International Institute of Agriculture: Official Mail 1910-1946

The International Institute of Agriculture (IIA) was founded by David Lubin of Sacramento, California in 1905 in Rome with the financial support of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. The IIA was organized as an international non-governmental body in a 1906 conference with representatives of over 40 nations. It became the source of reports on agricultural law, statistics, plant diseases, fertilizers, entomology, soils, etc. This organization’s importance in the development of worldwide agriculture cannot be overstated. Although the Institute utilized Italian postal services, it maintained an internal postal facility to track postage expenses of official mail. This guide presents history of the institute as well as examples of official mail. This short work is derived from a single frame philatelic exhibit developed for the purpose of display at exhibitions. The exhibit has received gold awards at the national level as well as special awards. General background subjects and picture post cards have been interspersed to enhance the subject, but are not part of the exhibit proper. Read more