1805 (Jul. 24) St. Pierre, Martinique to Philadelphia Pa. Datelined folded letter endorsed "p Schooner Roebuck via Philadelphia", carried as endorsed by private ship, entered mails with brownish red "6" in dotted circular rating handstamp for 6¢ ship rate to port, Very Fine and exceptionally rare marking.
Estimate; $150 - 200.

We have not seen another example of this dashed ship rating handstamp, which is usually seen with a solid circle. Est. $150-200 (Image)

Est. $150-200

1842 (Feb. 26) Paris, France to Philadelphia Pa. via London. Folded letter with "Paris, 26 Fevr 42" origin cds and prepaid "5.40" rating on reverse, red manuscript "2/" credit to G.B. London red "Paid" (3.2) transit cds, Liverpool (3.4) transit, endorsed for Acadia but missed sailing and carried by Cunard Line Columbia from Liverpool Mar. 4th but broke shaft enroute and sailed to Halifax, mails transferred at Halifax to Unicorn leaving Mar. 25th for Boston arriving Mar. 28th, entered mails with red "Boston Ms. 'Ship' Mar 28" cds and blue manuscript "77" rating for triple the 25¢ inland rate plus 2¢ ship fee; some light tape stains, Very Fine.
Estimate; $200 - 300.

Cunard "Columbia" arrived at Halifax under canvas, having broken a shaft about 450 miles from Halifax. Her mails were transferred to Cunard auxiliary steamer "Unicorn" who carried them to Boston. Est. $200-300 (Image)

Est. $200-300

1850 (Nov. 28) Lyon, France to Philadelphia Pa. Folded letter docketed "pr. City of Glasgow" at top, forwarder's blue "Geo. H. Draper. Havre" straightline at bottom left, sent unpaid, carried as endorsed on Inman City of Glasgow from Liverpool Dec. 11th to Philadelphia arriving Jan. 3rd, Philadelphia blue "6" double-octagon due handstamp for 6¢ ship letter delivered at the port, Very Fine, Letter took 38 days by the new Inman service, 10 days longer than via Cunard to New York., ex-Hugh Feldman.
Estimate; $1,000 - 1,500.

Liverpool-Philadelphia Scheduled Steamship Service: The Inman Line

Inman offered monthly service with three new steamships, the largest and most modern ever built on the Clyde. Philadelphia lobbied the government for a Liverpool-Philadelphia mail contract, but after years of losing freight and passenger business to the New York lines, Inman moved its western terminus there in 1857 and began carrying mail under temporary U.S. contracts.

The first business venture of Richardson Brothers’ steamship group was to purchase the City of Glasgow from Tod & Macgregor while the ship was on her fourth voyage to New York. The Richardson group was officially titled The Liverpool & Philadelphia Steam Ship Company, but probably because Inman ran the company from the very beginning it was informally called the Inman line.

Disappointment was followed by disaster when the City of Glasgow was lost at sea after departing Liverpool on 1 March on her second westbound voyage of the year. On 21 April the ship Baldaur, 400 miles north of the Azores, saw a steamship similar in description to the City of Glasgow steeply listing, but found only flotsam when the site was approached.14 Inman later declared the ship was presumed sunk, with the loss of 480 lives.

References: Illustrated and discussed in "The Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company: Early Years of the Inman Line, 1850-1857" by John Barwis, Chronicle 230 (May 2011, pp. 181-187), fig. 2. Est. $1,000-1,500 (Image)

Est. $1,000-1,500

1863 (Oct. 23) Le Havre, France to Philadelphia Pa. Blue folded letter bearing France, 1862 80c Rose (28; Yvert 24), tied by lozenge cancel, "Le Havre 23 Oct. '63" origination double-circle datestamp, London Paid (10.24) transit cds, carried by Inman Line Edinburgh from Liverpool Oct. 28th to New York arriving Nov. 15th, "Philadelphia Am. Pkt. Nov 16" exchange cds also ties stamp and matching "21" cents due handstamp, Very Fine and unusual.
Estimate; $750 - 1,000.

Vanderbilt ships were American-flagged vessels. When the Civil War began in April 1861, all of Vanderbilt's ships were chartered to the government for military use, which put a permanent end to their mail service. U.S.-British treaty mails carried by other lines were unaffected. In 1860, the Inman Line expanded their New York - Liverpool schedule from bi-weekly to weekly service. Est. $750-1,000 (Image)

Est. $750-1,000