Stamp Dealers’ Business - M. Z. Booleman

Mozes Zadok Booleman


Jeff Woolgar



Illustrated above is M.Z. Booleman & Co. advertisement (retyped) from Postgids der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, No.8 of January 1895, published during the previous year by the South African Republic Government.

The South African Philatelist, of March 1896, stated:
“In the early part of last month, views of the recent crisis on the back of the ZAR [South African Republic] Post Cards were published. The idea, it appears, belong to Mr. Sallo Epstein, a local Stockbroker, while the publishers are Messrs. M.Z. Booleman & Co.”
The five different ‘views’ are printed in brown on the back of the one penny South African Republic postal stationery cards. Above the ‘view’ is printed “LATE CRISIS IN JOHANNESBURG.” which refers to the Jameson Raid. Underneath is the title of each 'view' with the name of the photographer and, below that again, “Greetings from Johannesburg.". These ZAR illustrated postal stationery cards, also referred to as ‘view cards’; have been well categorized by Leeflang and Woolgar. All five Late Crisis cards with the pictures printed in brown are:
A BOER PATROL.
FORTIFICATIONS AT AUCKLAND PARK
MARCH PAST COMMISSIONER STREET.
SCENE IN SIMMONDS STREET.
THE AUSTRALIAN BRIGADE.
Archie Atkinson, thought the local printing was primitive, nevertheless of considerable interest as the earliest illustrated postal stationery picture postcards known to have been printed and published in southern Africa.
The earliest known postally used of the ‘Late Crisis cards' is captioned “SCENE IN SIMMONDS STREET.”. It was cancelled with a duplex canceller ‘3/ZAR/1’ and a single ring Johannesburg datestamp set at ‘FEB.6 / 96’. The message was written by a Edward Moorby to his Father, a postal official living in Cape Town. This card is reproduced on the front and back covers of Archie Atkinson book Something of a Novelty, Postcards of South Africa.




The ‘Late Crisis cards' above is an 'illustrated postal stationery card' with a 'Disselboom' stamp (Higgins & Gage 2a), and addressed to the USA in Booleman's hand. It entered the post in Johannesburg on 25th January 1897 and arrived on 1st March 1897. His two handstamps give his address in the South African Republic and the Netherlands.
On another 'Late Crisis card' posted to the Netherlands on 1st March 1897 Booleman writes: "I will be in Amsterdam at the beginning of April and my temporary postal address will be as before, but only my postal address. To contact me later personally I will advise you later, probably in the vicinity of v/oDam." The handstamp on the postal stationery card illustrated above confirms his address in the Netherlands although he seems to have delayed his traveling date.
A brief recap on the dates of the Jameson Raid. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, British South Africa Company Administrator and associate of Cecil Rhodes, entered the South African Republic on the evening of 29th December 1895 with some 500 mounted troops, mostly British South Africa Company Police. Their march from Bechuanaland to Johannesburg was planned to coincide with a rising organised by the Reform Committee on the Witwatersrand. Jameson was surrounded by a South African Republic Boer Commando and surrendered on 2nd January 1896, at Doornkop, near Krugersdorp; while on the Witwatersrand the Reform Committee and their supporters were soon either in prison or back to work.


The two pages above are from an eight page 1896 Booleman stamp price list which is printed black on a white printing paper, there is no title page or introduction nor are the pages numbered. The cover is printed black on a green supercalendered paper. The two pages relating to the South African Republic (ZAR) / Transvaal postage Stamps are retyped above, to include composters’ typesetting errors. Some of these errors may have been the result of a shortage of letterpress type. The penny symbol which should be ‘d.’ (denarius) is shown as ‘p’ except for stamp number 59 and in the description of the six pence surcharge below number 61. The prices for “Queen’s Head” stamps seem at odds with our perception of the rarity of these stamps today. The price asked for the “Queen’s Head” one shilling green stamp, is the same for unused and used! This stamp is difficult to find unused today, particularly with original gum. Most of these would have originally been used for overseas postage, perhaps used copies were scarce in Johannesburg in the last decade of the century. These ‘Queen’s Head’ issues are only given in single colours for each duty, without distinguishing variations of shade/colour of the 1d., 3d. and 6d. duties, although when comparison is made with similar price lists and catalogues, this is found to be typical of the period. Interestingly Booleman does not have any unused stamps of the First Republic or the overprinted stamps of the first British occupation. Perhaps this reveals the difficulty of finding such material during the 1890s. The first unused stamps offered are the ‘Queen's Head’ stamps issued during the first British Occupation.
In line with many dealers of his time he guarantees all his stamps to be genuine. His front cover states:
PRICE LIST
OF
SOUTH AFRICAN
STAMPS.
M.Z.BOOLEMAN & Co.
PHILATELY HOUSE
Pritchard St.,
JOHANNESBURG.
South African Republic.
P.O. Box, 520

