The Mute Cancels of Russia, 1914-1917
by Arnold Levin

translated by David Skipton

Rossica is pleased to announce the publication of an exciting new work: The Mute Cancels of Russia, 1914–1917 by Arnold Levin. This massive effort has been in the works for nearly two years and is now shipping.

Mr. Levin devoted a large portion of his life to the collection of and study of mute cancels used in Russia. He published extensively in Soviet philatelic literature on the subject. This publication is the first book in English work to cover the subject. There are two parts to this effort containing 371 pages loaded with pertinent information. The number of illustrations is staggering approximately 1500 in all.

Part One is a 144-page volume that covers all aspects of the topic in an easy-to-read format with plenty of examples to illustrate his points. He explains the subject and his methodology for cataloging the effort in general terms. Mr. Levin presents significant detail in the following areas:

• Research Works and Researchers: who has written on the subject and where
• Areas of Use: where the mute cancels were used
• Period of Use: when the mute cancels were in use
• Simple Forms of Mute Cancels: the basic types of mute cancels
• Postal Hand Stamps and Machine Stamps Used As Cancels: postal devices that were in use during the period used as mute cancels
• Special-Hand Stamp Cancellations: special devices used as mute cancels
• Hand Stamps for Military Correspondence: military devices used as mute cancels
• Registered Mail: mute cancels on registered mail
• Military Censorship. Mail Surveillance: introduction to the subject.

Part Two is a massive 227-page catalog with explanatory information and maps. Approximately 750 illustrations of mute cancels are included in this part with examples of many of the items on postcards or covers. This is the heart of the publication and is bound separately for ease of use. Part Two contains:

• Arrangement of the Catalog. How the Mute Cancel ID Codes Are Derived: This is the key to understanding the system used in the catalog.
• Mute Cancel Catalog: In this section, Mr. Levin methodically presents mute cancel marks that were used in 42 different areas broken down into the following sub-sections:

• The Southern and Southwestern Regions in the provinces of: Bessarabia, Volhynia, Ekaterinoslav, Kiev, Podolia, Poltava, Taurida, Khar'kov, Kherson, and Chernigov
• The Western Region in the provinces of: Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk, and Mogilev
• The Northwestern and Central Regions in the provinces of: Kaluga, St. Petersburg, Pskov, and Smolensk
• The Visla Region in the provinces of: Warsaw, Kalish, Kyel'tsy, Lomzha, Lyublin, Petrokov, Plotsk, Radom, Suvalki, Syedlets, and Kholm
• The Baltic Region in the provinces of: Vil'na, Kovno, Kurlyand, Liflyand, and Ehstlyand
• The Batum oblast' in the Caucasus
• The Occupied Territory of Galicia
• Other Regions of: Vyatka, Don oblast', Kuban oblast', Moscow province, Nizhnii Novgorod province, and Tver' province.

After the presentation of the catalog, Mr. Levin introduces a system by which you can determine the philatelic value of a mute cancel item. He extensively covers “primary” and “secondary” features that can govern the rarity of a mute cancel. Rarity coefficients or factors are assigned to these features, tables of values are presented, and examples are presented on how to determine the philatelic value of a mute cancel. This is a very thorough analysis of the subject!

In an appendix, Mr. Levin presents a list of locations noted that used mute cancels and the number of towns recorded.

In a second appendix, maps are provided of the basic groupings as listed in the catalog.