ITALY

ITALY - BARI WOLF ISSUE

THE BARI WOLF ISSUE WAS ISSUED IN 1944 BY THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF MARSHALL BADOGLIO TO MEET URGENT NEEDS FOR NEW POSTAGE STAMPS IN PORTIONS OF ITALY THAT WERE UNDER ALLIED CONTROL. THE STAMPS WERE FIRST USED IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF BARI AND THEN IN OTHER AREAS OF ITALY FOLLOWING THEIR LIBERATION BY ALLIED FORCES. THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICES THAT WERE NORMALLY USED TO PRINT ITALIAN STAMPS WERE STILL UNDER GERMAN CONTROL AT THE TIME THESE STAMPS WERE PREPARED AND THIS ISSUE WAS PRINTED BY RICHTER AND CO. IN NAPLES. THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL SHOWED THE SIGNATURE OF BADOGLIO ACROSS THE FACE OF THE STAMP. THE ACTIONS OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT WERE SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY ALLIED MILITARY GOVERNMENT (AMG) AUTHORITIES AND THE ESSAY DESIGN WAS REJECTED IN FAVOR OF ONE SHOWING THE WOLF DESIGN OF THE ISSUED STAMPS. THE ESSAYS ARE FOUND ON GUMMED PAPER; HOWEVER, THE WARTIME CONDITIONS CREATED PROBLEMS THAT WOULD HAVE DELAYED THE ISSUANCE OF THE STAMPS IF GUM WAS USED AND THE STAMPS WERE ISSUED WITHOUT GUM.

BADOGLIO ESSAYS

HARD WHITE PAPER WITH VERTICAL HONEYCOMB WATERMARK, PERFORATED 11 1/4

HARD WHITE PAPER WITH VERTICAL HONEYCOMB WATERMARK, IMPERFORATE

TAN POROUS UNWATERMARKED PAPER, PERFORATED 11 1/4

TAN POROUS PAPER WITH LETTER "A" WATERMARK, PERFORATED 11 1/4

TAN POROUS UNWATERMARKED PAPER, IMPERFORATE

THE FINAL DESIGN

THE DESIGN WITH MARSHALL BADOGLIO SIGNATURE WAS REJECTED IN FAVOR OF THE ABOVE FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND FOR THE STAMP

BARI WOLF SPECIMENS

COPIES OF THE STAMP WERE OVERPRINTED "CAMPIONE PER AFFRANCARE" FOR USE AS SPECIMENS

BACKGROUND TYPES

IN THE EARLY 1980'S I RESEARCHED THE BURELAGE BACKGROUNDS OF THE ISSUED DESIGN AND THE BODOGLIO ESSAYS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES IN MARE NOSTRUM AND POSSESSIONS ABOUT MY FINDINGS. HARRY WILCKE ALSO DISCUSSED MY FINDINGS IN THE AMG STORY. THE BACKGROUNDS FOR THE VARIOUS PLATE POSITIONS OF THE FINAL STAMP DESIGN WERE APPARENTLY MADE FROM A SINGLE TRANSPARENCY. THE TRANSPARENCY WAS RANDOMLY FLIPPED OVER FROM SIDE TO SIDE AND TOP TO BOTTOM AS IT WAS USED TO CREATE THE BACKGROUNDS FOR EACH PLATE POSITION OF THE FINAL STAMP CREATING 4 BACKGROUND TYPES ( I- UPRIGHT, II-INVERTED, III-UPRIGHT & REVERSED, & IV-INVERTED & REVERSED). A SIMILAR METHOD APPARENTLY WAS USED ON THE BADOGLIO ESSAYS; HOWEVER, I HAVE ONLY BEEN ABLE TO VERIFY THE EXISTENCE OF TYPES I & II. VARIETIES ALSO EXIST IN WHICH THE BACKGROUND WAS LEFT OUT OR APPLIED HORIZONTALLY. HORIZONTAL BACKGROUNDS CAN BE COMPRISED OF MULTIPLE TYPES ON THE SAME STAMP. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THE ROMAN NUMERAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN THIS DISCUSSION DIFFERS FROM THE ARABIC NUMERAL SYSTEM USED IN MY ARTICLE IN MARE NOSTRUM.

ESSAY BACKGROUNDS

TYPES BE-I & BE-II

STAMP BACKGROUNDS

THE BARI WOLF WAS PRINTED IN SHEETS OF 150 AND 168 STAMPS. IT APPEARS THAT THE SAME MASTER WAS USED FOR BOTH PLATES BECAUSE THE POSITIONS OF THE BACKGROUND TYPES IS IDENTICAL ON THE CORRESPONDING POSITIONS OF EACH PANE. DRAWINGS OF THE 4 TYPES AND A CHART BELOW SHOWING THE PLATE POSITIONS OF THE TYPES ARE SHOWN BELOW.

IMPERFORATE STAMPS WITH BACKGROUND TYPES BW-I, II, III & IV

BLOCK OF 4 WITH ALL FOUR TYPES, TOP ROW TYPES BW II & IV - BOTTOM ROW TYPES BW III & I

BACKGROUND ERRORS

WITHOUT BACKGROUND

HORIZONTAL BACKGROUNDS WITH PARTS OF 2 & 4 BACKGROUNDS ON A STAMP