Cochran. Press of Postal History of Delaware. Newark: Kells, 1938. Claims the Swedes - first settlers of Delaware - and the Dutch were not road builders; therefore, communication suffered until English, circa 1664, captured Dutch settlements on South and Delaware "William Penn in July, 1683, granted Rivers. authority to one Henry Waldy of Tekonay to establish a weekly post...[t]hus, New Castle became the first post-town in Delaware." Bibliography. 2 3 Braake, Alex L. ter, Coordinator. The Posted Letter in Colonial and Revolutionary State College, PA: American Philatelic America. Research Library, 1975. Comprehensive coverage of the post, 1628-1790, by nine contributors, in celebration of the bicentennial of the United States of America. Sources, illustrations, maps, bibliography and index. Cawley, James and Margaret. The First New York - Philadelphia Stage Road. Fairleigh Dickinson University Rutherford, NJ: Press, 1981. Tracing of the history of a path to a road, with specifications of "four chains or ninety-nine feet Roads permitted in width" - not met, however. regular stages that carried mail, among other Bibliography and illustrations. things. Clark, Charles E.. The Public Prints: the Newspaper in Anglo-American Culture, 1665-1740. New York:Oxford University Press, 1994. Scholarly review of American newspapers preceded by an overview of British newspaper tradition and history. Sources, index and appendix. Coles, William C., Jr. The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Collectors Club of Chicago, Covers. Chicago: 1983. Catalog of postal markings used during stampless Chronological and cover period ending 1857. alphabetical listing of New Jersey towns and Map of Postage rates from 1692. postmasters. New Jersey counties from 1683. Bibliography. 3 4 Colles, Christopher. A Survey of the Roads of the United States of New York, 1789. (microfilm) America. Maps of thirty-four (34) routes, including: Annapolis to Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Todd's Ordinary and Williamsburg; New York to Brunswick, Blackhorse, Kingston, Philadelphia, Poughkeepsie, and Stratford; Williamsburg to Ayletts Warehouse, Hooe's ferry, Port Royal and Sneed's Ordinary. Daniels, J.H. A History of British Postmarks. Upcott Gill, 1898. London: "The introduction of the system of impressing letters with marks by the postal authorities began in 1660." Presents English, Scottish and Irish postmarks. British postmarks were used in the colonies. Dibden, W.G. Stitt. The Mail Routes to the West Indies: a Research Document Compiled from Official and Other Sources. Postal History Society, 1966. Petworth, England: Information on packets, packet-boat agents, and a listing of royal packet-boats (p. 81-100). Bibliography, illustrations and index. Donald, Archie. The Posts of Sevenoaks in Kent. Woodvale, Press, 1992. Tenterden, England: Examination of British postal service in a select The British system was area from 1085 A.D. a model for postal services in Colonial America. Sources, appendices, chronology, illustrations and index. Dow, Sterling T. Maine Postal History and Postmarks. Lawrence, MA: Quarterman Publications, 1976. Includes a history of the Colonial Post from 1639. Illustrations. Sources in text. 4 5 Earle, Alice Morse. Stage Coach and Tavern Days. New York: Macmillan, 1900. Detailed narrative on means of communication and transportation, with postal matters scattered See index under "mail," throughout text. "mail-coaches," "mail stage carriages," "post," and post-riders." Illustrations. Ernst, Carl Wilhelm. Postal Service in Boston, 1639-1893. Trustees of the Boston Public Library, 1975. Postal affairs from November 5, 1639 - Richard Fairbanks' appointment as postmaster of Boston. Brief histories of Suffolk County Post Offices, Cambridge and Somerville in Middlesex County, and Brookline in Norfolk County by Assistant Postmaster at Boston, 1891-1893. Text of Neale Patent, sources, chronology and index. "First published as a single chapter in the three-volume Professional and Industrial History of Suffolk County, Massachusetts (Boston, 1894)...." [iii, foreword] Finlay, Hugh. The Hugh Finlay Journal: Colonial Postal History, U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, 1773-1774. 1975. Review of postal service in the Thirteen Colonies by the Surveyor of the Post Roads (1772-4). Covers New England and the South. Includes collection of quotations on the Colonial Post compiled in 1867 by Frank H. Norton of the Mercantile Library, Brooklyn. Reprint of 1867 edition, with citations, maps and index. Foster, Reginald K. The Postmark on a Letter. & R. Chambers, Ltd., 1952. London: W. States that Colonel Henry Bishop, British Postmaster-General, is the inventor of the Bishop printed an announcement in postmark. Mercurius Publicus from April 25 to May 2, 1661, "and to prevent any neglect of the Letter-Carryers in the speedy delivery of Letters from the said 5 6 Office: It is notifyed that the days of the recept of every Letter at the Office is printed upon the Letter and the Letter-Carryers ought to deliver them the same day in the summer: and the next morning at farthest in the Winter: and if any fayler be complained of at the Post Office Bishop marks it shall be redressed...." (p. 16). were used in Colonial North America. Bibliography. Fuller, Wayne E. The American Mail; enlarger of the common life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Scholarly examination of the American Post; chapter one on the Colonial Post (thirty-nine Chronology, bibliographical essays and pages). index. Harlow, Alvin F. Old Post Bags: the Story of the Sending of a Letter in Ancient and Modern Times. D. Appleton and Company, 1928. New York: Colonial Post from 1639 along with coffee house post offices, the postal system of William Penn, the Thomas Neale Patent, the Continental Congress Post, and the Constitutional Post. Bibliography, illustrations and index. Holmes, Oliver W. Stagecoach Days in the District of Columbia Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society, 1948. Covers mostly post-1789 transportation, with the following argument for the delay in road construction along the eastern seaboard: "For the entire colonial period water transportation had It is natural in the opening of a been dominant. country that the waterways are used to their available extent before land routes are developed. The roads of the sea, the bays, and the rivers are already made...