Lot 20138 – THE « BAG IN THE BASEMENT » UNIQUE COLLECTION OF POSTMARKS

THE « BAG IN THE BASEMENT » UNIQUE COLLECTION OF POSTMARKS

Lot comprising the complete set of Italian datestamps taken at the stocktaking in 1945, which is the definitive set of proof cancels for the region of Dodecanese, detailed and illustrated in the authoritative work: « Stamps of Italy Used Abroad » Part III and V, by Tchilinghirian-Bernardelli. This includes ten sheets and one photograph reproduction bearing the postmarks used in this fascinating region, forming the basis for the knowledge of the cancels and other markings, such as censorship marks, airmail, instructional handstamps, military post, registered, express, telegraph service, postal entities and official offices used in the main Post Office of Rhodes, the villages and other islands, as well as the obsolete cancels at the time of the stocktaking from the Rhodes Town and other offices, all which were discarded in the bag in the basement of the Post Office. This supplies the most comprehensive list of cancellers used at the main post office from 1912 to 1945, together with impressions showing their state of deterioration at the time of the transfer, or withdrawal, while the dates help to establish their last day of use, as well as suppling important data on many of the inland localities where Italian Postal Stations, governed by the Carabinieri at the time, were operated under Italian rule. This information at time of discovery in 1945 was ground-breaking, as it had never been known precisely where these post offices were located, and in addition it demonstrated where many of the cancels had been Italianised by the removing of the final « S » of the name. Furthermore, the dates captured on these sample sheets enable the identification of posthumous cancellations-to-order material, produced just before, or right after the stocktaking, presumed to be obtained by spirited philatelists attempting to obtain unusual material for their collections. In conclusion, this offering provides conclusive evidence of the genuineness all cancels and especially those cancels whose status is doubted, and includes Turkish datestamps which were also left in the bag in the basement, one of these, Calymnos (illustrated on pg. 178 Tchilinghirian-Bernardelli), is of exceptional value for the identification of material contrived after its withdrawal, produced in 1913 on the Sun-God stamps, as well as cancels from Kalymnos, Patmos, Kos and many remote and small villages. This unique and eminent record of cancellations of this area are of the utmost importance to postal historians and philatelists specialising in this captivating topic, or for those who desire to become an expert in the the Dodecanese; as a proof of the significance of this assembly, Tchilinghirian-Bernardelli dedicated eight plates and pages to illustrate this assembly in their outstanding reference books.

Note: The British Command ordered that all Italian Post Offices were to close in the second week of May 1945, and in response to this the Italian authorities sent their remaining stock of stamps and cancellers to the main Post Office in Rhodes. When the British arrived in May to conduct a stocktake of this material they discovered in the basement of the Post Office in Rhodes a bag which contained all the earlier cancellers and handstamps which had been withdrawal from use. This haul was recognised as significant and important to understanding the extent and complexity of the postal system operated during the Italian occupation, and so special impressions were taken of these cancellers and handstamps. In total over 250 strikes were obtained, and this exciting assemblage is known as the « Bag in the basement ».