North Atlantic Non-Contract Steamship Sailings 1838-1875 by Richard F. Winter and John H. Barwis. Published by the American Philatelic Society, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, 2022. 8 by 10.75 inches, 318 pages. ISBN: 978-0-93-358086-2. Available from the APS bookstore, https://classic.stamps.org/Publications. $60.

Understanding any cover requires deconstructing it into as many as two dozen elements. But in the postal historians’ domain, the mode of transportation is key to defining the context of postal artifacts. Few philatelic topics have been as widely written about as transoceanic ship mail. In the American Philatelic Research Library’s collection, nearly 700 books address ship mail. 

In 1988, Walter Hubbard and Richard F. Winter published North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840-75 (frequently referred to as NAMS) (Figure 1). This volume documented mail transported under postal contracts and was a major achievement in codifying the routes, ships, and sailings in the mid-19th century. Postal historians finally had a single, comprehensive source to research their transoceanic covers. But only contract mail was included within “mail sailings.” Non-contract mail – a very significant portion of the mail during this period – remained to be codified.

Figure 1. Richard Winter’s 1988 book, North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840-75. 

Figure 2. North Atlantic Non-Contract Steamship Sailings 1838-1875.  

North Atlantic Non-Contract Steamship Sailings 1838-1875 is the long-awaited sequel (Figure 2) by Winter and John H. Barwis. It was worth the wait. 

Despite the 34-year gap, the book parallels the structure and approach of its predecessor. When collectors seek to identify all the details of their covers, information such as the ship’s name or the location and date of mailing/receipt may or may not be known. The authors’ challenge is how to best organize a reference to facilitate the philatelic researchers’ quest.

Non-Contract Steamship Sailings, as did its predecessor, has organized the material by shipping company. This simplifies the presentation of sailing schedules, which is the primary reference data in this comprehensive volume. This organization also facilitates the communication of the historical context within which these shipping companies moved passengers, cargo, and mail.

The challenge for the researcher is that a cover won’t likely identify the shipping company. Perhaps only the ship’s name or the departure date and/or city is known. The authors provide a steamship index to deal with the former. 

Where a year is known, the appendix on “Non-Contract Steamship Line Operation Years” will narrow the scope of search. Where day and month are identifiable, the perpetual calendar appendix can assist in further limiting the possibilities.

There is a chapter for each of the 54 steamship companies that operated during this period. By comparison, 31 steamship companies appeared in the original book. There is some overlap among companies as several companies carried mail outside of their contract activities.

Each chapter contains the same structure. References open the chapter and identify the newspapers from which much of the information was extracted. Books and other sources are also cited. Historical background provides a brief history of the shipping company, including its founding, operations, and ultimate fate (e.g., dissolution or merger). 

To enhance the rich historical perspective contained herein, the authors illustrate one or more of the steamships in each fleet. These might be period paintings such as of the well-known and beautiful paddle-wheeler Great Western (Figure 3), or lithographs.

Figure 3.  Oil painting of the side-paddle steamship Great Western entering an American port.

Maps (Figure 4), illustrated etchings, and drawings are used to great effect in defining the historical milieu within which these bold companies operated their ships. This may be primarily a postal history reference about ship mail, but the broader historical context is never far from the authors’ narrative. 

Figure 4. Shipping piers surrounding lower Manhattan island and Jersey City in 1873. Dozens of seafaring ships transited the port of New York every day.

The authors also use numerous reproductions of newspaper advertisements (Figure 5) to demonstrate the importance of communicating ship arrivals and departures so that the public might ensure the timely mailing and receipt of their letters. Indeed, it was the diligent and detailed research into newspaper advertisements (and articles) that was the primary source of the ship schedules codified in this book. Of course, from the viewpoint of the shipping companies, the mails were of secondary importance. Passengers and cargo were the primary revenue sources for the shippers.

Figure 5. Advertisement for the steamship City of Glasgow detailing scheduled departures from New York and Glasgow. Such ads detailed both passenger and cargo information in addition to schedules for purposes of the mails.”

The book’s great strength is in its detailed voyage tables (Figure 6). Each row in a table defines a single round trip for a ship. The authors have identified 29 cities in these tables (abbreviations identified in the table on Page xiii) that were visited by the 54 steamship companies. Tables are divided by year of departure. Within years, there are columns for departure and arrival pairs, followed by the individual ship name. Notes are used frequently to add detail to many individual voyages.

Figure 6.  Extract from the 1875 sailings of the Anchor Line. Note that contract mail sailings are denoted with an asterisk and the availability of Supplementary Mail service is denoted with a dagger. Such additional detail expands the scope of this book beyond the non-contract voyages.

