The Postal History of Central America: The Kingdom of Guatemala to 1824 (Grand Award Stamp Exhibits)

This is a postal history exhibit that shows the development of the postal system in Colonial Central America, also known as the Spanish Kingdom of Guatemala. The Spanish Colonial mail system was one of the first organized postal systems in the New World. The Kingdom of Guatemala was composed of the provinces of Guatemala, Chiapas, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The development of the postal system will be documented by mail that is incoming, outgoing, and sent within the Kingdom. It shows routes, rates, and postal marks beginning with their introduction and ending with independence from Spain in 1821 and the formation of the Central American Federation in 1823 after a brief two-year period of attempted Mexican annexation. Hardcover edition.This exhibit is the definitive exhibit of the Kingdom of Guatemala. More scarce and rare items will be found here than in any other exhibit. The complex aspects of both the maritime and overland mail are analyzed for every class of mail that existed during this period. To add to the complexity, during this time two different currencies and two different weight structures were used, and postmasters sometimes adding surcharges. An analysis of different rates, routes and postal markings is presented. The Kingdom of Guatemala facilitated mail between South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and onward to Europe.The exhibit is organized into FOUR CHAPTERS, 1) THE CORREO MAYOR, 2) MARITIME MAIL, 3) OVERLAND MAIL and 4) PRE-FEDERATION MEXICAN PRESENCE. Each of these chapters is introduced by a large shaded box. There are NO surviving examples of CORREO MAYOR mail.Included in the maritime section are extremely difficult examples of English mail that picked up by passing British ships in the Gulf of Honduras. This is followed by an extensive analysis of the Spanish maritime system. The overland mail section is in six subchapters (see the Title Page). Each subchapter is set off by a centered, shaded box and introduction. In the subchapter on "Postmarks," an additional shaded box also introduces each Province. These six subchapters cover all possible categories of mail in the colonial period. The final section on the Mexican annexation concludes the exhibit with several unique letters. Read more