Auction Detail

red integral rate datestamp and matching pointing hand "Paid" on folded letter to "Rev. Eli Smith, Beirut, Syria", endorsed "Care of Rev. R. Anderson, D.D., Mis'y House Pemb(erton) Sq., Boston", carried outside the mails to Beirut, disinfection slits for cholera on front and back, very fine and rare, Reverend Eli Smith was a lifelong missionary best known for translating the Bible into Arabic

red datestamp on cover to Brockport, New York, franked with horizontal pair of 1847 5c Dark brown (1a), large margins and pen cancel, large red "10" rate handstamp and matching pointing hand "Paid", very fine and attractive, one of just eight pairs of the 1847 5c issue known from Hartford, 1976 Philatelic Foundation certificate

magenta datestamp with matching grids tying 1847 10c Black vertical bisect (2b) to mourning cover to Brooklyn, Connecticut, very fine, the only legitimate 1847 10c bisect from Hartford (a second example listed by Alexander was proven fake) and the  only 1847 10c bisect on a mourning cover, an extraordinary and beautiful cover, ex-Rust, Hawley, Boker, and Gross, 1987 Philatelic Foundation certificate

red first day of issue datestamp on cover with 1851 3c Orange brown, Type I (10, position 1R1E), margins clear to grazing at left, tied by black grid, addressed to Uxbridge, Massachusetts, small corner stain lightly cleaned, very fine and choice, a gem first day cover of the 1851 3c issue, Wilson Hulme recorded 43 July 1 covers for this issue, of the four from Hartford this is the only example with the stamp tied, ex-Simpson, Shaughnessy, Baker, and Wagshal, 1978 Philatelic Foundation certificate

30 covers with a wide variety of different markings in magenta and red, we note manuscript "3" over "5" integral rate datestamp, manuscript "6" way letter rate, red straightline "Free" and "Forwarded", "10" handstamp rerated to "5", and more, generally fine to very fine, an interesting and attractive group of covers sent after the postal reform but before the mandated use of adhesives