-For some companies (e.g., the Liverpool, Newfoundland & Halifax Steam Navigation Company) only one ship carried mail on a single voyage, but the authors have included a fulsome chapter on those firms.

Contrast that with the Anchor Line, a shipper whose North American operations spanned the years 1838 to 1959. Mail was carried beginning in 1856 and 84 years beyond the book’s final coverage year of 1875. The chapter’s 36 pages provide great detail, encompassing some 227 footnotes. Interestingly, it was not until 1875 that the Anchor Line began carrying contract mail and these voyages are denoted in the tables. In the original North Atlantic Mail Sailings, I could find no reference to any of the Anchor ships or their contract sailings. Thus, this new volume offers some helpful updated information on contract sailings as well.

This is a book about the means of transport, routes, and schedules. In these regards, Non-Contract Steamship Sailings could hardly be more comprehensive. Rates and markings – two other essential elements of comprehending postal history – are not explicitly treated. Nevertheless, the researcher (and, indeed, the casual peruser) will be delighted by the sumptuous illustrations of letters carried on so many of the documented voyages. Readers familiar with any of Winters’ many previous books will recognize the perspicacious detail with which he analyzes a cover. Both authors have used their combined mastery of postal history to present fully explicated assessments of these postal artifacts.

Figure 7. Folded letter sent in 1847 to Blaubeuren, Württemberg. The authors’ complete writeup of this cover appears nearby.

A perfect example of this (Figure 7) is found in the chapter on the Sarah Sands, a steamer that made 15 voyages between Liverpool and New York between 1847 and 1852. The lengthy description offers so many details about this one cover that it is worth quoting in its entirety:

24 February 1847 — folded letter from New York to Blaubeuren, Württemberg, endorsed “Pr. Steamer Sarah Sands,” sent unpaid. The 25¢ steamship freight money fee not marked on the letter, which often was the case in New York. Sarah Sands departed New York on 24 February and arrived at Liverpool on 17 March 1847, where a boxed LIVERPOOL/SHIP datestamp was struck on the reverse. In preparation for the transit to France, a London clerk struck the boxed COLONIES/&c.ART.13 handstamp to show an unpaid letter to be charged under letter bill accounting article 13. This debited France 3s4d per ounce of bulk mail on letters brought from overseas to England under the Anglo-French Postal Convention of 1843. A French clerk sent the letter to Württemberg, where it was marked in red crayon “57/6” to show France was entitled to 57 kr. And Württemberg 6 kr. for a letter weight requiring 1½ rates. The postage due at destination was marked 1 fl 4 kr (64 kr). One additional kreuzer was charged for a local fee at destination.

“Bulk mail” suggests that there was a large number of similar letters transiting Britain to France and beyond to elsewhere in Europe. Imagine the sophistication and numeracy that postal clerks in Britain, France and Württemberg must have required in order to process a large number of mail pieces such as this! 

In 175 words, Dick Winter and John Barwis have offered us a complete course in how to read and interpret a cover. It would be interesting to learn which reference books were consulted in order to prepare this marvelous writeup. Other than a transcription of the folded letter, nothing has been omitted here. The dozens of tantalizing covers distributed throughout this volume make it so much more than a dry codification of historical records. Any reader’s “cover envy” would be completely understandable.

The body of work published by both Winter and Barwis is truly daunting. The former is credited with having written or edited around 10 books, while the latter has eight such books to his name. Add to that the enormous number of articles, papers, and exhibits each has produced. Collectively they have produced significant original research and made invaluable contributions to the philatelic literature. 

However, it is not always the case that two accomplished authors can create an effective research and writing team. Libraries are replete with examples where the work of one co-author is clearly, and often disruptively, differentiable from the other. Such is not the situation here. The text flows smoothly and flawlessly. Both men are superior communicators, which is especially important in a work encompassing so much detail and nuance. It is a testament to their teamwork that one cannot identify who wrote what.

Speaking of flawless text, I would be remiss if I did not highlight the important work of Kenneth Trettin. An internationally recognized philatelist and literature judge, Trettin created and produced the layout and design of this important contribution to the literature. With so much textual, numerical, and graphic content, Trettin’s design ensured that the information was communicated both effectively and comfortably. Far from being challenged, the reader is guided through the book in a logical, intuitive manner. Editors and designers are too often not credited with their role in producing successful works such as this. Trettin deserves recognition here.

Taken on its own, North Atlantic Non-Contract Steamship Sailings 1838-1875 is a major addition to the philatelic literature. Postal historians of the mails on both sides of the Atlantic will require this book to have a complete reference library. Also of note, this important work also serves to extend the usefulness of the earlier North Atlantic Mail Sailings publication. While it is not clear that a revision is required to NAMS, perhaps a reprint (or digital reproduction) might be called for. I certainly hope so.