1894 (Mar 5) Envelope to England with French 1884-90 20c brick-red/green and 1876-78 5c green/green type II Sage tied by double circle ds, French paquebot ds adjacent indicating transport by SS “Sindh”, reverse with arrival cds and commercial cachet, some foxing around 5c otherwise fine (Image)

1889-96, Trio of covers, 1889 single rate to Germany with five French 1876-78 5c green type II, 1890 single rate commercial env. to France with French 1884-90 25c black on rose, and single rate to Germany with 1894-96 2 1/2a on 25c, some minor faults (Image)

1889 (May 3) Envelope sent registered triple letter rate to France with French 1876-78 1F light olive tied by double circle ds, with red boxed “R” adjacent, reverse with French paquebot ds indicating carriage by SS “Ava”, opened on three sides with some peripheral faults, a scarce early usage (the French office was opened in January) (Image)

1889 (May 17) French 25c lettercard to Germany, cancelled by Zanzibar double circle ds, some foxing to reverse, fine and early usage of France used in Zanzibar Note: French stamps & stationery was only officially permitted in use from January of that year. (Image)

ARAB REBELLION: 1889 (Sep 3) French 10c postal stationery card sent to the German Consulate at GIBRALTAR, with message discussing the ARAB REBELLION (in German) in East Africa, sent from the ship Doctor on board SMS Möwe, French paquebot ds indicating transport by SS “Amazone”, arrival cds, a rare item with historical content (Image)

1889 (Dec 17) Envelope sent registered eight-times letter rate to France with French 1876-78 1F light olive pair and 1884-90 25c black on rose (faulty) tied by double circle ds, with red boxed “R” adjacent, Paris and Marseille arrival cds, scarce rate (Image)

1890 (Jul 21) Envelope to England with French 25c Sage tied by double circle ds, redirected in England with further 1881 1d lilac applied from Bedford to Rastrick, some soiling, scarce usage (Image)

1890 (Nov 25) Envelope sent triple letter rate to Germany with French 1884-90 24c black/pink strip of three tied by double circle ds, French paquebot ds below indicating transport by SS “Mendoza”, Stettin bs, fine, ex Siebentritt (Image)

1891 (Oct 5) Envelope addressed to Rev. J. Walker, the father of the Archdeacon of Uganda, with forwarding agent ms “Bousted & Ridley / 1/c on acc(ount)-” indicating that it was likely hand-carried by native runner in Uganda for transmission to England, with French 25c Sage (perf. fault) tied by double circle ds, reverse with French paquebot ds and arrival cds, fine and very rare, only recorded cover forwarded through the French Post Office in Zanzibar. Note: Fig. 5.6 in DuBro’s book. From 1883 Boustead & Ridley were forwarding agents in Zanzibar who maintained a missionary mail service from Lake Victoria in Uganda to Zanzibar using native runners. The customary process employed by the forwarding agent was the sender of the mail was required to inscribe the sender’s initials in the lower left of the envelope and thus the charge for this service could be assigned to the particular sender. This cover is an anomaly to the standard procedure wherein this cover was inscribed vertically on the address side of the envelope (Image)

1892 (Mar 26) German East Africa-line Zanzibar agent printed envelope sent registered seven-times letter rate to Germany with eight French 1884-90 25c black on rose tied by double circle ds, with red boxed “R” adjacent, Paris and Hamburg cds, reverse with a beautiful and complete wax seal of the Zanzibar agent, very fine and highly attractive cover, ex Siebentritt (Image)

1892 (May 4) Envelope sent registered to Portugal with enclosed telegram, franked with French 50c Sage tied by double circle ds, black octagonal “R” hs, undelivered with “REFUGO / PORTUGAL” cachet, “RETOUR / A L’ENVOYER / RECLAMATIONS” with ms “Zanzibar”, reverse with Lisbon cds, “Nao reclamado” label and French transits, with address label attached in Zanzibar to return to the sender with further “RETOUR / A L’ENVOYEUR” and Zanzibar cds, minor soiling and opened on three sides, very rare and unusual (Image)

