Lot 552
Japan, The Official 1896 Presentation Album of Japanese Stamps and Postal Stationery, "Dai Nippon TEIKOKU UBIN KITTE EUKAKUSHI" (The Postage Stamp History of the Japanese Empire)
This is the original version (as opposed to the late 1896 reprint); with 112 pages and all of the stamps, postal stationery, telegraph issues and the two 1874 express lables, that were available at that time (the post office had run out of several issues at that point). The book is bound in silk and is tied together with purple silk ribbon; 300 of these souvenir books were prepared by the government and presented to various important personages. Very few have survived.
Note: a small envelope (which appears to be contemporary) containing the 1894 anniversary issue and the 1896 victory issue is inside the book.
Estimate 7,500 - 10,000
A MOST IMPORTANT RARITY FOR THE COLLECTOR OF JAPANESE BOOKS AND PHILATELIC LITERATURE.
The book was featured in an article by L. N. & M. Williams in the "Philatelic Magazine" (October 14, 1938) entitled "Rarest Stamp Book in the World". Additionally, the book was the subject of another article entitled "The Rarest Stamp Book in the World?", by Sylvester Colby in "Stamps" magazine (August 3, 1968). Enclosed is a copy of the magazine plus a letter from Colby several years later to the owner.
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| Realized $10,000 |
