Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia: 1861-1862. Envelope or Cover. One year of letters home written by soldier in a volunteer unit that defended Washington, DC at the beginning of the war before it reorganized and eventually fought at a number of battles including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. Ten..... More
Dumfries, Virginia to Geneva, New York: 1815. Unbound. This three-page stampless letter measures 12.5” x 7.5”. It is dated “Elm Wood 19th Sept 1815” and bears a manuscript “Dumfr 19 Sept” postmark applied at Dumfries, Virginia along with a “37½” postal rate mark, the cost to send a letter over..... 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. An annotated contents list will be included. In..... More
Camp Lucas (St. Louis), Missouri to Warren Court House, Pennsylvania: 1847. 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 postmarks..... More
Hsi Chi Men, China: 1925-1926. Unbound. Small archive of correspondence, photos, and ephemera kept by an anti-imperialist American YWCA missionary in China as the country lurched through The May Thirtieth Movement towards the Second Chinese Revolution and eventually full civil war. The archive consists of 11 captioned photos, a...... More
Redwood City, California: October 15, 1940. Unbound. This typed letter, dated 17 October 1940 and signed by a prominent Issei member of California's Japanese-American community presents a 2' x 4' silk U.S. flag to an unnamed person, presumably a government official or journalist. Both are in nice shape; the display..... More
Bridgewater to Fall River, Massachusetts: 1861. Unbound. This two-page letter is dated “Bridgewater, Dec. 14. 1861.” It is enclosed in an envelope featuring an illustration of the Bridgewater State Normal School which has been franked with a brown-red 3-cent Washington stamp (Scott #65). The envelope, which features an illustration of..... More
West Point, New York to Springfield, Massachusetts: 1846. Envelope or Cover. This stampless folded letter is datelined “Good Friday Morn. 1846”. It was sent by Margaret Stebbins Scammon to her brother, a banker in Springfield, Massachusetts, and displays a faint red circular West Point postmark and a fancy “5” rate..... More
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC: American Red Cross, 1917-1918. Various. This archive consists of one American Red Cross membership card, two American Red Cross donation receipts, four official letters discussing American Red Cross certification on official American Red Cross letterhead (three with their postally use mailing envelopes), one postcard discussing..... More
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 1839. Envelope or Cover. This one-page stampless folded letter measures 15” x 9.75” and is datelined Philadelphia, May 1st 1839. It is addressed to E. H. Lathrop of the State Commission. It bears a circular Philadelphia postmark dated May 2nd in blue and a manuscript “25” rate mark..... More
Petersburg, Virginia to Brickland Plantation, Lunenburg County, Virginia: 1864. Envelope or Cover. This four-page folded letter measures 15½” x 10” unfolded. It is datelined “Petersburg Oct 17th 1864” and franked with a Confederate 20-cent green Washington Stamp (Scott # 13) tied to the cover by a faint red Petersburg postmark..... More
M.C.A.S. Goleta California to Armed Guard School, Gulfport, Mississippi: 1944. Unbound. This two page letter is written on U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara stationery is dated “Jan. 25 – 44.” It is enclosed in a free-franked, Marine Corps envelope and postmarked at Goleta, California on January 26, 1944..... More
Stalag IIB (Hammerstein, Germany): 17 June 1944. Unbound. This German Kriegsfangenenpost Postkarte (prisoner of war mail postcard) is addressed to Jodice’s girlfriend in Watertown, Massachusetts. It bears an indistinct German town postmark and purple handstamp from Stalag IIB. A U.S. censor’s handstamp that was applied before delivery is in the..... More
Alexandria, Virginia: 1862. Unbound. This two-page letter is datelined “Near Alexander va Nov 13th 1862.” It is complete with an inch of toning along the top edge. Short .5” splits starting at the ends of one mailing fold. A transcript will be included. Aldrich was a member of the..... More
. Stafford, Virginia to Buck Hall (Buckhall), Prince William County, Virginia: 1840. Envelope or Cover. This one-page, stampless folded letter measures approximately 13” x 8” unfolded. It is datelined, “Stafford Sept. 4 : 1840” and addressed to “Mrs. Mary A. Hoole / Buck Hall / Prince William / V.” It..... 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
Bilbao, Spain: 1831. Envelope or Cover. This three-page stampless, folded letter is datelined “Bilbao 5th Augt 1831.” Although it references an enclosed invoice, the invoice is no longer present. The letter was no doubt favor-carried to Le Havre in France as it bears a faint forwarding agent cachet on the..... More
Ship Burgundy to Middletown, Connecticut: August 14, 1837. Envelope or Cover. This two-page folded letter measures 16” x 10” unfolded. It bears a circular red New York “Ship” postmark dated August 16 and is in nice shape. The ship Burgundy regularly brought immigrants from Europe to the United States..... More
November 6, 1775. Envelope or Cover. This two-page stampless folded letter measures 13” x 8” unfolded. It is datelined “Kent County, November 6th 1775”. It is annotated “p Post” and bears a “G Town” postmark as well as two faint manuscript marks: a Philadelphia “1/s” (one shilling) in the upper..... 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
Onboard the SS Admiral Rogers, Chatham Sound, Canada (just south of Ketchikan, Alaska): 1923. Envelope or Cover. This foldout postcard measures 11” x 7” when opened into a four-page menu. It is franked with U.S. two-cent Washington stamp (Scott # 554) which has been cancelled by a duplex Seattle &..... More
Vladivostock, Russia, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Vallejo, California: Mostly 1904-1905. Various. The vernacular photographs in this archive, most of which were taken by Teresa M. Browne, a high school sophomore who would not graduate from Vallejo High until 1907, document the Russian Cruiser Lena’s stay in San Francisco. Its two letters..... More
