Ma's Illustrated Catalogue of the Stamps of China (國郵 啚 鑑 or 國郵圖鑑) is a specialized catalogue of earlier Chinese stamps covering the periods from the Qing dynasty to the Republic of China. It provides the most comprehensive and systematic record of every stamp from the first Customs issue of 1878 to the Dah Tung print Postage Due stamp in 1947. Ma's Illustrated Catalogue differs from other stamp catalogues as it goes beyond a simple listing of stamps. Ma's catalogue provides a wealth of philately related information of high historical significance that is much needed in the research and study of early Chinese stamps. Today many refer to this catalogue as simply "馬氏圖鑑" or "馬氏國郵圖鑑".
The first edition was primarily sourced from hand written manuscripts edited by the late Ma Zung-Sung (馬潤叟 1872–1945). His son, Ma Ren-Chuen (馬任全 1908–1988), already a postal expert in Chinese stamps and like his father a philatelist, was inspired by his father's unfinished wish to put together a comprehensive catalogue during the last four years of his life. After his father's death in 1945, and after extensive consultation with a number of Shanghai's authoritative philatelic experts and philatelic literature collectors, he compiled and supplemented his father's original manuscripts and then translated the entire work from traditional Chinese to English. The first edition was published with 661 black & white illustrations. The costs for typesetting, proofreading, printing, publishing, and distributing were self-funded by Ma alone. A small quantity of 1000 copies was printed by Shun Chang & Co. (順昌), in Shanghai, China in June 1947 (民國三十六年). For many years the catalogue was the most inclusive stamp catalogue ever published in China, and it was the first and the only one printed in both Chinese and English texts together in one volume and exclusively published by a Chinese person. Stamp catalogues prior to Ma's were all available only in English and were printed overseas by foreign stamp dealers, often including incomplete or contradicting information among the various catalogues. The catalogue had made it possible for universal sharing and education of early Chinese stamps by all collectors in China or overseas.
First edition
When first published the catalogue was regarded as a considerable expense. There was no set retail price as this was unnecessary for a self-published and privately sold book. The book was sold at the office of the printing house. A full-page advertisement on the back cover of the November 1947 issue of The New Light Philatelic Magazine, Vol 14, No. 2 (《新光郵票雜誌》民國三十六年十一月十四卷第二期) listed the retail price of the catalogue as 500,000 yuan in National Currency. To put this price into perspective, the highest bank note denomination in 1947 was a 10,000 yuan note, the magazine where the advertisement appeared was sold for 10,000 yuan a copy, and the price for placing the full-page advertisement was 2,400,000 yuan. In other words, if the magazine was sold for $10 a copy, a fair market price in 2016, then the catalogue would have been sold at an equivalent of $500, which was considered by many to be a substantial amount of money.
Cover Horse Emblem Wrinkle pattern Serial number 209 Magazine advertisement
How to confirm a first edition The first edition has a scarlet colour hardcover with gilt lettering in both Traditional Chinese ( written vertically) and English (written horizontally) on the front cover. A small horse emblem ("馬圖", pronounced "Ma" in Chinese, the editor's last name, mainly used for anti-counterfeiting) is embossed at the centre of the back cover. The front and back covers are further embossed with wrinkle like patterns such as those found on the palm of a hand, except within the area of the horse emblem. The number 1947 is located right below the book title frame. Every authentic copy has a distinct serial number (out of 1000) stamped in black ink on the endpaper opposite the back cover. The pages are bound together, using the "Sewing Through the Fold" method, with four binding threads visible. It has 568 pages. The book measures 14mm x 19.5mm. The paper used is an advanced and costly paper called Art Paper (銅版紙), often referred as Coated Printing Paper (塗佈印刷紙), or Coated Paper (粉紙). The paper is coated with a thin clay to give it a more prestigious feel and elegant look. The prints can be felt when running one's fingers over the page. The pages are uncut, and lie flat when the book is opened. There is no dust jacket issued with this book.
The cost for the paper and for the printing material are primary factors for the extremely high retail price.
Unauthorized reprints The first edition proved to be extremely popular and was quickly regarded by many to be the bible of China philately. On account of the very low initial production, a retail price not affordable by most collectors, and the lack of official second printings or updated editions for the next 40+ years, many unauthorized copies were produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan and sold worldwide well into the 1980s. While the author was well aware of the outright stealing of his work, he was neither compensated, nor have the ability to enforce a stop to the copying due to China's political environment at the time and its isolation from the rest of the world, which both had immense affect and influence on publication and copyright laws. In a written correspondence with Mr. Ma You Zhang (see third edition) dated January 9. And because the reprints were purposely made to look like the original work, the reprint books themselves do not say that they are reprints. In fact, the publication date of June 1947 on the title page and July 1947 on the copyright page both remain unchanged in those books printed at a much later date. The original first edition and the unauthorized reprints may be distinguished by the following descriptions and distinct features.
