1776 (March 14). Entire letter sent by Manuel de Basavilbaso, Postmaster of Buenos Aires, to Gerónimo Grimaldi, Marquis of Grimaldi, Spanish State Secretary and “Superintendente General de Correos y Postas de España” (the highest authority of the Spanish post). The front shows in manuscript the letter to be carried by the “La Infanta” frigate and its Captain Solís, this ship belonging to the Corunna-Buenos Aires maritime line, which departed from Montevideo on March 25 and arrived at Corunna on June 19. The text inside mentions that a half barrel of “yerba mate” (maté), addressed to the Marquis of Grimaldi, is transported by the “La Infanta”. The letter was sent free of charge, thus following the norm for official mail sent between postal authorities. Ink erosion on front, of no importance. Of great significance and historical fascination, being the only recorded transatlantic mail, in private hands, addressed to a Spanish State Secretary in the XVIII century. Ex Sitjà. (Image)

1847 (Jan 20) letter datelined in Buenos Aires, perhaps sent undercover and re-datelined in Altona where it was put in the post with despatch cds on reverse, sent to Sweden with "OBETALT FR / DANNEMARK / H.BORG 14 JUNI 47" postage due mark, "358" sk charge mark, unusual. (Image)

1744 Folded cover to Portugal addressed to a member of 'Conselho de Guerra e da Junta dos Trés Estado' sent officially from 'Do Ouridor Geral do Piaui', wafer seal on reverse slightly damaged, very fine. (Image)

1745 Incoming entire to Rio de Janeiro addressed to 'Bispo da Capitania do Rio de J.' official mail indicated by manuscript 'Por El Rey', also notation '1 via' on obverse, disinfection slits, fine wafer seal on reverse, superb condition. (Image)

1810-31. Group of eight transatlantic entire letters from Bahia, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro addressed to Lisbon and Porto, seven of which bearing postmarks including "Maranhao" oval in black and red, Portuguese "Cor°.Maritimo" straight line in black on arrival, and origin "R° De Janr°." in brown, indicating carriages of five different vessels.1831 (July 1); the eight being an 1831entire letter from Rio de Janeiro to Saddleworth (England), rated at "3/7" and struck on arrival in England at Falmouth with rare "Brazil/F" handstamp in green without date.

1825 (Nov 11). Entire letter from Pernambuco to Lisbon carried by the "Galera Palmeira", with "Cor°.Maritimo" straight-line hs and "120" single postage due, both applied at Lisbon, redispatched from the Lisbon P.O. to Belém for disinfection with light strike of "Caza de Saúde do Porto de Belém" in brown for yellow fever control, and "GM" (Guarda Mor) oval in black on reverse also struck in Portugal. Only three items are known with this sanitation handstamp, and an extremely rare disinfected outgoing mail from Brazil. (Image)

1839, July 27. Official entire letter endorsed "S.R." (Serviço da República) from Cassapava (São Pedro) to Piratenim, showing very fine strike of "Cassapava" straight-line hs in black. A clean and rare entire during the "Revoluçao Farroupilha" (Ragamuffin War), the republican uprising in the Province of São Pedro (in present days Rio Grande do Sul), when the postal communications were exceptionally affected by the conflict. (RHM $5,000). (Image)

1841 (June 10). Registered entire letter from Areias to Rio de Janeiro, annotated "Segura" to denote registration, showing "Franca" in ms and signature of the postal clerk "Baptista" on reverse, framed "Va. De..Areias" handstamp, with the area affected by ink corrosions and some usual overall toning. Pre-philatelic registered mail is very rare. (Image)

1893 (Aug) envelope with India QV 2a6p tied by pen cross and "Piroscafi Postali / dell Egitto" hs, sent to Switzerland and redirected with arrival backstamps, fine. (Image)

Disinfected Mail. GALATZ: 1843 Disinfected stampless entire from Galatz to Genoa, disinfected with rastel punches, plus fine strike of the rare oval-end boxed Cyrillic "SAUKUCHITSI" in black on reverse, which states that the letter "Has been Cleaned", important disinfection showpiece as only a few are recorded. (Image)

IZLAZ: 1860 Stampless large part cover/letter, having been disinfected at the Quarantine Station of Izlaz, showing somewhat smudged blue negative disinfection seal reading in Cyrillic "Directia Karantini Izlaz" and depicting Walachian eagle over date of 1836, scarce. (Image)

TURNU SEVERIN: 1838 Disinfected outer wrapper sent to Bucharest, having been disinfected at the Quarantine Station of Turnu Severin, with numerous rastel spike holes punctured the letter and disinfected with a mixture of salt, magnesium, sulphuric acid and water, after fumigation, the director of the quarantine station certified on reverse that the letter was disinfected showing black negative disinfection seal reading in Cyrillic "Directia Turnu Severin" and depicting Walachian eagle over date of 1838 and signed 'Director Vasile Strimbeanu 1838 Dec 27", handstamped with a very rare negative cachet, Dragomir type K-38, used in the first year of usage. (Image)