[Below the printed border is the following]

“EVERY STAMP SOLD BY US IS GUARANTEED GENUINE”
Bunce’s Dealers Address Book, published in the same year as the M.Z. Booleman’s price list records that Booleman’s Post Office box number was 997, however the cover page of his price list states box number 520. It was thought that he continued to hold two boxes during 1896; numbers 997 and 520, but both Mephius and later Chilton provide evidence that he relinquished Box 997 and Chilton states this was prior to March 1895.


Business did not always go well from Booleman, as can be seen by the cover illustrated above. It is addressed to the USA from Booleman, in his hand. The 2½d. blue and green ZAR stamp is tied by a single ring Johannesburg “dater”, set at “Aug 6 / 96” next to a barred oval enclosing “ZAR”. On the back are a machine cancel for New York and an arrival circle date stamp for 12 September, 1896. Booleman’s purple oval hand stamp shows the address as P.O. Box 520, Johannesburg, over which is another purple handstamp reading “IN LIQUIDATION”, presumably applied by the Official Receiver.
Booleman legacy
His name lives on today as Johannesburg’s first stamp dealer who provided interesting covers and postal stationary cards, which are much collected. The price list and advertisement mentioned here contribute to our knowledge of his business during the last decade of the nineteenth century.
References
Atkinson, A, (2008), Something of a Novelty, Postcards of South Africa, (edited Allen, V.,) S.A. Manx Association, Isle of Man - see review of this book on this website.
Atkinson, A, (1983), South African Picture Postcards, Africana Notes and News, Vol.25, no.7, p.227 & 228.
Atkinson, A, (Ed.), (March 1986), Newslatter S.A.P.R.G. [Southern Africa Postcard Research Group.], Castleton, Isle of Man, p.1.
M.Z. Booleman, [1896], Price list of South African Stamps. [British Library Shelfmark: Crawford 864(9) or it can be viewed on microfilm shelfmark: PB MIC C13458].
Bunce, R.H., [1896], Bunce’s Dealers Address Book, Cohoes, N.Y. [British Library Shelfmark: Crawford 776(1)].
Chilton, A.R., (1985), The Transvaal Philatelist, Vol.20, no.4 (80), pp.72-73.
Leeflang, B., (2021) Pioneer Postcards of South Africa 1896-1900 Stationery and non-stationery picture postcards of the Boer Republics, Cape of Good Hope and Natal, Haarlem, pp.97.
Mephius R., (1983), Still more notes on Johannesburg’s first stamp dealer, South African Philatelist, July 1983.
Woolgar, J., (2009), Illustrated Postal Stationery Cards – ‘THE LATE CRISIS IN JOHANNESBURG’, The Transvaal Philatelist, Vol.44, No.3 (171), pp.52-56.
Woolgar, J., (2011), M.Z. Booleman & Co., Price List 1896, The Transvaal Philatelist, Vol.46, No.1 (177), pp.18-21.
Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, Postgids der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, No.8 - Jaar 1895, Postmeester-Generaal, Isaac van Alphen, (1894), p.xix.
Note
The Crawford Collection is just part of the philatelic book collections at the British library. In addition to these volumes there are thousands more which include albums, catalogues and so on.

Copyright © 2025 Jeff Woolgar




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