(wm-pcp) During EFIRO 2024 in Bucharest in mid-April, another new volume in the “Edition d’Or” book series was presented by the publisher, the Global Philatelic Network. The documentation of the large gold collection of the Israeli Eddie Leibu, which recently won an honourable mention at THAILAND 2018 and was nominated for a Grand Prix International. In this postal history collection, Leibu follows the traces left behind by the various foreign post offices in Romania during and after the Crimean War.
The Austrian Post was the first to establish an extensive system of postal services that utilised land, sea and rivers to transport postal goods. Following the military occupation, Leibu considers the Austrian and Hungarian consular post offices, the postal service “L’loyd Austriaco” as well as that of the Danube Steamship Company (“DDSG”).
The exhibit immortalised in this book shows no less than nine different postal organisations that can be traced in the period mentioned in the title, with Leibu focusing in particular on the foreign services, i.e. Austrian, Hungarian, Russian, Greek and French. The book concludes with the Romanian postal service, which began operating on 1 April 1869 and expanded from year to year.
On 132 album pages, Leibu impresses with a wealth of material, some of which is very rare or even unique. The letters are expertly described, rates and routes are listed precisely and the routes are recorded in detail. The quality of the material shown is equally convincing, which is not always found to this extent in collections orientated towards postal history.
Collectors are happy people, as the saying attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe goes, but it is also easy to understand when you read the detailed, richly illustrated biographical foreword and see Eddie and Rina Leibu surrounded by their children and family.
In brief: Format 25.5 x 34.5 cm, 153 pages, art paper, in colour, hardcover with gold embossed title and spine, with dust jacket, retail price: 79 euros plus postage. Available from: Heinrich Köhler Auktionshaus GmbH & Co. KG, Hasengartenstr. 25, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel. 06 11/341 49-0, e-mail: info@heinrich-koehler.de, www.heinrich-koehler.de
Translated with DeepL (www.deepl.com)
