Sent from Iowa City to Buffalo, New York: 1864. This one-page letter-sheet features an early image of the Penatacrest showing the Old Capital Building—the first building owned by the University of Iowa—with South Hall in the background. The envelope is embossed in the upper left corner with the university seal.....
Alaska and Washington DC: 2001. Unbound. This NPR-A (National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska) Update newsletter was sent from Alaska to the Department of Energy in Washington, DC. It has a meter postmark dated "11-30-01" and bears a two-line, blue "MAIL SANITIZED" handstamp located between the postmark and mailing address. The newsletter and...
Philadelphia: Dubois (artist) and Wollenweber (printer), 1850. Unbound. This three-page stampless cover city-view lettersheet measures 16” x 10.5”. The lithograph of Philadelphia measures 7.5” x 3”. The three pages of text are in German. Its letter is dated November 2, 1854 and bears two red circular Philadelphia postmarks, one dated...
St. Louis: 1886. Unbound. This letter from the Electric Aurophone Company is dated November 20th, 1886. It was sent from the company headquarters on the St. Louis riverfront to a merchant in Mount Carmel, Illinois. The letter is in nice shape with some light soiling. The electric Aurophone was a....
New York: 1879. Unbound. This thank-you grouping consists of a Female Guardian Society advertising cover, a two-page letter written on the organization’s stationery, and a religious tract. All in very nice shape. In 1834 a group of women established the Female Moral Reform Society of New York with the goal...
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...
Thibodeauxville: 1831. Unbound. This two-page folded letter measures 16” x 9.75” unfolded. The cover has no postmark nor rate mark, so it is likely it was carried outside of official post office channels. The letter’s paper is supple but it has developed splits along several folds, so quite fragile...
Canandaigua, New York: 1849. Unbound. This four-page folded letter measures 15” x 9.5” and has a red Canandaigua postmark dated January 10. It is franked with a nicely centered, very fine black 10-cent Washington stamp (Scott #2) tied with a red grid cancel. Complete but fragile as some folds have...
Washington DC: United States Patent Office, 1909. Wraps. The six page original patent is printed on thin cardstock with three pages of text and three pages of technical illustrations. It was awarded to Adolph Lubke, a resident of San Francisco, California. The leaves bear patent office file labels in the...
Petersburg, VA: [1865]. Unbound. Civil War letter from Union soldier besieging Petersburg, Virginia describing shelling by Confederate artillery. By “George.” Near Petersburg, VA: [1865] In this three-page letter, datelined “in Camp near pettersburgs Va,” to a younger brother, George makes light of the discomfort of camp life and describes how he.....
Boston: C. A. Fernald, 1908. Unbound. This advertising envelope measures 11.5” x 5”. It is printed in red and black and almost entirely covered (front and back) with hieroglyphics, line drawings, obscure phrases printed in a variety of fonts and sizes, names with birth dates, a map of Mount Ararat...
Washington, D.C. 1858. Unbound. In this letter, measuring 5” x 8” and dated “29th Dec’r 1858,” Ringgold provides suggestions to Ames, a major arms manufacturer, regarding the details of eagle devices, signifying the rank of captain, that attach to a naval officer’s epaulettes along with a promise to aggressively market.....
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...
University of Virginia: [1831]. Unbound. This four-page stampless folded letter measures 15.5” x 9.75” unfolded. The letter was sealed with a black wax family crest showing a blazon with three suns in splendor, one and two. The cover is postmarked with an oval “University / of Virga” handstamp dated June...
[Cincinnati]: circa 1855. Unbound. One-page undated letter from Master Charles David of the Steamer Express to the Captain Benedict of the Steamboat Jane Franklin at Cincinnati, Ohio. The letter is in nice shape; the envelope has some wear and soiling. This reads in part: "We send a bill pricing cost...
New York: 1920. Unbound. This one-page letter on the stationery of the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission and New Jersey Interstate Tunnel Commission, measuring 8” x 8.5”, was written to Mr. Leon C. Hills of Washington, DC, on October 17, 1920. The lot also includes a newspaper clipping...
Mostly Ohio and Kentucky: circa 1935. Album. The album measures 12” x 14.5” and contains 35 pages filled with advertisements, broadsides, posters, photographs, and correspondence related to a 1930s swing orchestra. The material is mounted in chronological order. The contents are in nice shape. The album leaves are brittle with...
La Salle, Illinois to London, England: 1857. Unbound. This 3-page stampless letter measures 15” x 9.75” unfolded. The letter is dated July 22, 1857 and bears a circular July 23, La Salle, Illinois postmark. A circular New York City “5/N.York BR. PKT.” postmark (with a high “R” and “T”, see.....
Houston: 1843. Unbound. This four-page folded letter measures 15.5” x 9.5” unfolded. It is datelined “Houston 4th Dec. 1843” with a second date, “Dec. 6th” in a postscript. The letter bears a circular red postmark reading “New-York / Jan 12.” A blue manuscript annotation, which appears to read “18½” (the.....
Alexandria, Egypt: Letter, 1892. Letter. Letter from General F. Walker to the British Consul-General in Egypt (Lord Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer) regarding the construction of buildings for the garrison at Ramleh. At the time F. Walker was the Commanding General of the British Army in Egypt following...
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.....
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...
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.....
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.....
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.....