[where] the land is rough and heavily wooded, as along the Atlantic seaboard, the building of roads for wheeled vehicles will be And in a country so well provided long delayed. with deep bays, estuaries, and navigable rivers as 6 7 the eastern coast of America, such roads will be less needed." Sources. Joyce, Herbert. The History of the Post Office from Its Establishment down to 1836. Richard Bentley & Son, 1893. London: British history of American Colonial Post, 1692- Thomas Neale Patent. The dismissal of 1707. Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster of Philadelphia. Index. Kielbowicz, Richard B. News in the Mail: the Press, Post Office, and Public Information, 1700-1860's. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989. Scholarly review of the Colonial Post and the press (chapter two). Bibliography. Konwiser, Harry M. American Philatelic Dictionary and Colonial and Revolutionary Posts. New York: Jacques Minkus, 1947. Postage stamp collecting definitions with a reprint of Colonial and Revolutionary Posts. Select complete dictionary entries: "First American Postmark-When the Massachusetts General Court enacted postal legislation, (1692) that Colonial body specified that each letter must be marked in print showing the date on which it was received at the office; First Postal Map-Made by H. Moll of London, 1729, shows the 'Great Post Road' (Portsmouth, N.H. to Philadelphia); Frank/in-Benjamin Franklin was appointed postmaster at Philadelphia in 1737, and with William Hunter was made Postmaster General for the American Colonies (1753) representing the English Crown until 1774 when he was discharged. The Continental Congress appointed him Postmaster General in 1775; French Post Office in America-From 1669 to 1718 the French had built a chain of posts from Quebec to New Orleans." Bibliography and illustrations. 7 8 Konwiser, Harry M. Colonial and Revolutionary Posts: a History of the American Postal Systems; Colonial and Press of the Richmond: Revolutionary Periods. Dietz Printing Co., 1931. "Letter conveyance was an uncertain procedure in the early days of the American Colonial Period, in effect being as primitive as the means of letter transmission in the Europe of that time." (p. 1) Presents the 1) Early Posts, 2) Colonial Posts, 3) Constitutional Post and 4) the Continental Congress Post, with a chapter on early postmarks. Bibliography, illustrations Text of Neale Patent. and index. Konwiser, Harry M., editor. United States Stampless Cover Catalogue Milton R. Miller, 1936. Batavia, NY: From introduction: "Stampless Covers made their appearance in the United States in the Colonial Period, when Benjamin Franklin was the Colonial Postmaster General for Great Britain. "These early postmarks-indicative of the post office of origin on the letter-are of the Straight Line type.... "Markings then, as in the early United States period, and so up to about 1800, were all of the Straight Line type, with..." one exception after 1793." See Phillips, Sampson and Wishnietsky. Library has 1936, 1938, 1942-43, 1947 and 1952 catalogues listing and illustrating postmarks. Lounsbery, Royden H. "American Postal Markings" from Colonial Times to the 1850's: the Unexhibited Exhibit of Royden H. Lounsbery. Photographic record of covers and letters bearing colonial-period postmarks, with commentary. Chronological arrangement. 8 9 Lowe, Robson. Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps. London: Robson Lowe, Ltd., 1952. Six volumes. Sixty-three page review of colonial posts noting three: Parliamentary (established 1692), American Continental Congress Post (established 1774-5), and Confederation Post (established 1778). See part one of volume five. Bibliography, illustrations and index. Marshall, C.F. Dendy. The Post Office from its beginnings to the end Oxford U. Press, 1925. of 1925. London: English post from Henry VIII establishing some No direct mention of American permanent posts. Colonies in text. Twenty-three page annotated bibliography of English postal system. Melius, Louis. History of Postal The American Postal Service: Service from the Earliest Times. Washington, Louis Melius, 1917. D.C.: Colonial Post from 1672, with a review of the early British system. Index. Montgomery, Malcolm Beresford. The Postage Rates of the North Atlantic Mails (1635-1950): the inland and ocean postage rates applied to letters between the United Kingdom and North America. Southhampton, England: Malcolm Beresford Montgomery, 1991. Rates from 5 November 1639 for single, double, triple page, and per ounce letters. In chart form, with sources, bibliography and tables. Phillips, David G., editor. The Standard American Stampless Cover Catalog: Reference Catalog of American Postal History. North Miami, FL: David G. Phillips, 1985. Handstamped and manuscript town postmarks, in three volumes, beginning with colonial period. General postal history and postal rates from Official, semi-official and privately 1692. 9 1 0