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... More about Mail sanitized during the response to 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and infected...

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.... More about Sales letter from the Electric Aurophone Company promoting Ehrilich’s Patent Electric Aurophone

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 about Union soldier’s detailed Civil War letter describing combat during the Battle of Bloody Bridge...

Georgia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina: 1845–1858. Envelope or Cover. These fourteen letters (mostly stampless folded letters, 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), Pennsylvania... More about An extensive archive of correspondence that documents a Southern belle’s coming of age from...

Cleveland, Ohio: The Eclipse Musical Company, 1909. Envelope or Cover. The letter and invoice address a payment made to the company by a retailer located in Middleton, Ohio. The letterhead reports that the Eclipse Musical Company was the “exclusive distributors of Everything in Talking Machines and Supplies,” and “Jobbers” of..... More about Business letter and invoice for a phonograph wholesaler enclosed in an illustrated advertising...

Edisto Island, [South Carolina]: 1862. Unbound. This four-page letter, datelined “Edisto Island May 10th 1862,” was sent by a trooper in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry stationed in South Carolina to a family member at home in Brighton, Massachusetts. Its envelope is franked with a 3-cent Washington stamp (Scott #65) that... More about A letter from a Union soldier from Massachusetts stationed at one of the main colonies of escaped...

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 about PLEA FROM A HERO OF THE NORTHWEST INDIAN WARS TO RECEIVE HIS ARMY PENSION; Folded-letter from...

New York: Charles Gulden, 1908. Envelope or Cover. This colorful letter from Gulden’s Mustard contains a mimeographed notice (signed in print by Charles Gulden) informing stores the company has obtained a temporary injunction against a rival firm to prevent the sale of Chance & Son’s “Don Caesar” olives, whose name..... More about Illustrated letterhead with accompanying illustrated advertising cover for Gulden’s Mustard,...

Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Rockingham, Virginia: 1889. Unbound. This two-page letter, dated 19 November 1889, is in nice shape with mailing folds. A transcript will be provided. In this letter the Police Chief of Lancaster, Pennsylvania notifies a Rockingham County, Virginia to be on the look-out for two horse thieves:“Wm. Storgend... More about Letter from a Pennsylvania police chief to a Virginia justice of the peace requesting assistance...

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 about ONE OF THE FIRST AND BEST SIMILITUDE ENVELOPES – USED AS AN ADVERTISING DUST JACKET FOR A...

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 about Psychiatric hospital letter from a schizophrenic Alaskan, who murdered his gold-miner father...

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 about Detailed letter from a miner at the most infamous of all California Gold Rush camps, Mokelumne Hill

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 about Two letters from a female Confederate sympathizer in Pennsylvania to her aunt in New York City