The intention with this book is to describe the development of the postal routes to Dutch West Africa, Dutch West Indies and Suriname from the time of the earliest currently known letter (1652) until World War I, to describe mail-carrying shipping lines, to document handstamps used to mark this mail and to highlight whether a route is commonly or rarely used.

To avoid duplication of data (contents of issued postal circulars, listings of ships, ships schedules etc) that can be found in published handbooks, these sources are referred to throughout the text to guide those who would like to go deeper into the subject.

Many conclusions are based on the authors own records on the individual objects.

Frequencies of letters and different types of route handstamps used to mark and direct mail to a specific route and carrier are documented.