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EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL COVER CARRIED ON THE FIRST RETURN TRIP OF THE STEAMER ISABEL. THIS IS THE EARLIEST KNOWN USE OF THE UNITED STATES "HAVANA." STRAIGHTLINE AND THE EARLIEST KNOWN INCOMING CONTRACT STEAMSHIP LETTER.
The Act of March 3, 1847, authorized the U.S. Post Office to subsidize steamers to carry mail between the East and Pacific coast ports of the U.S. via the West Indies and the isthmus of Panama. Moses Moredecai operated a line between the two main southern ports of Charleston and Savannah, and Havana, the capital of Cuba. The steamer Isabel ran regular bi-weekly trips on the route from October 1848 until the start of the Civil War.
Illustrated in Chronicle 199 (p. 224) (Image)
VERY FINE. A UNIQUE "ILLUSTRATED COVER" FROM THE 1839 MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE BRITISH QUEEN.
The British Queen was owned by the British and American Steam Navigation Co. This letter was carried on her maiden voyage, which departed Portsmouth on July 12, 1839. This company chartered the Sirius for two voyages in 1838, in order to beat the Great Western Steamship Company as the first steamship company to make the transatlantic crossing.
The British Queen was substantially larger than other transatlantic steamers used at the time, earning the company a profit. They built a second sister ship, the President, which was double the size of Cunard's Britannia, but both ships were considered underpowered. The President was lost in 1841 and caused the collapse of the company. The British Queen was sold to the Belgian government. (Image)
VERY FINE. THIS IS ONE OF TWO RECORDED HARNDEN'S EXPRESS COVERS TO ZANZIBAR.
Richard P. Waters, of Salem, Massachusetts, was the first United States Consul to the Omani-controlled island of Zanzibar, serving from 1837 to 1845. The development of U.S. and Oman relations is attributable to the personal relationship that developed in Zanzibar between Waters and Said bin Sultan, the sultan of Oman.
This cover to Consul Waters was carried by Harnden's Express to Boston, where it made a Cunard sailing to Liverpool. Harnden was contract mail carrier for the U.S. Post Office Department at this time. (Image)
VERY FINE STRIKE OF THIS BEAUTIFUL AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE ROMANCE-INSPIRED POSTAL MARKING. CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HANDSTAMPED MARKINGS APPLIED TO 19TH CENTURY MAIL.
Perhaps three or four examples of this marking are known. ASCC value $7,000.00 (Image)