transatlantic post continued...

1849, NIAGARA: Folded lettersheet with manuscript despatch "Roanoke May 24th" to Tuam, Ireland."Paid 24" in manuscript for a ½oz letter, struck "19" as credit to the UK alongside, with arrival mark, fine

1849, NIAGARA: Small envelope from "LIVERPOOL 23 MR 1849" to New York, U.S. debited "19" in manuscript, upon arrival in New York charged with "24", fine entire of the third westbound voyage

1849, NIAGARA: Folded letter from "MANCHESTER MR 15 1849" to Philadelphia, U.S. credited "5" cents in manuscript, slightly stained, otherwise fine

After the signing of the 1848 Convention between Britain and the United States there was only one semieffective American steamship line on the North Atlantic - the Ocean Line. This soon changed. The Collins Line was the first addition in 1851, but between 1855 and 1857 there were four. By 1862 there were none and despite a brief revival at the end of the Civil War the same situation existed in 1868

1846, MASSACHUSETTS: Folded letter dated "London 17 Jan 1846" to New York, paid "8"d. outgoing ship letter fee with red "PAID SHIP LETTER LONDON 17 JA 17 1846", upon arrival "6" cents ship fee charged, interesting entire from the last out of only four voyages

1847, SARAH SANDS: Maiden Voyage, folded letter dated "Chichster 18th January 1847" and endorsed "By the Sarah Sands" to Milton, Massachusetts, paid "1/-", should have been "8"d, upon arrival charged "NEW-YORK SHIP 7 cents.", fine and scarce entire

1848, HERMANN: Maiden voyage, dated "New York 20 Mars 1848" to Cognac, avoiding a retaliatory rate by being transferred directly to France with arrival mark "LE HAVRE 13 AVRIL 48", charged with "9" decimes, fine

1848, UNITED STATES: Final Voyage, folded letter from "GENEVA 29 AOUT 48", endorsed "par le Havre Steamer United States, paid to French port, upon arrival in New York charged "New-York... 29" retaliatory rate, fine and scarce entire

1848,WASHINGTON: Small envelope from "GIESSEN  11/6" endorsed "for New York via Bremen" with "ST.P.A. BREMEN 14/7" to Cambridge, paid "9" to Bremen, send unpaid to New York thus integral cds. "NEW YORK SHIP AUG 5 29cts." struck, fine and scarce

1848, WASHINGTON: Folded letter dated "Leipzig February 28th" to New York, sent under separate cover to Bremen, posted unpaid by forwarding agent John Heckenham with departure cancel "ST.P.A. BREMEN 14 3", upon arrival "24" cets charged, fine and interesting entire

1850, ARCTIC: Maiden Voyage, unpaid folded lettersheet endorsed "p Arctic" to London with black integral cds. "NEW YORK 21 OCT 20", upon arrival charged with "1/-", fine

1850, ATLANTIC: Maiden Voyage of Collins line, unpaid folded letter with integral cds. "NEW YORK 21 APR 27" to Carlisle, after transit of 13 days, despite damaging paddles in drift ice, arrival in Liverpool clear "AMERICA MY 10 50A" struck, not delivered in Carlisle and re-directed to Stockton with arrival mark "STOCKTON MY 13 1850" and "1" charged, fine

1850, BALTIC: Maiden Voyage, envelope with full content from New York, endorsed "per Steamer Baltic", with black integral cds. "NEW YORK 21 NOV" to Liverpool where charged with "1/-" and "AMERICA LIVERPOOL NO 28" on reverse, very fine

1850, FRANKLIN: Maiden Voyage of the "Franklin" and the Havre Line, unpaid folded lettersheet endorsed "p. Franklin Steamer via Southampton" with clear strike of integral cds. "NEW YORK 42 OCT 5" to London, upon arrival charged with "2/-", fine and scarce

1850, PACIFIC: Maiden Voyage and the 2nd of the Collins Line, unpaid folded letter from New York to London, endorsed "p. Pacific Steamer" with very clear strike of integral cds. "NEW YORK 42 MAY 25" as debit to the UK, upon arrival charged as double-letter "2/-", two file folds one through cds., a fine and rare entire

1850, PACIFIC: Folded letter dated "Nvlee Orleans le 10 aout 1850" with matching red "NEW-ORLEANS AUG 14" and "PAID 5" to Paris, only inland postage paid thus black two-line "U.S. STEAMSHIP POSTAGE NOT PAID" struck, also red boxed "COLINIES &c Art 13" applied, upon arrival charged with "15" decimes, fine and interesting entire

1851, ARCTIC: Folded letter dated "Glasgow 29th July 1851" with matching red "GLASGOW PAID JUL 29 1851 to Philadelphia, prepaid "8"d. outgoing ship letter rate, reverse with "SHIP LETTER LIVERPOOL JY 30", upon arrival black integral cds. "NEW-YORK SHIP AUG 11 7cts" struck, a fine and rare entire conveyed during the only American contract steamship voyage known to have been designed for ship letters only, only three covers recorded from this voyage

1851, FRANKLIN: Folded letter dated "New York 14th Nov 1851" to Cognac with clear steamer cachet "NEW-YORK and HAVRE Steamer Franklin Steam Navigation Company" alongside, upon arrival in Havre red "OUTRE-MER LE HAVRE 28 NOV 51" applied and charged with "6" decimes, some ageing, the "Franklin" was the only Atlantic steamer to have used an "Name-of-Boat" cachet

1852, HERMANN: Ceres 10c. horizontal pair and 1 fr. single tied by grille sans fine to folded letter from "PARIS 8 NOV 52" to Philadelphia, upon arrival in New York integral cds. "NEW YORK 21 NOV 23" struck, adhesives some faults, yet and attractive entire of the scarce 15g. rate 

1852, PACIFIC: Ceres 40c. orange, two vertical pairs tied by grille sans fins to double-weight folded letter with adjacent cds. "PARIS 13 DEC 52" to New York, upon arrival charged with "21" as single rate, adhesives some faults, still attractive, certificate Ceres (2002)

1853, BALTIC: Unpaid folded letter from "GLASGOW JUN 14 1853" endorsed "pr. US Stm Pckt. Baltic" to Montreal, charged with "1/-" in error, error corrected and charges with 1/4d currency, rarely letters to Canada were carried by Collins steamships to Canada,