Latvian Philately
Latvian Map Stamps Literature
1920. The first known list of Latvia stamp maps is “A Latvian
Map Check List” by Major C.L. Bagnell, D.S.O. [Stamp Collecting;
April 10, 1920]. Please email if
you have a copy. Andrejs Petrevics[†], [“Latvia No.1 - Map
Checklist”, The Latvian Collector, issue 19, February 1977]
reported that it listed 56 existing maps and 4 that probably existed.
1923. The second known list of Latvia stamp maps is in “Die
Generalstabskarten” by Alexander Bungerz [Baltic Philatelist;
Nummer 6/8, 1/3 des II. Bandes; Aug.-Dez. 1922, Jan.-Juni 1923;
Georg H. Jaeger, Libau, Latvia; pp. 27-28]. It lists 68 “existing”
maps and many “questionable”. The 9 questionable maps H18,
J18, J19, K20, L20, M20, O20, T20, and U20 are from the military areas
<Ostgruppe I>, <I Nordwest>, <I Nord>,
and <IV Nord>, but stamps are known only on maps from the
areas <II West> and <II Ost>. The questionable
map Q19 does exist with stamps. Q20 was not questioned, but is in <I
Nord> and unknown with stamps. Bungerz lists maps
M15, N15, M18, M19, and O15 with Mitau as the main town. N15 is correct;
the others are errors. But Bungerz also lists maps M15, M18, M19, and
O15 with their correct main towns.
The list has R18 Rakis in error and R18 Rakischki
correct. It has U17 Antonopol in error and U17 Puscha correct.
1939. Jan Poulie[†] reported the map H14 Strandhof in “Hoofdstuk
I verscheen” [Nederlandsch Maandblad voor Philatelie, Nr.
11, 16 November 1939; reprinted as “De Postzegels van Letland Deel 1”
in Het Baltische Gebied No. 20, July 1991].
1940. The Rīgas Latviešu Biedrības Filatelistu
un Numizmatu Nodaļas Izdevums published a specialized catalogue
of Latvian stamps, Die Briefmarken Lettlands. In German, with
a small print quantity, it became, deservedly, the classic catalogue
of Latvian stamps. Its list of 86 maps has most of Bungerz' errors,
but none of Bungerz' question marks. After removing obvious and likely
errors, 69 maps remain.
This catalogue was a primary source for later catalogues.
Except for its list of maps printed with stamps, it is very reliable.
1950. Frank L. Browne in “The Story Behind the Stamps”
[S.P.A. Journal, April 1950] listed 63 maps, without the questionable
maps from the Bungerz 1923 and Riga 1940 lists. Unfortunately the article
has serious typographical errors.
1958?. Ernst Becker and Rolf Jacobsen published “Eine abschließende
Steindruckstudie über Lettland” [Sonderdruck der Sammler-Dienst].
According to Petrevics, they list 63 maps, without questionable maps.
Please email if you have a copy.
1958. Karlis Kezbers published Latvijas Pastmarku Katalogs
[Chicago, USA; 58pp + 4], a Latvian language specialized catalogue of
Latvian stamps. Its coverage of map stamps is basically a copy of the
1940 Riga catalogue with its errors. This catalogue is notable for listing
Latvian philatelic terms and English meanings, standard Latvian postal
cancels, and Latvian revenue stamps.
1961. O. Pilants listed maps in “Ko Intresantu var redzēt
manā Latvijas pastmarku kolekcijā?” in Latviešu
Filatelists [No. 34, Jūnijs 1961, pp.9-10]. He listed
80 maps with their types and noted 16 as unknown. The 16 are basically
the “questionable” maps from the 1923 lists.
1963. Osvalds Priede[†] published Latvijas
Pastmarku, Robojumi un Udens Zimes [Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia;
94pp +2]. The list of 86 maps is from the 1940 "Riga" catalogue
with its many errors.
