[:en] by Martino Laurenzi Few places in the world can boast a rich past like the south of Italy. In particular Sicily, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean sea, has been home to many different populations, falling under different governance, including, in chronological order, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Vandal, Ostrogoth, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, the Holy

[:en] by Arthur H. Groten What constitutes a letter? A letter is the reason for the existence of the covering that contains it. From the earliest days through the mid-19th century, the vast majority of letters were sent folded and sealed, first with wax and later with wafers. What was of paramount importance to the

[:en] by Lorenzo Carra On July 18th , 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III declared war on King Wilhelm I of Hohenzollern’s Prussia, but after suffering defeats at Sedan on September 1st and 2nd he had to capitulate. The French Empire ended, and on September 4th, 1870 the Republic was declared. The Prussians invaded France

[:en] by David Feldman Readers of this article, at least some of them, may know my company and its international auctions in the philatelic world spanning the last 50 years. It is difficult, if not impossible that steering the helm of such operations can leave one without deep life impressions of all the rare stamps

[:en] by Raphaël  LIVNAT Since 1517, Jerusalem and the Holy Land had been nothing more than a lost land in the vast territory of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 19th century, the few rare travellers who visited Jerusalem described it as a medieval city, with a population of about 9,000 people living