1893 Pair of covers, one single rate to France with French 1884-90 25c black on rose tied by double circle ds, and other triple letter rate to Germany with 1884-90 25c black on rose and 50c rose tied by same cds, both with French paquebot ds and arrival bs, fine (Image)

1893-99, Group of 4 covers/cards, incl. 1/2a on 5c postal stationery envelope sent locally, French 15c postal stationery envelope sent locally, French 10c postal stationery card sent to Germany, and envelope to Germany with French 15c and 5c (2) Sage, ok to fine (Image)

1894 (Mar 8) 25c French lettercard from Zanzibar to India, cancelled by double circle ds with French paquebot ds indicating transport by SS “Sindh” and transferred to SS “Ganges” at Aden, with Sea Post Office cds adjacent, very fine (Image)

1894 (May 8) Envelope to Germany with 1894-96 2 1/2a on 25c tied by double ring cds with French paquebot adjacent indicating transport by SS “Ava”, arrival bs, fine Note: The Arabic calligraphy is characteristic of the Sultan’s court, likely written by a scribe (Image)

1894 (Sep 3) Commercial cover to France with 1894-96 2 1/2a on 25c Sage tied by Zanzibar double circle ds, reverse with French paquebot and arrival cds, portion of backflap missing and tone spots (Image)

1894 (Sep 4) Envelope sent registered to France bearing 1894-96 1/2a on 5c (2), 1a on 10c, 2 1/2a on 25c (2) and 5a on 50c (2) all tied by Zanzibar double circle ds, red boxed “R”, reverse with French Port Said transit and arrival cds, fine and scarce usage of the first issue (Image)

1896 (Sep 10) Envelope sent registered at triple letter rate to France bearing 1894-96 10a on 1F tied by Zanzibar double circle ds, red boxed “R”, French paquebot ds indicating transport by SS “Pei-Ho”, French bs, fine and scarce single franking (Image)

1896 (Nov 10) Envelope sent registered to France with two 1894-96 5a on 50c Sage tied by Zanzibar double ring cds, red octagonal “R” hs and paquebot ds indicating transport by SS “Irrouaddy”, arrival bs, fine (Image)

PRESIDENTIAL LETTER FROM THE SULTAN’S COURT TO FRANCE 1897 (Jul 25) Large envelope at double letter rate to President Felix Faure of France, most likely from the Sultan of Zanzibar (the calligraphy is characteristic of the Sultan’s court) with 1897 5 and 50c, lower marginal, type V, tied by double circle ds, arrival cds adjacent A major showpiece of the French office in Zanzibar Note: Illustrated in DuBro, fig.5.20 (Image)

1897 (Aug 27) Envelope from the French Consulate to France with French Sage 25c (faults) tied by Zanzibar double circle ds, with Consulate cachet adjacent and on reverse, French paquebot ds indicating transport by SS “Irraouddy”, Paris bs, some toning, scarce (Image)

1898 (Sep 26) & 1899 (Jan 11), Postcard and envelope; former a France 10c postal stationery card cancelled on board the La Reunion à Marsellie Ligne U No.2 (SS “Irraouaddy”) whilst in port at Zanzibar with the hexagonal ds, Germany arrival cds; and envelope with 1896-1900 2 1/2a on 25c tied by similar ds applied on board SS “Oxus”, fine pair (Image)

1898 Incoming commercial envelope from France with Sage 25c tied by heavy Bordeaux cds, reverse with Marseille and Zanzibar double circle cds, some cover wrinkling, fine (Image)

1899 (Dec 31) & 1902 (Oct 9), Two postcards, earlier with 1896-1900 1/2a on 5c pair unusually tied by Deutsche Seepost cancels paying the postcard rate, with Altona, Germany, arrival cds; other with 1896-1900 1/2a on 5c and 2a on 20c tied by double circle ds, overpaid at letter rate, with Hermsdorf, Germany, arrival cds (Image)

1899 (Mar 12) Envelope sent single letter rate to Corsica with 1896-1900 1/2a on 5c and 2a on 20c tied by double circle ds, Ajaccio arrival bs, backflap fault otherwise very fine (Image)