Chicago: Shober & Carqueville Litho Co., circa 1890. Envelope or Cover. This illustrated ten-panel postal similitude advertises the touring theatrical production, A Social Session. In nice shape but a little fragile with splits beginning along one fold. About 6” x 15.5” unfolded. Although the production company for this touring..... More

London to New York and Boston: 1813. Unbound. This two-page stampless folded letter measures 15.75” by 10” unfolded. It is datelined “duplicate London 30th January 1813.” The letter was forwarded to New York after originally having been addressed to Boston. It bears a straight-line “SHIP” handstamp and two receiving postmarks..... More

Wyandotte, Kansas: Office of the Contractors of the Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division, 1863. Envelope or Cover. This letter on the stationery of the Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division is datelined, Wyandotte, Kansas, November 7, 1863, and enclosed in a mailing envelope which bears a circular Wyandotte, Kas..... More

New Orleans: 1802. Unbound. This stampless folded letter from James (Santiago Pablo Francisco) Carrick in New Orleans to Messers Charles & Olivier Durand in Bordeaux is datelined “Nouvelle Orleans a 15 Novre 1802”. It bears a handstamp reading “Poste / Maritime / Bordeaux” and a manuscript rate marking. Written in..... More

San Francisco: June 12, 1861. Envelope or Cover. California politics had long been dominated by pro-slavery Democrats until the presidential campaign of 1860 when their party split into two factions, one led by Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas and the other by Vice-President John C. Breckinridge. This schism allowed the..... More

San Francisco, California to Liverpool, England: April 23, 1869. Envelope or Cover. This one-page folded letter is franked with a 12-cent black Washington stamp embossed with an E-grill for postal security (Scott # 90). The stamp is canceled by a fancy radial cork handstamp. It bears a magenta San Francisco..... More

San Francisco, California to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 20 December [1856] to 4 August 4, 1857. Leather. This hand-sewn leather pouch measures 4” x 3.75”. The original stitching remains intact on two edges; it has been removed along the other two edges, no doubt to empty its contents. The pouch is franked..... More

Various locations, primarily Connecticut and New York: 1794-1827. Unbound. This archive contains 46 manuscript and partially-printed receipts, invoices, ship registrations, letters, and similar items. It begins with a 1794 letter from an agent in London to the family patriarch, Samuel Watkinson Sr., concerning the purchase of property in the United..... More

Hope Factory to Franklin, Tennessee: April 24th 1844. Unbound. This two-page stampless folded letter measures 15” x 12” unfolded. It was hand-carried by a slave between two brothers who owned a textile-grist mill complex and is annotated “Per boy Will” in the lower left corner of the address panel. In..... More

Brazzell Hill, Virginia: 1864. Envelope or Cover. This two-page letter measures 7” x 8.5”. It is from William J. Kirkland of the 33rd North Carolina Infantry and datelined “Brazzell Hill, Va. Aug. 19th. 1864.” (Perhaps “Brazzell Hill” was a mistaken understanding of “Fussel’s Mill.”) The letter is enclosed in its..... More

Deposit, New York: 1849. Unbound. This two-page letter measures 15.5” x 10” unfolded. It was sent by Judge Nelson Knox Wheeler from Deposit, New York to an associate, H. Ballard, at Cortlandville. It is franked with a well-margined (one just a little narrow), red-brown 5-cent Franklin postage stamp (Scott #1)..... More