Author Description

This is a 2022 reprint of the 2002 opus Orange Free State Philately by Hisey and Bartshe. This is Volume 2 of their 3-volume set. The purpose of this 2nd Volume is to portray the present state of our knowledge of the Telegraph system of the Orange Free State before, during and somewhat after the British Invasion. The telegraphs of the O.V.S. have been little studied. For a number of reasons it is a rather difficult field. The telegraph system is intertwined with the postal and railroad systems. One office might serve as Railroad telegraph, civilian telegraph, post office and money order office. The man in charge was ordinarily the telegrapher. The use of various cancellers and date stamps was a bit slap dash, with the same date stamp showing on various items, such as letters, telegrams, and even revenues. This is further complicated by the rule that the original copy with the stamps or fee marking was to be destroyed to preserve privacy. Fortunately, certain of the offices complied with this rule only after tearing off the corner with the stamps; so used stamps are available, some on piece. After 1902, the stamps used on telegrams were normal postage stamps confusing things still further. Basically, until the mid-Twentieth Century, no one had a decent understanding of the complexity and interrelationship of the overprinting of the postage stamps, telegraph stamps and revenue stamps. All of these were overprinted in an order that made sense to the military, although it was a printer’s nightmare. This was elucidated by Laurence and then further by Buckley and Marriott. Some further development will be found in these volumes. A few notes on the illustrations are in order. Most of the stamp/overprint illustrations are given in twice life size for clarity. Some are actual scans, and others are tracings or drawings from actual scans, as seemed best. Most of the actual overprints show dirty type. The tracings are generally adjusted to sh