straightline postmark with matching "Ship" and manuscript "14½" rate on folded letter from Paris to Philadelphia, endorsed "Essex", very fine and attractive, the U.S.S. Essex was built in 1799 and played an important role in the Barbary Wars and War or 1812, in 1810 she was dispatched to France and returned in July 1811 while the French ports were under British blockade, ex-Risvold