1963. Viktors Kents listed maps in “Stamps of Latvia #1
and #2 on Maps” and “Corrections and Additions” in Kollekcionārs
14, June 1963, and 15, September 1963. Kollekcionārs later
joined with Latviešu Filatelists to become the Latvian philatelic
journal Krājējs. The list has 56 different maps, with
no “questionable” maps, from a reader survey with over 150
maps. The list includes the printing direction, the plate number I or
II, and the amount of plate wear. Excellent.
1977. Andrejs Petrevics[†] published “Latvia No. 1
- Map Checklist” in The Latvian Collector [issue 19, February
1977; an English language insert in the Latvian philatelic journal Krājējs].
It showed the types of maps used for stamps, their grid locations, and
marginal inscriptions. It detailed the 59 maps in the author's collection,
including 3 for P17 Birže [dated 1915, 1917, and undated]. Excellent.
1979. Karlis Kezbers published The Stamps of Latvia [Stereo
Stamps, Chicago, USA; 50pp]. This an English edition of his 1958 specialized
catalogue of Latvian stamps and lists the questionable maps with the
map type, fine, for each. This English edition does not include the
lists of Latvian philatelic terms or revenue stamps from the Latvian
edition.
1983. John Barefoot's Latvia Map Stamps [European
Philately 12; York, UK; 36pp] is the best-known English reference on
map stamps. It has many errors, mostly small. Its section on cancels
is weak - it spells LATWIJA as LETWIJA, JELGAWA as JEGLAWA, AIZPUTE
as ALZPUTE, and illustrates a Jelgava provisional cancel with a Liepajâ
straight-line cancel. It reports a tête-bêche and a black
proof on glossy paper, but these are from later issues of 5 kap sun
stamps. It reports that imperforate map stamps resulted from a perforator
breakdown. Recommended with caution.
1984. In 1984 Jūlijs Plostiņš, published Latvijas
Pastmarku Speciāl Katalogs. This Latvian language reference
became the best specialized catalogue of Latvian stamps, but is almost
unknown. Its list of maps used is based on the 1940 Riga catalogue with
its many errors. Otherwise it is excellent.
1991. N. Jakimovs [† 2000] and V. Marcilgar published The
Postal and Monetary History of Latvia, 1918 -1945 [Johannesburg,
South Africa] with “moral support” from the Latvian Cultural
Foundation, Riga. Its interesting and useful English language commentary
on map stamps [pp 3-11 to 3-17] details the first deliveries to post
offices in Riga and nearby towns. It refutes the perforator breakdown
story reported by Barefoot and raises helpful questions about map stamps.
This vital source of information on Latvian philately suffers from poor
English and voluminous typographical errors.
1994. Miklos Pinther wrote “Collecting the Latvian Map
Stamps - Part One” and “Part Two” [The Carto-Philatelist,
Vol 39 No 2, June 1994; Vol 39 No 4, December 1994].
In English. Its excellent summary of Latvian map stamps has a detailed
list of 65 maps.
1998. Harry v Hofmann published Lettland Handbuch Philatelie
und Postgeschichte, Die Briefmarken in Rubel-Währung 1918-1922
// Latvia Handbook of Philately and Postal History, The Stamps, Ruble
Period, 1918-1922 [Hamburg, Germany]. This new edition of the 1988
German handbook is bilingual in German and English. It now includes
N. Jakimovs’ corrections to the arrangement of clichés in
Plate II of map stamps. The English translation by Philip E. Robinson
is excellent. It a fundamental for Latvian philately, one of a series
of specialized handbooks.
The discussion of map stamps [pp 25-51] is excellent.
It lists 12 questionable maps which Harry v. Hofmann, the publisher
and an expert on Latvian stamps, wrote were confirmed by the late George
Lindberg, though Hofmann had no chance to check them. The map list does
not includes the 2 additional versions of map P17 reported by Petrevics
[1977]. It does mention map H14 and it lists two different R15 maps
and two different R18 maps.
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