Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. Sale

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United States and C.S.A. Postal History continued...

Photography and the Mails

Lot

Sym.

Lot Description

3616

1840, Early Reference to Photography. Folded letter with red "New-York Feb. 20" circular datestamp and ms. "12-1/2" rate, written by Hortense Chew to her sister, contents include a long description of her late teacher, Lorenzo Da Ponte, the son of Mozart's librettist, who had died less than two years after his famous 89-year-old father, including "Mr. Canda took us all to see the Daguerreotypes on Saturday & we heard the operation described, in French, by Mr. Gouraud, and saw him take from one of the windows a view of the American Institute and Post Office. The pictures are rather perfect than beautiful.", Very Fine and rare, one of the earliest surviving letters containing any reference to daguerreotypes, Francois Gouraud, a pupil of Daguerre's arrived in New York in the fall of 1839 to lecture, give demonstrations, offer apparatus for sale and spread the word of his teacher's invention (Image)

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E. 500-750

SOLD for $750.00
Will close during Public Auction

3617

Correspondence of an Itinerant Maine Photographer. 20 letters, mostly stampless, dated 1846-47, from N.D. Stanwood of Strong Me., to his wife Martha Jane, accompanied by 26 letters from her, together comprising 110 pages of written text, virtually all the letters with photography references, some of them quite detailed, documenting the difficulties of a beginner on the road during photography's first decade.

VERY FINE. A RARE GROUP OF LETTERS BELIEVED TO BE THE LARGEST CORRESPONDENCE OF AN AMERICAN DAGUERREIAN TO HAVE SURVIVED, AND CERTAINLY THE EARLIEST.

Stanwood learned his trade from photographers Hough & Anthony and worked in Augusta, Eastport, Calais, Machias and Halifax N.S. before returning to Augusta. Lot includes 4 additional letters from relatives that tie in and two 6th plate daguerreotypes believed to be the work of Stanwood. The letters were the subject of an 11-page article in The Daguerreian Annual in 2006

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E. 1,500-2,000

SOLD for $2,200.00
Will close during Public Auction

3618

Quincy Florida, Dec. 13. Red circular datestamp and matching "10" in octagon handstamp on ca. 1850 folded letter from photographer J. Wister Davis to "Mr. Palmer Perkins Dagguerian Artist" in Baltimore, contents incl. "Had the misfortune to lose my box, containing my apparatus on the road but hope it will come to hand in a few days…There is a man here taking abominably poor pictures & I am afraid will take all that want them before I am ready.", Fine, the earliest known letter from a photographer operating in Florida (Image)

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E. 300-400

SOLD for $225.00
Will close during Public Auction

3619

Early Photography Covers, 1844-1858. Eleven items incl. 6 covers: 1845 Cambridge Ms. from James Walker of Harvard acknowledging gift from engraver Nathaniel Dearborn of "a photographic copy of a specimen of writing", 1852 ad cover with cameo from Scovill Mfg. for daguerreotype plates, No. 7 on printed cover, "To Any Daguerrean Artist", 1856 Lynn Mass. stampless to Canada with illus. of early camera, No. 11A on 1857 cover with J. Morrison's "Daguerreotype Rooms" corner card, Portland Me., No. 26 with oval cameo for Geo. Cook, Charleston, "Photographic Artist," also five letters that refer to or describe photos incl. 1852 from San Francisco "I have sent you my Daguerreotype and paid the postage on it," etc., mixed condition, generally Fine

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E. 400-500

SOLD for $1,100.00
Will close during Public Auction

3620

Balance of Photography and the American Mails. 140 covers (and a few cards), mostly 1873-1945, numerous photographers from across the country in addition to ads for cameras, lenses, stereoscopes, chemical suppliers, wholesalers, photo-related including photo jewelry, college of photography, photo engraving, real-photo reward card, many illustrated, also ALS of pioneer John W. Draper in his memoir-writing days, some interesting rates including 1930s C.O.D. fee of 12c + 3rd class postage (camera cover), many attractively mounted on DeLuxe Godden pages (incl. binder and slipcase) with write-ups, collection ends with a Mar. 1945 cover, enclosures and photos from military photographer in Hawaii, unmounted covers incl. duplicates and collateral not counted, overall a Very Fine and fascinating study with numerous items that are rarely seen

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E. 1,500-2,000

SOLD for $1,200.00
Will close during Public Auction

3621

3c Brownish Carmine, Ty. III (26). Rich color, tied by "Perry Centre N.Y. May 15" circular datestamp on neat cover to Seymour N.Y. with hand-drawn corner card for "Beecher's Photographic & Fine Art Rooms," small cover tear at left does not affect stamp, Very Fine, ex Chase, L.G. Beecher was an itinerant photographer working in New York State, lot also includes a cover from Rushford, N.Y. with single No. 26 and printed illustration of camera, from Beecher to same addressee (Image)
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E. 300-400

SOLD for $300.00
Will close during Public Auction

3622

3c Rose, Ty. I (25). Position 98R7, tied by partial Atlanta Ga. circular datestamp on blue and yellow cover from Tucker & Perkins, photographers and dealers in "Daguerrean, Photographic and Ambrotype Apparatus, Materials and Chemicals", to the Smith & Parmelee Gold Co. in New York, Very Fine, ex Piller and Seacrest (Image)

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E. 200-300

SOLD for $550.00
Will close during Public Auction

3623

3c Rose (65). Tied by grid and "New-York Nov. 3, 1863" double-circle datestamp on all-over illustrated cover for Jeremiah Gurney's Photographic and Fine-Art Gallery, with cherubs surrounding a camera, part-printed enclosure for order of 24 cards, cover slightly reduced at right, Very Fine, Gurney was a pioneer of the daguerreotype process and became one of the premier New York City photographers, a study of Gurney, "Chaining the Sun", records no advertising covers, ex Hopping (Image)

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E. 200-300

SOLD for $180.00
Will close during Public Auction

3624

3c Ultramarine (114). Five advertising covers incl. Teeples of Wooster, O. showing photo albums, Stein Bros. of Ravenna, O., billboard advertisement showing 4 different photo ads plus an ad for E. Morgan Envelope Co. and Milton Bradley, N.Y. optician for Stereopticons and Magic Lanterns, and Philadelphia "Photo Album Rooms," Fine-Very Fine (Image)

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E. 300-400

SOLD for $200.00
Will close during Public Auction

3625

3c Ultramarine (114). Just tied at top by cork cancel, "Easton Pa. Feb. 22" circular datestamp on illustrated cover to Alfred Me. for "E.W. Nagel, Photographer," with lithograph of photographer using early camera and family posing at left, fresh and Very Fine, an attractive and rare design (Image)

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E. 300-400

SOLD for $275.00
Will close during Public Auction

3626

24c Purple (153). Cancelled by grid, clear "San Francisco Cal. Nov. 22" circular datestamp on large envelope to Coxsackie, N.Y., with corner card of Carleton Watkins, "Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery, Portrait and Landscape. Photographs of Every Description" etc., stamp with small faults, cover with tear into postmark and slightly reduced at top, Fine appearance, Watkins is regarded by many historians and collectors as the greatest American photographer of the 19th Century, this cover paid an 8-times rate and most likely contained cabinet photos, ex Fosdyke, with 2000 P.F. Certificate and 1929 notarized statement explaining how the cover came to light (Image)

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E. 300-400

SOLD for $650.00
Will close during Public Auction