Auction Detail

vertical pair with manuscript "2" cancels on large embossed Valentine's envelope to local street address, cover with few trivial tears, very fine and attractive, very few covers with the Honour's "Penny Post" stamp are known with this being the only multiple, this stamp's period of use was about July 1855 to March 1856 which probably dates this cover to February of 1856, a wonderful rarity
Ambassador J. William Middendorf II (Richard C. Frajola, 1990)

margins large to in at top, uncancelled on 1847 folded letter to Lexington, Massachusetts, red "Boston 5Cts 11 Feb" datestamp at right, fine, one of two examples of the Barnard's stamp in red, the other on a cover dated March of 1846, the fact that other Barnard's covers are only recorded from 1845-46 means that this stamp may not have originated (but it is certainly genuine) regardless of what the current certificate says, as such it is being offered as-is, 2023 Philatelic Foundation certificate (Scott $5,000)
Alfred H. Caspary (H.R. Harmer Sale 1071, 1957)

four large margins, tied by red two-line "Paid Bouton" handstamp to December 20, 1848 locally-addressed folded letter, matching "Bouton's City Dispatch Post" oval and straightline "Paid" handstamps, very fine stamp and cover, signed Sloane (Scott $800)

blue oval datestamp with matching framed "Paid" on August 13, 1857 folded letter to local street address, letter written by Abner S. Brady (the proprietor of the post), light wrinkling, very fine and scarce

mostly large margins, grazing at top, tied by red straightline "I. Cook" handstamp to cover "from the Sheriff of Balt. County" to the "Clerk of Somerset County, Md", Cook's label ("Cook's Dispatch delivers Letters, Circulars and Funeral Notices &c within the City for 1 cent, prepaid") tied by "Baltimore Md. Mar 31" datestamp applied by an overzealous postal clerk, matching black "5" rate handstamp of Baltimore, few trivial age spots and wrinkles, otherwise very fine, one of just two genuine covers with a Cook's Dispatch adhesive and the only one with the stamp tied by a company handstamp, also the only cover with a Cook's Dispatch advertising label, in our opinion one of the greatest local covers in existence which has not been offered publicly since our sale of Y. Souren's collection in 1951
What little is known about Cook's Dispatch was recounted by Denwood Kelly in his Collectors Club Philatelist articles on Baltimore local posts in 1971 (Vol. 50, No. 4). The post was operated by an Isaac Cook, although Kelly did not believe this to be the Reverend Isaac P. Cook listed in directories of the time, but rather a son or other relative. The only contemporaneous reference to the post currently known is an advertisement in the 1853 Matchett's Baltimore Director. The post was evidently very short-lived, operating for just a few months in early 1853 before disappearing without a trace.
The history of this particular cover is notable, as it was discovered by George B. Sloane among the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt's collection. In a December 16, 1945 Baltimore Sun article, Sloane states:
Another nice piece which I turned up, mixed in with a mass of cheap material of little importance, in a box file, is one of the finest covers I have ever seen among the United States Locals. This was a splendid copy of the 1-cent green, Cook's Dispatch stamp, tied to the cover with a straight-line red handstamp, "I. Cook" (Isaac Cook), and at the opposite corner of the cover, a small advertising sticker of the post, beautifully tied (by a postal clerk's error) with a "Baltimore, Md." handstamp in black. I think, of all the material I saw in this collection, this was the one thing I'd love to own myself, if I could have exercised my choice.
It is evident that President Roosevelt did not recognize the full significance of this cover, but in his auction the following year it realized an impressive $500. Five years later, when offered again by our firm as part of Y. Souren's collection, this cover sold for $420. To the best of our knowledge it has not been offered at public auction in the intervening 72 years.
Provenance: President Franklin D. Roosevelt (H.R. Harmer Sale 299, 1946)
Y. Souren (H.R. Harmer Sale 685, 1951)