The Post Office in Canada: A Chronology of Facts, Feats, and Firsts from the French Regime to 1981, Second edition

Thomas A. Hillman and E. R. Toop
Released August 2006.
166 pages, 8.5x11, spiral bound.
Colour C$ 27.00 [ISBN 0-919854-90-7 ].

'The Post Office in Canada: A Chronology of Facts, Feats, and Firsts' presents the reader with a series of small, varied and even eclectic encyclopaedia format notes. Every entry has a full citation to the source of the information; a primary source, if possible, or a reputable secondary source. Much more than an annotated time line, this history of the Canadian Post Office Department's operation, from the French Regime in the 17th Century to 'privatization' in 1981, is a 'good read' and should be of interest to all collectors of the philately of Canada and the provinces before Confederation.

Tom Hillman retired after a thirty year career at the Public Archives of Canada, later the National Archives of Canada, now Library and Archives Canada. As an archivist, he was responsible for the Records of the Post Office Department. One of his major tasks was to prepare a new inventory description for all of the Post Office textual records (Record Group 3) held by the Public Archives of Canada, which was published in 1985. Tom also oversaw the preparation of the electronic version of the postal history record cards which provide data on the names of post offices and tenure dates of postmasters for all post offices in Canada from earliest times to the mid-1980s. His first BNAPS book, 'The Post Office Department and the Parliamentary Record in Canada', published in 1993, catalogued references to many aspects of Post Office operation found in records of parliamentary debates as well as the laws and regulations passed by Parliament.

After retiring from the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Major (Squadron Leader), the late E.R. 'Ritch' Toop worked from 1972 to 1985 as Special Projects Officer and then Philatelic Research Officer at the National Postal Museum. A regular participant at exhibitions and conventions, Ritch also wrote numerous articles on a wide variety of subjects and co-authored six authoritative handbooks concerning Canada's military postal history, most notably, with W.J. Bailey, the two-volume 'Canadian Military Postal Markings', which was published in 1996.

Originally published in 2003 by Auxano Philatelic Services, the second edition of 'The Post Office in Canada: A Chronology of Facts, Feats, and Firsts from the French Regime to 1981' is the latest BNAPS handbook. The second edition, which includes several corrections, has been prepared with improved images and a revised layout to permit printing of illustrations in colour where required at a lower cost than the first edition.

SPECIAL OFFER to members: Buy 'The Post Office in Canada: A Chronology of Facts, Feats, and Firsts from the French Regime to 1981, Second edition' at the members' price and you may also purchase Tom Hillman's previous book, 'The Post Office Department and the Parliamentary Record in Canada' (Stock # B4h717.0), at a special net price for members of C$6.50. The books will be mailed together to minimize postage costs.