Tony says, "The 'British Levant' display features the stamps and postal stationery used by the British Post Offices which opened along the Ottoman Seaboard during the second half of the 19th Century to provide a reliable mail service for British administrators and merchants.
The Constantinople Post Office was originally established in June 1854 for the British Army in the Crimea. It was closed in 1856 after the troops were evacuated but was re-opened for civilian use in July 1857. Subsequently offices were opened in Smyrna (1872), Beyrout (1873), Stamboul (1884) and Salonica (1900). Initially unoverprinted GB stamps were used until August 1885 when inflation of the Turkish Piastre caused the most frequently used values to be surcharged. From 1905 GB stamps were also overprinted 'LEVANT' for use on postcards and parcels. With the outbreak of WWI the British and other foreign offices were closed in September 1914 and only the Smyrna and Constantinople Offices re-opened for a brief period after the war.
This display features mail going in and out of these offices throughout this period, particularly illustrating the various usages of the surcharged and overprinted stamps and postal stationery provided for the British Levant and includes a brief overview of the postal history of the British Salonica Force during the Great War and the Black Sea Force based in Constantinople after the Armistice."
Ian says, "The display and presentation are formed around the comprehensive web site on these issues put together by Dr. Paul Ramsay and myself which can be found at: www.gbtelegraphs.com. It will follow the order outlined there, namely the First Issue, Second Issue and Later Issues as this is a far more appropriate and chronological approach than covering their issue by face value alone.
The analogous nature of these De La Rue stamps with those of the contemporary surface printed postage stamps means there is a much wider sphere of interest within the GB collecting field than that of just a rare bunch of telegraph collectors (or the telegraph mafia as we have been referred to by a certain GB dealer!)
As a consequence of this, part of the presentation will specifically focus on aspects of research of the telegraph issues that have direct implications to general GB philately of this era. In particular the imprimaturs and certain specimens will be dealt with in some detail presenting new information and some intrigue relating to historic vandalism occurring around some high valued items! If time permits the preparation of probably the most expensive Victorian stamp produced will be covered, and no it is not the £5 orange!
The display itself will cover essays, proofs, colour trials, standards and of course the issued stamps both mint and used. It has been put together with completeness in mind and as such includes material from what are probably the two largest current private collections of these issues, namely Steve Lawrie's and my own. Several uncatalogued and formally unknown stamps will be shown (with explanations!) and usage will be covered in some detail, particularly in the latter half of the display."