Over time, these administrative instructions evolved into distinct cachets. Without a study like McQueen’s, a modern collector might mistake a "Jusqu’a" marking for a routing error or defacement. In reality, it is a receipt—proof that the sender paid for a specific segment of aerial transport. Before analyzing the text, a note on the author. Ian McQueen was a British philatelist active during the mid-20th century. While he wrote on several aspects of postal history, he is most revered for his obsessive attention to the Franco-British airmail routes. Unlike generalist catalogers, McQueen focused on ephemeral data —the ink stamps, handwritten notes, and accounting marks that clerks used for mere seconds before a mailbag was sealed.
This article explores the origins of these markings, McQueen’s groundbreaking classification system, and why his 1980s study remains the gold standard for authenticating covers from the golden age of aviation. To understand why Ian McQueen’s study is essential, one must first understand the problem facing postal clerks in the 1920s and 1930s. Jusqu-a Airmail Markings- A Study Ian McQueen
The definitive reference on this niche subject is widely considered to be the seminal work, . This monograph, long out of print but legendary among specialized collectors, transformed how postal historians understand the transit of airmail before the standardization of UPU (Universal Postal Union) labels. Before analyzing the text, a note on the author
McQueen clarified a distinction that catalogs often blur. A marking saying "Via Cairo" means "send this through Cairo." "Jusqu’a Cairo" means "airmail stops IN Cairo." His study provides the only definitive guide to distinguishing these operational instructions. The surface rate was low
Forgeries are rampant in early airmail. Fakers often add a "Jusqu’a" stamp to a mundane cover to inflate its value. McQueen cataloged the specific dies (the metal cuts used to make the handstamps). By comparing the wear pattern, spacing, and font flaws in his book, a collector can prove a marking was applied in the 1930s, not the 1970s.
Imagine a letter sent from London to Sydney in 1935. The surface rate was low, but the airmail surcharge was exorbitant. Many senders couldn’t afford to pay the airmail fee for the entire journey. However, they could afford to pay for the letter to travel by air only as far as, say, Marseilles or Singapore. From there, the letter would revert to slow surface mail (ship or train).
In the vast and intricate world of aerophilately, where the romance of early flight meets the rigid protocols of postal administration, few marginalia have intrigued collectors as much as the humble "Jusqu’a" marking. At first glance, it appears merely as a French phrase meaning "as far as" or "up to." But for serious students of airmail history, these two words unlock a complex narrative of international cooperation, border control, and the logistical nightmares of the interwar period.