TURNU SEVERIN: 1841 (17.9) Folded cover from Serbia, addressed to the Serbian embassy in Bucharest, bearing on reverse decorative circular Cyrillic, negative disinfection seal in black reading “Turnu Severin Quarantine" and depicting eagle over date of 1838, with date and signature of the Director of the station, John Strimbeanu, plus a perfectly preserved red wax seal of the KLADOVO Customs/Quarantine station, in Serbia (Dragomir type K38 – 8R; see # 3 on page 38), clear fine and an extremely rare strike, a very rare combination of the Turnu Severin negative black seal and the Kladovo (Serbia) red wax quarantine seal (Image)

ZIMNICEA: 1850 Folded stampless entire to Bucarest, having been disinfected at the Quarantine Station of Zimnicea, showing on reverse clear black negative disinfection seal reading in Cyrillic "Directia Karantini Zimnicea" and depicting Walachian eagle over date of 1831, attractive and scarce. (Image)

Double-circle Datestamps. BUCARESTI WALACHEI: 1859 (17.5) Registered stampless envelope from Bucharest to Roman, bearing large double-circle ds BUCURESTI WALACHEI/17.5 and unusual oval RECEIPISSE in blue, FOKSCHANI/MOLDOVA/18.5 bs, contents enclosed, cover flap missing, scarce early date of this postmark. (Image)

BUCARESTI WALACHEI: 1859 (15.10) Registered stampless envelope from Bucharest to Focsani, bearing large double-circle ds BUCURESTI WALACHEI/17.5 and unusual oval RECEIPISSE in red alongside, very fine and scarce in this quality. (Image)

BUDEU: 1863 (29.6) Folded entire letter from Budeu to Galatz, bearing ornate double-circle BUDEU/29.6 in black, with GALATZ/MOLDOVA/1.7 (error (7/1)), rated '55', fine (Image)

FOKSCHANI: 1862 (5.11) Registered folded entire as advise of payment to Court in Galatz, sent from Fokschani to Galatz, bearing double-circle FOKSCHANI 5/11, double boxed PORTO and RECEIPISSE all in blue alongside; blue crayon rate mark of "4" for Moldavia, red crayon mark of "57" for Walachia rate markings; minor water damage, attractive stampless usage. Signed Heimbüchler. (Image)

GALATZ: 1860 (14.8) Registered folded cover advice of payment to the Ministry of Interior sent from Galatz to Jassy, bearing clear crisp red double-circle GALATZ 14/8 ds, with rare boxed PORTO 1 LEI 30 PAR and RECEIPISSE also in red alongside, blue arrival bs, an attractive showpiece. (Image)

GALATZ: 1860 (12.2) Registered folded cover advice of payment to the Ministry of Interior sent from Galatz to Jassy, bearing clear crisp blue double-circle GALATZ 12/2 ds, with rare boxed PORTO 6 LEI 30 PAR and RECEIPISSE also in blue alongside, red arrival bs, an attractive showpiece. (Image)

JASSY: 1862 (12.5) Registered folded entire from Jassy to Galatz, bearing large double-circle JASSY(MOLDOVA/12.5 cds, with ornate oval FRANCO JASSY 154 LEI - PAR' and 'RECEIPISSE' alongside, all in light blue, with TEKUTSCH/MOLDOVA/13.5 transit bs and GALATZ/MOLDOVA/14.5 arrival, attractive and very scarce. (Image)

PIATRA: 1865 (16.3) Registered folded letter sheet from Piatra via Roman and Jassy to Bucharest, bearing double-circle PIATRA/MOLDOVA/16.3 cds and small fancy FRANCO/PIATRA alongside, both in black, transit and arrival bs, very fine. (Image)

TIRGUL-OCNA: 1866 Registered folded letter sheet from Tirgulocna, bearing superb strike of the ornate double-circle TIRGUL-OCNA/5.11 ds, very fine and unusual prison hs "Penitenciarul Din T.Okna" (Image)

VASLUI: Registered folded letter sheet from Vaslui via Tecuciu, Budeu to Bucarest, bearing superb strike of the ornate double-circle VASLUI/20.10 ds in black and framed RECOMANDAT in blue alongside, with similar ornate types for the transit and arrival bs, very fine. (Image)

WASLUI: 1864 (7.6) Registered folded entire from Waslui to Jassy, bearing double-circle WASLUI/7.6 ds with italic straight line RECEPISSE alongside, with fancy JASSY/12.6.64 drapery type arrival bs, with almost complete large decorative wax seal, rated "21 or", very fine and scarce. (Image)