1900 (15 Feb) registered cover from Port Arthur to Santa Rosa, Calif., franked on back with vertical pair of unoverprinted 10k dark blue, tied by Russian Post Office Port Arthur departure cds, with Russian "Shanghai" (22 Feb) and additional "Pochtowaya Kontora Shanghai" (6.III.00) alongside, sent via Nagasaki and Yokohama, with Santa Ana and San Francisco Registered datestamps on arrival. The fascinating feature of this cover is the incorrect (non-hyphenated) "PORTARTHUR" Registry label (instead of "Port-Arthur"), unrecorded, v.f. (Image)

Est.US$500

1901 (19 Dec) picture postcard (Kremlin), sent from Moscow, 4k Russian franking tied by ordinary Railway departure pmk, addressed to Austria (Ostrava), mistakenly routed via Siberia, Port Arthur, Chinese and Russian Post Offices in Chefoo and Shanghai, Victoria (Hong Kong), finally arriving in Ostrava on 26 March, 1902. A fantastic voyage around the world and across two Oceans, instead of a short direct route by railway from Moscow, via Warsaw to Vienna (Image)

Est.US$500

1903 (4 Aug) cover from Vilnius to a technician Alexander Vasilecky, with the Chinese Eastern Railway south branch at Port Arthur, franked on back with previously used Russian 7k, surrounded by four strikes of "0", obviously not recognized as valid by the postal official and charged "14k" penalty postage due ("Doplatit" to pay on front), TPO transits 123 (Samara-Chelyabinsk), 167 (Chelyabinsk-Omsk), 261 (Manchuria-Harbin), 266 (Port Arthur-Harbin) and finally 28 Aug. 1903 arrival, fine incoming cover from present-day Lithuania, with plethora of postal markings (Image)

Est.US$500

1903 (29 Aug) cover with 10k Kitai franking sent from Chefoo to England, via Port Arthur, showing violet "Liu Kung Tan" date stamp cds, Moscow transit and Ashford Sep 28 arrival pmks on back, coverflap mending, otherwise fine (Image)

Est.US$250

1903 cover to Manchester, England, franked with China pair of 5c CIP Coiling Dragon, tied by framed letterbox, with 10k "Kitai" added alongside, tied by Shanghai Russian Post Office pmk, with additional transit and oval Peking on back, Moscow (17 Oct), Manchester arrival, some toning, otherwise a fine combination (Image)

Est.US$250

1905 (19 Sep) picture postcard (view of Blagoveshchensk) to Finland with Finnish message, datelined "Post Saint Mary Magdalen. Aigun, Manchuria 19 Sept 1905", violet circular free-frank cachets around Imperial Eagle "Post Saint Mary Magdalen" and "Supervisory Administration of Post Saint Mary Magdalen" transit, following day in Blagoveshchensk, Helsinki arrival 2 XI 1905 (New Style). The Chinese fortress and town of Aigun, on the River Amur opposite Blagoveshchensk, was destroyed during the Sino-Russian conflict of 1900 by the Russians, who established a military base in the area and named it Post Saint Mary Magdalen. A FPO is said to have operated there from July 1901 to October 1903. No material known. The post was served by the Amur Steamship Company. This card shows that Post Saint Mary Magdalen continued to be manned throughout the Russo-Japanese War, when its mail was evidently handled on the Russian side of the River Amur at Blagoveshchensk (Image)

Est.US$500

1913 Romanov 7k stationery entire envelope uprated with 4k red, used from Harbin 28.3.13, with three oval strikes of Railroad Station markings, addressed to Germany, fine and attractive (Image)

Est.US$250

1914 (18 Aug) 4k stationery card overprinted "Kitai", written in German and sent from Chefoo to Vienna, with Red Cross Bureau for the Prisoners of War cachet in French (St. Petersburg Red Cross Committee marking), violet three-line Censor handstamp applied in St. Petersburg, another "Zens." in Austria, interesting item sent during the first days of WWI, obviously by a foreign national, whose mail was treated as coming from a Prisoner of War, showing early St. Petersburg censor cachet, exceptional example of mail delivery between two countries at war (Image)

Est.US$500

1916 (16 Sep) unsealed cover to Tientsin, sent unpaid, with violet censor handstamp applied in Irkutsk, with "Tientsin Poste Russe" arrival pmk applied on arrival, fine and unusual (Image)

Est.US$250

1917 (15 Dec) Chinese style cover (opened for display) from Borzya to Peking, franked with pair of 15k unoverprinted Arms, tied by "Borzya Zabaik." departure pmk, with a preprinted address, 5k "Kitai" overprinted adhesive on back, tied by Peking (22.12.17) pmk in Cyrillic, with Chinese arrival on front, fine and unusual cover from Borzya (a town and the administrative center of Borzinsky District in Zabaykalsky Krai, 349 kilometers southeast of Chita) (Image)

Est.US$500

1918 (14 Dec) registered cover (opened for display) with Manchuria departure pmk, corresponding Registry label, addressed to Station Slyudyanka, showing two line handstamp indication that postage of 1r and 5k was paid in cash, also with arrival pmk on back, fine and incredibly rare Paid By Cash cover from Manchuria (Image)

Est.US$500

1918 (14 Mar) registered cover from Peking to Kharkov, franked with pair of 10c on 10k surcharged, tied by "Peking" departure cds in Cyrillic, repeated alongside, corresponding Registry label at left, endorsed on back flap "Return because Post Office was closed due to Military Activities", cover returned to Peking, with 23.5.1918 arrival on back. An interesting historical usage from Russian Offices in China to regime-changing city of Kharkov (on 8th April 1918, the German army took control of Kharkov and shortly thereafter all Bolshevik gains in Ukraine were lost. The "green armies" and Insurgent Army of Ukraine refused to subordinate to Germany and Pavlo Skoropadsky proclaimed the Hetmanate, with himself as monarch). On 25th May, 1918, the Czech Legion revolted in Siberia and communication between Russian and European China completely collapsed (Image)

Est.US$500