Routes to a Nation
The Post Office in the Colonies and Early Unted States
$130.51
- Hardcover
216 pages
- Release Date
10 November 2026
Summary
This richly illustrated volume evokes the early history of the US postal system with 130 new full-color images of artifacts and historical documents from the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.
Travel back to the postal system’s humble origins in colonial America with Routes to a Nation, which traces the development of the post from trans-Atlantic communication through the Revolutionary War and follows its growth as the nation expanded through the 18th and early 19th centur…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781588348241 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1588348245 |
| Author: | Daniel A. Piazza, Lynn Heidelbaugh, Alison R. Bazylinski |
| Publisher: | Smithsonian Books |
| Imprint: | Smithsonian Books |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 216 |
| Release Date: | 10 November 2026 |
| Weight: | 567g |
| Dimensions: | 229mm x 279mm |
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Critics Review
LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Curators Piazza, Lynn Heidelbaugh, and Alison R. Bazylinski offer a multifaceted exploration of the U.S. postal system, intertwining archival research as they discuss objects from the National Postal Museum’s collection. They reveal the complexities of the postal system and seek to understand this institution, which was not uniformly welcomed by colonists and encountered a range of challenges, from organizing and funding to logistics…The authors skillfully set the scene, describing both the colonial era and the transition to the early republic…The numerous color images in the book are fascinating and well displayed.”
Daniel A. Piazza
The SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM is located in the historic City Post Office Building, which was constructed in 1914 and served as the Washington, DC, post office from 1914 through 1986. It showcases the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world.
- DANIEL A. PIAZZA is the Chief Curator of Philately.
- LYNN HEIDELBAUGH is a curator specializing in the history of postal service in the U.S.
- ALISON R. BAZYLINSKI is a curator specializing in U.S. cultural history and material culture.
- SUSAN N. SMITH is the Museum’s Winton M. Blount Research Chair.
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