In the early decades of powered flight, airmail was expensive and unreliable. To offer flexibility, postal administrations introduced “Jusqu’à” markings. These instructed postal clerks and air carriers to transport a letter by air only up to a specified airport or city; beyond that point, the mail would revert to surface transport (rail or ship). Ian McQueen, a British philatelist, produced the first comprehensive taxonomy of these markings, filling a gap in airmail literature.
Ian McQueen’s Jusqu'à Airmail Markings: A Study provides a foundational analysis of auxiliary postal markings used between 1919 and the 1950s to indicate where air transport concluded for a specific mail item. The work systematically catalogs these "as far as" handstamps, which were crucial for documenting the varied, non-standardized practices of early international airmail before universal air transit was adopted. For more information, visit Jusqua.org . Jusqu-a Airmail Markings- A Study Ian McQueen
While "Jusqu'à" markings are most famous in standard maritime mail (indicating the port where a sea journey ended and land transport began), McQueen’s book explores how these concepts apply to . Specifically, it investigates markings that denote: In the early decades of powered flight, airmail
When you obtain a copy, do not read it cover to cover. Use it as a dictionary. Keep it next to your magnifying glass. When you acquire a cover with a French instruction, look up the location first, then check the rate, then verify the die. Ian McQueen, a British philatelist, produced the first
Errors were common: covers with Jusqu’à Marseille that were inadvertently flown beyond Marseille are prized as “overflown” rarities.