Folly Island: 1864. Unbound. This four-page letter was sent by Private Atwell B. Leavenworth of the 57th New York Infantry to his father. It is dated “Folly Island July 13. 64”. The letter is in nice shape with splits beginning at the ends of its mailing folds. Transcript included. In..... More
Georgia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina: 1845–1858. Envelope or Cover. These fourteen letters (mostly stampless folded letters but some in envelopes with 3-cent stamps, Scott Types A10 or A21) were written by or to the Miller-Furman family over 14 years in the mid-19th century. Postmarks include Georgia (Augusta, Milledgeville, and Scottsborough)..... More
Cincinnati: 1810. Unbound. This stampless one-page folded letter measures 15.5” x 12.5” unfolded. It was sent from Sedam’s farm near Bold Face Creek about three miles west of Cincinnati and is dated November 11, 1810. The cover is addressed to McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland. It has a manuscript Cincinnati postmark..... More
New York: :George P. Putnam, 1849. Unbound. Advertising envelope only; no booklet. Despite its appearance to the contrary, this envelope was an elaborate tromp l’oeil ploy by George Putnam to market Frances Sargent Osgood’s booklet lampooning scandals of the New York’s literary scene. The 12½¢ stamp and the..... More
San Francisco to Cette (today Sète), France: 1869. This three-page folded letter, in French, measures 16.5” x 10.5” unfolded. It is dated “Sn Francisco le 7 Yuillet 1869” and franked with a 15-cent black Lincoln stamp (Scott #77) canceled with a ‘fancy’ black circle-of-wedges. Three postmarks are on the front..... More
Greenwood, [Pennsylvania]: 23 June and 18 July 1863. Unbound. Two letters (one with 6-pages and one with 4-pages) measure approximately 4.5” x 6.5”. Their envelopes are postmarked at Brookeville, Maryland; one is franked with a 3-cent Washington stamp (Scott #65), and the stamp is missing from the other. The letters..... More
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia: 1861-1862. Envelope or Cover. Ten letters sent by a private in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, later the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment. They begin with the unit’s creation in June 1861 and continue through May 1862. During this time the unit first mustered at..... More
Mohawk, New York: circa 1857. Unbound. This envelope features a hand-drawn pen illustration of a young man trudging along a road and pushing a wheel-barrow with a large crate addressed to “James Johnson, Clinton Liberal Institute, Clinton, N.Y.” It is franked with a 3-cent, plum or deep claret, Type III..... More
Washington, DC to Lowell, Massachusetts: 1836. Envelope or Cover. This four-page stampless letter measures 15.75” x 10” unfolded. It is dated “Feb 17th 1836” and bears a red circular “City of Washington” postmark dated “Feb 18” with a manuscript “25” rate marking, the cost to mail a letter a distance..... More
Camp Lucas (St. Louis), Missouri to Warren Court House, Pennsylvania: 1847. Unbound. This one-page stampless folded letter measures 15.5” x 10” unfolded. It is dated “Camp Lucas May 30th 1847.” The cover must have been delivered by hand, outside of the postal system, as it is unfranked and bears no..... More
Hsi Chi Men, China: 1925-1926. Unbound. The archive consists of 11 captioned photos, a 14-page letter, a bilingual brochure for a Camp for Chinese Girls and Women, and a 17.5” x 22” anti-imperialist broadsheet. Some soiling, ink bleed, beginning splits, and minor insect predation. As noted in a Kingston, New..... More
1944-1945. Envelope only, no letter. The envelope was addressed to Private First Class Walter Mikucki at the Osaka Yodogawa Bunsho POW Camp in Japan. It has a typed “Prisoner of War Postage Free” free frank in the upper right corner and has received a Chicago “War Savings machine postmark dated..... More
Naples: 1810. Unbound. This two-page stampless folded letter measures approximately 14.5” x 10” unfolded. It was sent by Olphert Tittle in Naples to Olphert Tittle (his father) in Beverly, Massachusetts. The letter is dated “March 11th 1810,” and its salutation begins “Honor’d Mother.” It bears a weak red strike of..... More
Clay Center, Kansas: 1898. Envelope or Cover. The envelope features an illustration of a man hanging by his feet from a parachute attached to an ascending hot air balloon. It is addressed to “Secy of Fair. McPherson, Kansas.” The letterhead contains illustrations of “The Balloon Ascending, Leaving the Balloon, Parachute..... More
Greenpoint (Brooklyn), New York: 1861. This 3-page letter and endorsement measure approximately 8” x 9”. It was apparently delivered by courier between Rowland’s Continental Iron Works and the Providence Tool and Armory Company, which employed both Borden and Andrews, as there are no postal markings. The letter has two horizontal..... More
Various locations: 1817-1854. Unbound. This archive consists of 30 different stampless letters, some with enclosures. All the correspondence pertains to Oliver’s shipping business (ship conditions, repairs, cargo, business opportunities, invoices, pricing, illustrated bills of lading, weather, etc.) which was headquartered in Portsmouth-New Castle, New Hampshire. The letters were..... More
Various locations: mostly 1865. Unbound. Nine letters written to Stephen H. Gregory, a member of D Company, 39th New York Volunteer Infantry. Eight were written during April and May of 1865 while Gregory was recovering from wounds at the Homewood Hospital in Washington D. C. The ninth letter is pre-war..... More
Washington, DC: 1865-1869. Unbound. This lot consists of one approved prize money claim and two letters regarding disallowed prize money claims. All three documents are in nice shape. The approved claim has some minor edgewear. Naval records identify John C. Hamlin as first a mate and then..... More
Suffolk, Virginia: May 31, 1863. Unbound. This four-page letter is written on patriotic stationery that features an illustration of the U. S. Capitol. In it, Lewis—a member of the 13th Indiana Regiment—reports that it has been quiet as “the enemy has retired beyond the black water a distance of 20..... More
Edmeston, [New York]: 1 May and 27 September 1863. Unbound. Two letters: one two-page letter and one four-page letter. Both have mailing and storage folds. Clean and legible. Centerfold of one has a split mended with what appears to be archival repair tape. Both letters were written by Waterman Burlingham..... More
