Auction Detail
Fall Postal History 2022
Our Fall 2022 Postal History sale includes the John D. Bowman Collection of Boyd's City Express Post, the William B. Robinson Collection of Wisconsin Postal History, material from the collections of Steven M. Roth and Graham Booth, FRPSL, and much more.
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two-line handstamp on incoming folded letter from England to Philadelphia, endorsed "p the Hayfield Capt Macky" at lower left, manuscript "3.16" [dwt] due (3dwt postage plus 16dwt ship fee), converted to local currency in Philadelphia with manuscript "1/9" (1sh 7d postage plus standard 2d carrier fee), very fine
partial backstamp on folded letter to Philadelphia datelined "Balt 2d July 1774", manuscript "2.16" [dwt] rate (converted to 1sh 4d in Philadelphia), very fine
This letter is dated the same day that William Giles Goddard announced his "Constitutional American Post" in the Maryland Journal. There is no way to tell if this folded letter was carried from Baltimore to Philadelphia by Joseph Bryan, a rider employed by Goddard to carry mail over this route, or if it was (more likely) carried by the dying Parliamentary Post.
folded letter internally datelined "Savanay Jouly the 23 1780", written by an English seaman on leave in Savanah, sent by private ship to Portsmouth, England where it received a two-line "Portsmouth Ship-Lre" handstamp, from there carried overland to London and its destination in Dunbar, Scotland, address panel faded and some light wear, still fine, British forces occupied Savannah from December 29, 1778 to June 11, 1782, during which time Americans blockaded the harbor with privateers and navy ships
April 1781 folded lettersheet to "The Hon'ble Brigadier General [Jethro] Sumner in Halifax [North Carolina]", endorsed "On Public Service" and "p. Express", very fine, Sumner, at this time, was the commander of troops in North Carolina, having recently been attached to General Nathanael Greene, and before that attached to General Horatio Gates
folded letter addressed to Richard Young in Fredericksburg, a civilian contractor supplying the American army with food and supplies, marked "Public Service" and "pr. Express, A Snead", upon arrival endorsed "Rec'd from Maj Claiborne 13 april 81", vertical file folds, otherwise very fine, Richard Claiborne was attached to Lafayette's army in Virginia in the lead to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown
dateline on folded letter to North Haven, Connecticut, endorsed "Care of Mr. Daggett", carried outside of the mails, very fine, such private carriage of a letter was only legal so long as the carrier did not receive remuneration
folded letter datelined "Bordeaux 26 Jan 1782", carried aboard an American vessel which ran the British blockade and entered the mails at Cape Fear, North Carolina, marked "forw'd 10" [d] due for ship fee and postage to Boston via Suffolk, very fine, during this period the British imposed a blockade along the East Coast as both they and the Americans awaited news of the peace negotiations taking place in Paris as a result of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781
free frank from Ebenezer Hazard on folded letter to Norwich, Connecticut, some light wear and toning, very fine signature, sent while Hazard was Postmaster General of the Confederation Congress
Ebenezer Hazard was appointed the Postmaster for New York City in 1775. He left that post to become the Surveyor of the Posts in 1776. In 1782, the Confederation Congress appointed him Postmaster General. George Washington, who had several disputes with Hazard concerning the use of stages to carry the mail and the carriage of newspapers in the mail, refused to appoint Hazard as the first postmaster general under the Constitution when Washington became president in 1789.
free frank from Ebenezer Hazard on folded lettersheet to Philadelphia, small pieces out including top right corner and above address, very fine signature, addressed to Matthew Carey, a printer working in Philadelphia, written while Hazard was serving as Postmaster General under the Confederation Congress
three incoming folded letters to "Dudley Woodbridge, Esq., Merchant", Norwich's first postmaster from 1782 to 1789, postmasters had the authority to send and receive free mail so long as the letters involved postal business, these concern the sale of wine and an overdue debt with no mention of postal business in any of the three letters, first with "Boston" straightline and "21/MA" Franklin mark and improperly handstamped "Free"; second originally rated "1.8" [dwt] in Boston but improperly crossed out in either Boston or Norwich and allowed to pass free; third correctly rated "2" [dwt] by Providence post office due to the personal nature of the letter, light wear, very fine and interesting group demonstrating confusion over what mail qualified for franking privilege
dateline on folded letter addressed to "Mecklenburg County, Virginia, near Delony's Tavern", carried privately out-of-the-mails, some splitting along the folds, very fine
folded lettersheet addressed to "Major Hamtramck, Commaning Officer, Fort Vincennes", endorsed "Express" and carried outside of the mails, aged at right and trivial ink erosion, very fine early use, Jean François Hamtramck was the commanding officer at Fort Vincennes from 1787 to 1792, military express mail was fairly common during the Revolutionary War and again during the War of 1812 but is rare during peacetime