large margins all around, tied by red "New-York Jul 8" circular datestamp to 1844 folded letter to Peekskill, New York, additional red "Free" straightline, manuscript "2" (probably a Boyd's marking) and "10" rate, pencil "Paid", very fine, an extremely rare to-the-mails use of the first Boyd's stamp, only about 18 covers with this stamp are known with this being a fairly recent discovery (2003) in a family correspondence, it has never been offered publicly before and ranks amongst the most important and desirable Boyd's covers in existence (Scott $4,000)
Only about 22 covers with this stamp are recorded. An illustrated census was recently published by John D. Bowman, David Wilcox, Ph.D., and Lawrence LeBel in the April 2022 Penny Post (Vol. 30, No. 2).