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VERY FINE APPEARING TRIPLE-RATE COVER FROM FRANCE TO PRESIDENT-ELECT ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Lincoln was elected on Nov. 6, 1860, and left Springfield for Washington on Feb. 11, accompanied by his secretary, John Hay, and others. He was inaugurated as the country's sixteenth president on March 4, 1861. Between the time of his election and his inauguration, seven states would secede from the Union. As he was not yet in office when this letter was written, 3c was due for the forwarding postage to Springfield. (Image)
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EXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS ONE OF TWO RECORDED "SOUTHERN LETTER UNPAID" COVERS BEARING THE 12-CENT 1860 ISSUE AND ONE OF ONLY FIVE TO A FOREIGN DESTINATION. ITS HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, EXTREME RARITY AND IMPECCABLE QUALITY COMBINE TO MAKE IT ONE OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL COVERS OF AMERICAN POSTAL HISTORY.
The U.S. May 27, 1861, suspension order prohibited post offices from forwarding southbound mail to disloyal Southern states. However, northbound mail continued to be sent via Louisville. Through June 6, northbound mails were forwarded to Louisville from Memphis or Nashville. From June 7 through 12, only the Nashville post office forwarded mail to Louisville, and Louisville continued to forward mail north.
With the resignation of W. D. McNish as Nashville's Federal postmaster on June 12 and the withdrawal of the U.S. mail agent from this route, Louisville held the mails still being sent north by the discontinued post office at Nashville. On June 24, Dr. John J. Speed, the postmaster at Louisville, was advised to forward letters from the South to the loyal states after removing postage. With approximately 5,000 such letters accumulating at Louisville by this date, Postmaster Speed employed a more practical means of invalidating postage by creating the "Southn. Letter Unpaid" handstamp.
Because the U.S.-France treaty had a provision for unpaid mail, this cover was allowed to go through the U.S. mails with no postage due until arrival in France. Two covers from this correspondence are known, both identically addressed on the same embossed envelopes. They were carried together in the mail postmarked at New Orleans on June 10. The other cover, ex Antrim and Wishnietsky, lacks the Louisville June 27 datestamp and has a single strike of the "Southn. Letter Unpaid" marking on the stamps. They were presumably released on the same day, which means that the Louisville office did not mark all letters in a consistent manner.
There are 29 "Southn. Letter Unpaid" covers recorded in the Special Routes book (No. 25 has been deleted as a fake since publication). The five recorded foreign-bound covers are as follows: 1) Louisville June 27, from St. Francisville La. to Prussia; 2) Louisville June 27, from Bayou Chene La. to France, ex Wunsch and Myers (Siegel Sale 882, lot 2001); 3) Louisville June 27, from New Orleans to France (the cover offered here, pictured on the front cover of the Special Routes book; 4) no Louisville datestamp, franked with Scott Nos. 36B and 26, from New Orleans to France, ex Antrim and Wishnietsky, Siegel sale 1064, lot 23; and 5) Louisville Jul. 11, from Petersburg Va. to England, 24c 1860, ex Matthies and Dr. Graves
Special Routes Census No. SLU-7. Ex Shenfield, Sweet, Judd and Kilbourne. Illustrated on p. 6 of Shenfield's Special Postal Routes and in Ashbrook's Special Service #28, p. 203. Pictured on the front cover and on p. 15 of the Special Routes book by Steven Walske and Scott Trepel (Image)
VERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING AND EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE OF TRANSATLANTIC MAIL FROM NEW ORLEANS TO FRANCE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR, CARRIED VIA BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS, AND TAMPICO, MEXICO, IN COSTA'S FIRST MAIL FROM NEW ORLEANS. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED OUTBOUND COSTA'S EXPRESS COVER.
On October 15, 1861, Antonio Costa announced a post office-endorsed foreign-mail private express service out of New Orleans. In his circular, he stated, "The undersigned, now suffering in common with others, the inconvenience of blockade and non-intercourse with foreign countries; has, by the advice and approval of J. L. Riddell, Post Master at New Orleans, taken all needful measures to establish at his own expense, a monthly mail between New Orleans and the Mexican port of Tampico, to connect with the regular British Mail steamers touching at that port." J. L. Riddell also added a postscript stating that, "Letters intended for this Mail, may be enclosed along with the money required per tariff above, and the outer envelope addressed to Costa's Foreign Mail, care of Postmaster, New Orleans." The tariff indicated was $1.00 to Europe, including C.S.A. postage. See Siegel Sale 832, lot 3026 for a scan of the notice.
Ex Robert A. Paliafito (his Mexico collection) (Image)
VERY FINE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS POSTAGE DUE LABEL. THIS IS THE ONLY ONE USED TO A FOREIGN DESTINATION.
The American Letter Express Company advertised its across-the-lines mail service with a basic rate of 15c. Their instructions stated: "Enclosing 15 cents in money. This prepays all expenses to its destination. The rates here given are for letters not exceeding half ounce in weight... Do not use U.S. stamps or stamped envelopes, they are valueless when coming from the Confederate States."
Evidently some letters were received without the requisite prepayment, and these were delivered to the recipient postage due. The 1 franc 60 centimes requested on this label covers the postage costs only and equates to 30 cents -- double the 15c treaty rate and reflected in the 24c credit to France in the New York exchange office datestamp. The express fee was paid by the sender.
Only two examples of the postage due label prepared by American Letter Express are recorded in the Special Routes book -- this cover front to France and one with a U.S. 3c 1857 Issue stamp to New York. They were both postmarked at Louisville on August 15. It is possible that the label was only used on one batch of mail forwarded from Nashville and was thereafter discontinued as impractical.
Special Routes Census No. N-AX-10. This label illustrated in Special Routes book on p.51 (Image)
VERY FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED LETTER FROM FRANCE WITH THE "MAILS SUSPENDED" MARKING, WHICH WAS USED BY THE UNITED STATES TO RETURN MAIL FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES ADDRESSED TO THE CONFEDERATE STATES.
The U.S closed all postal communications with the seceded Confederate States in May-June 1861. Sometime in 1862 the "Sent Back to England" marking was discontinued, and the "Mails Suspended" oval was used on mail from foreign countries to the Confederate States. This 1864 usage might have been inspired by the resumption of flag-of-truce mail in July 1863. (Image)
VERY FINE. A SPECTACULAR CIVIL WAR PATRIOTIC COVER TO FRANCE FROM THE FAMOUS ANGELL CORRESPONDENCE.
Dr. Henry C. Angell was an optometrist who spent a considerable amount of time in Europe. Covers are known sent to him in France, Italy, England, Germany and Austria, plus a very few forwarded to other destinations. He was an art collector and undoubtedly appreciated the wide variety of Civil War patriotic envelopes mailed to him while he travelled abroad. In a New York Times article (March 6, 1897), Dr. Angell's name is mentioned in connection with the loan of seven works of art to an exhibition in Boston at Copley Hall, including two works by Corot.
Ex Matthies and Vogel (Image)
FRESH AND VERY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL AND EXCEPTIONALLY CHOICE DOUBLE-RATE CIVIL WAR PATRIOTIC COVER TO FRANCE FROM THE ANGELL CORRESPONDENCE.