Type Number Colour of cover Hardcover Dimensions Paper Type Publication date Serial number Image Notes R1 Berry-red colour with gilt lettering Y 18.5 cm x 13.5 cm Coated with glossy finish, smooth feel, similar to a page from a magazine. Prints cannot be felt. Unknown None Book title in English only. Pages are bound together using "Sewing Through" method. The pages lie flat when the book is opened. This edition comes with a slipcase; the book title and author name printed in blue. R2 Aegean-red colour with silver lettering Y 19.4 cm x 13.5 cm Coated paper with matte newsprint-like finish, with signs of heavy foxing 1964; Taiwan. Printing information is hand stamped on the fly leaf opposite the inside back cover None Chinese and English Book title in horizontal inscription. Pages are bound together using "Sewing Through" method. The pages lie flat when the book is opened. R3 Ruby colour with gilt lettering Y; The paper over board has a smooth finish without any textures 19.4 cm x 13.8 cm The paper used is thin, approaching semi-transparent. A strong feel of a photocopy, noticeable darkened sample stamps. Unknown; offered for sale in France in 1988 None The front cover is made to imitate the original cover, however, there is a noted variation in the title-page typeface used. The English letters are condensed and in bold, but there is a wider separation between words, and also the number "1947" is larger and taller in size. The Chinese characters are re-written to look like the original but there are subtle differences in the strokes. The gilt double line on the spine is wider apart than in the original version. A table of content written in traditional Chinese and English is included and bind as part of the book immediately after the preface by the co-editor. R4 Crimson-red colour with gilt lettering Y; The cover has a leathery texture. 18.5 cm x 13.5 cm The paper is thin with words from underneath pages shown through. Sold in Hong Kong and purchased in early 1960s; previous owner located in England but had lived in Hong Kong between 1962 and 1972, purchase price unknown None The English font and Chinese characters closely resemble the ones on the original edition. Without an index and Table of Contents. R5 Candy-red colour with black lettering N; Paperback version, both front and back are textured. 18.4 cm x 13 cm The pages within are thin with words from underneath shown through. Unknown; Previous owner located in Germany None This version does not have an index or Table of Contents. R6 Wine-red colour with gilt lettering Y; The cover has leathery texture. 19.3 cm x 13.5 cm Smooth feel, similar to a page from a magazine. Prints cannot be felt. Unknown None This version does not have an index or Table of Contents.
Ma's numbering system To catalogue early Chinese stamps is complicated. The first postage stamps in China were, in fact, issued by the western nations occupying special concessions, known as 'Treaty Ports', which had been snatched from Imperial China by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The first Treaty Ports stamp was issued in 1865 by the Shanghai Municipal Post, with additional Local Posts followed in sixteen other Treaty Ports. The postal services were taken over by the Qing government in November 1897 after it established the Imperial Chinese Post. After the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911, central authority was broken apart. During the period of the Republic of China (1912 - 1949), ongoing conflict between the Beiyang government, the Nationalist's Guomindang government, the Communist party (about 1930 - 1949), the remnant Northern warlords government, and the Empire of Japan all further fragmented China's postal system. Without a unified central government, the semi-autonomous regional governments issued their own stamps at various times to meet postal needs; Japan had issued "Occupation" stamps through their puppet governments, and the Chinese Communist Party had issued "Liberated area" stamps. The designation "Liberated Areas" refers to areas the Communists "liberated" from the Nationalists and / or the Japanese. The Liberated Areas alone already issued an estimated more than 500 sets of stamps with over 2,300 values. As these stamps are printed under war conditions, done mostly underground, and most of the stamps are coarsely printed using the simplest printing techniques on sub-standard equipment, and made use of any raw material available at the time. In fact, the first stamps issued by the new Nationalist government simply utilized remaining stocks of Imperial stamps, overprinting them with the words, 'Republic of China' until they could print new stamps. Outside of the Liberated Areas, co-existing provisional governments also find themselves difficult to unify their monetary system with the central authority of the time. Disparities and devaluation of local currencies from the ever-changing National Currency (oftentimes value had to be recalculated in a matter of hours) only promoted speculation on stamps. Such complicating factors demanded an unusual varieties of overprints (to restrict their use in a designated region so to stop speculators from profiting) or surcharging (charging extra money in National currency to make up for the difference in value). Moreover, as the central printing is done in Beijing or by externally contracted printers, the stamps are often delayed and rendering the value printed on the stamps useless. At times of an urgent need for postage stamps quickly, stocks of old issue stamps are simply overprinted by the local Post Masters, which often resulted in minor differences in design and colour variations occurring between official printers. After such a long period of complicated factors, coupled with other secret markings and numerous printing errors in between had all made it very difficult to distinguish and to document every early Chinese stamp, comprehensively or by chronological order alone.