JAPAN – FRANCE: 1869, complete printed matter (silk report), dated 'Yokohama, 4th December, 1869' to Lyon, carried by forwarder to Alexandria and posted at the Austrian post office, to be conveyed by the "DAMPFSCHIFFAHRT – GESELLSCHAFT DES ÖSTERR. LLOYD" (marked with blue sticker on front" to Trieste, then via Italy with the so-called 'Summit temporary railway' (before opening of the Mont Cenis Tunnel) to France with front side transit mark of St. Michel-Lans-le-Bourg. In France charged with "15" decimes total postage due. Several transit- and arrival marks on front and reverse. This is the only recorded letter via Trieste and the 'Summit temporary railway' from Japan to France or vice versa.
Provenance: Jun Ichi Matsumoto (illustrated in his book 'The French Post Office in Yokohama'
