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
Juneau, Alaska and Portland, Oregon: 1948. Unbound. Two-page typed letter, unsigned. The letter is datelined, “Morningside, Hospital. / Montaville, Station. / Portland, Oregon. / Sept, 23, 1948,” and is in nice shape. Eino Mack was the son of a Finnish emigrant who worked for the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company. Beginning..... 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
Moquolumne Hill, California to Plymouth, New Hampshire: 1851. Unbound. This three-page stampless folded letter measures 15.5” x 9.75” unfolded. The letter is datelined “Moquolumne Hill Oct the 22nd 1851.” It bears no postmark so undoubtedly ‘favor carried,’ probably by a returning miner. It is complete with a few small holes..... 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
Mankato, Minnesota: 1859. Envelope or Cover. This four-page letter is datelined “Mankato May 24th/59”. It is enclosed in its original mailing envelope with postmarked with a scarce, but blurred, strike of circular “PAID” Mankato handstamp; see ASCC, p. 188. The letter is in nice shape, the envelope is soiled. In..... More
Boston, Massachusetts: January 4, 1855. Envelope or Cover. Four-page letter dated January 4, 1855. Signed “Horace Greeley” at the bottom of the fourth page. The accompanying postally used envelope is addressed to “Thomas L Kane Esq. / Clerk U.S. Dist Court / Philadelphia, / Penna.” And annotated in the lower..... More
Salem, Virginia: May 24, 1861. Envelope or Cover. This letter was mailed using a U.S. 3-cent Nesbitt (Scott #U10) envelope on May 24, 1861, after Virginia had joined the Confederacy. At that time, such usage was appropriate as Confederate Postmaster General John H. Regan had decreed the pre-war Union postal..... 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
Various locations: 1842-1847. Unbound. This archive consists of 36 letters (34 to McLoughlin, one by McLoughlin, and one to McLoughlin's widow) and two documents. All have original postal markings. Some have splits beginning along mailing folds; one is in two parts. Annotated contents list included. In 1839, Lt..... 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
Various location in Mexico: 1916. Envelope or Cover. Although two previous U.S. experimental airmail flights occurred in 1911, it wasn’t until 1916 during the Pancho Villa Punitive Expedition that the first real U. S. airmail service was begun by the Army’s 1st Aero Squadron and its eight JN-3 Curtis-Jenny aircraft..... 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
Austin, Texas: Fifth Military District, 1870. Envelope or Cover. This four-page letter is datelined “Mankato May 24th/59”. It is enclosed in its original mailing envelope and is postmarked with a scarce, but blurred, strike of circular “PAID” Mankato handstamp; see ASCC, p. 188. The letter is in nice shape, the..... More
Richmond, Virginia: 26 July 1861. Envelope or Cover. This 5.5” x 3.25” envelope has two Richmond, Virginia postal markings: a circular city postmark dated “Jul 26 1861” and a circular “Paid 10” handstamp indicating Confederate postage was paid at the time of mailing. There is also a bold strike of..... 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
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
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
