225.00€
A superb and highly homogeneous group of five original Ottoman postal-history covers, all originating from Gera (Geras), on the island of Lesvos (Mytilene) during the final years of Ottoman administration and the First World War period.
Dating approximately to 1330–1332 Rumi / 1914–1916, the five covers form an attractive specialist study of the Ottoman Navy League (Donanma Cemiyeti) and its local activities on Lesvos.
The principal attraction of the group is the repeated presence on all five covers of the large circular Donanma Cemiyeti cachet depicting an Ottoman warship, accompanied by the local branch designation:
“Geras Şubesi” – Gera Branch
The combination of Ottoman Navy League material, local Gera branch markings, Lesvos provenance and contemporary Ottoman postage gives this group considerable historical and philatelic interest.
The Donanma-yı Osmanî Muavenet-i Milliye Cemiyeti, generally known as the Donanma Cemiyeti or Ottoman Navy League, was founded in 1909 with the objective of strengthening and modernising the Ottoman Navy.
The organisation raised substantial funds through public donations and fundraising activities, with branches operating throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Its activities contributed to the acquisition and support of Ottoman naval vessels, including the famous battleships Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis.
The surviving material of local branches provides an interesting insight into the geographical reach of the Navy League and its fundraising activities during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
The principal attraction of this lot is the repeated local Navy League marking:
“Geras Şubesi” – Gera Branch
Each of the five covers bears the prominent circular Navy League cachet featuring an Ottoman warship.
The appearance of the same locally identified branch marking across five contemporary covers creates an unusually coherent study group of Gera branch material from Lesvos.
This makes the lot particularly appealing to collectors specialising in:
The five covers demonstrate a fascinating variety of contemporary Ottoman and Navy League-related postal material, including:
The combination of these elements makes the group particularly suitable as a specialist postal-history study, rather than simply five unrelated Ottoman covers.
Lesvos, known in Ottoman sources as Midilli, remained under Ottoman sovereignty until the First Balkan War, when the island came under Greek control in 1912.
The covers therefore represent a fascinating period of Ottoman postal history connected with the final era of Ottoman administration and the complex political history of the Aegean islands.
Their approximately 1914–1916 dating also places them within the First World War and the final important period of the Ottoman Navy League’s fundraising activities.
Very Fine to Extremely Fine overall.
The five covers are remarkably fresh for their age and retain strong visual appeal.
The reverse sides are notably clean, preserving the visual impact of the fronts and allowing the postal markings and Navy League material to be examined clearly.
Please refer to the photographs for the exact condition, cancellations, stamps and markings of each individual cover.
A highly attractive opportunity to acquire a coherent group of five Ottoman covers from Gera, Lesvos, united by their distinctive Donanma Cemiyeti / Geras Şubesi markings.
The lot combines Ottoman naval history, First World War postal history, Ottoman philately and the local history of Lesvos, making it an excellent addition to a specialist collection.
