365 / September 2017

Entire letter, written on stationery of the hotel 'Chatham', franked with lauré 20 c. and 30 c. with star cancel and adjacent "PARIS  R. D'ANTIN 15 OCT." neatly addressed to Copenhagen, Denmark with arrival mark of October 20; a fine cover with scarce destination, signed Calves and certificate Sismondo (2001)

Plis Confiés: Entire letter dated 15.10., franked with lauré 20 c., tied by faint GC "3997" with adjacent "TOURS 18 SET.", re-directed to Langannerie with arrival mark of October 22, cover of a stressful journey

Entire letter with lauré 40 c., tied by clear star cancel "35" with adjacent "PARIS MINISTÈRE DES FINANCES 14 OCT." to Alexandria, Egypt with arrival mark of October 23; negligeably stained, very scarce, certificate Boule (1997)

JEAN BART No. 2 Entire printed formular "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" with 3 pages of text, franked with lauré 80 c., tied by clear red "PARIS (SC) 15 OCT. 70" to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with blue arrival mark of December 2; a marvellous letter to South America and a great rarity for any 'Ballon Monté' collection, signed Calves

Post card dated "Paris 12 Octobre" to Montpellier, franked with lauré 10 c., tied in transit by a perfectly applied GC "2443" of Montcornet, fine and very rare post card, signed Calves. When aeronaut Henri Labadie came under fire from Prussian guns he was forced to throw over board anything he could to gain altitude, including several sacks of mail. This card, sending reassuring news to the daughter of the sender, was found and brought into the postal system at Montcornet

VICTOR HUGO Entire preprinted lettersheet "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" with 3 pages of text, franked with lauré 10 c. and 20 c., tied by star cancel "35" with adjacent "PARIS MINISTÈRE DES FINANCES 17 OCT." to the very rare destination Isle of Wight, showing on front and reverse transit mark "YAMOUTH NORFOLK OCT 20", on reverse also transit "PARIS A CALAIS"; 10 c. somewhat affixed over the edge of the entire, otherwise fine; a scarce letter

Pli confié: Entire letter, dated October 11 and franked with Siège 20 c., tied by cds. "TOURS 21 OCT.", addressed to Questembert, showing on reverse centrally applied red "1 Aérotiers Nadar-Dartois & Duruof"; a fine and rare letter

LA FAYETTE Plis confiés: Preprinted lettersheet "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" (interestingly crossed out) with 1 page of text, franked with lauré 30 c. (upper left corner added) tied by GC "3997" with adjacent date stamp "TOURS 25 OCT." to Bruxelles with arrival marks of October 27

GARIBALDI 2nd page of entire letter with lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel "22" with adjacent "PARIS R. TAITBOUT 20 OCT." to Cozes with arrival mark of November 2, fine

Small entire letter franked with siège 20 c., tied by star cancel "35" with adjacent "PARIS MINISTÈRE DES FINANCES 20 OCT.", showing on reverse large Red Cross seal "SOCIÉTÉ DE SECOURS aux BLESSES MILITAIRES PARIS" and faint transit or arrival mark; very scarce, believed to be the finer of two known examples of the Red Cross cachet on balloon mail, signed Calves and Djesmardaos

Entire lettersheet "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" with 3 pages of text, franked with lauré 20 c., tied by dotted "A.R.A.L." with adjacent clear "ARMEE DU RHIN QR. GL. 13E CORPS / 19 OCT." to Beziers with 2 arrival marks of November 3, resp. 4, fine and scarce, signed Jakubek

Entire letter with lauré 20 c., tied by star numeral "18" with adjacent "PARIS R. D'AMSTERDAM 21 OCT." to Setif in Algeria with clear arrival mark of November 7; stamp affected by faint filing crease, otherwise fine, signed Roumet with certificate (2004)

MONTGOLFIER Entire preprinted lettersheet "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" with 3 pages of text, franked with Siege 20 c. with star cancel "35" and adjacent "PARIS MINISTÈRE DES FINANCES 24 OCT." to Angers with part of arrival mark of November 4, a pretty entire, signed Brun with certificate

Plis confiés: Unfranked preprinted entire letter with 2 pages of text, dated 5 October, showing on front clear boxed "P.P." in black and on reverse clear blue seal "GARDE MOBILE 62e. REGIMENT / LE COLONEL" and arrival mark "PLENEUF (7) NOV. 70". A very rare and desirable letter, only few plis confiés recorded from this flight, signed Calves and certificate A. Schneider (1994)

SACS DE HEILEGENBERG: Entire letter with siège 20 c., tied by star cancel "22" with adjacent "PARIS R. TAITOUT 22 OCT." addressed to Calvados and re-addressed to La Rochelle with transit mark "TROUVILLE-S.-MER 23 FEVR." and arrival mark of February 27. This is one of only 3 recorded letters which were captured by the Prussians after the landing of the balloon at Heiligenberg and kept until 1871. Signed Albert Schneider with certificate (2001) and Calves with certificate (2002)

VAUBAN  Entire letter with lauré 20 c. with star cancel and adjacent "PARIS TAITBOUT 25 OCT." to Bologne sur Mer (arrival mark of November 2) and re-directed to Bruxelles, taxed with "3" decimes with adjacent red boxed "AFFRANCHISSEMENT INSUFFISANT", arrival mark of Bruxelles of November 3; an interesting item full of character

Envelope with lauré 20 c., tied by clear Losange "A.R.A.N." with adjacent "ARMEE DU RHIN 25 OCT." to Montaigu with arrival mark of November 2; slightly (small flights) creased and part of back flap missing, fine and scarce

Entire preprinted letter with 3 pages of text, franked with lauré 30 c., tied by clear star cancel "16" with adjacent "PARIS R. DE PALESTRO" to Jemmapes in Belgium with transit and arrival marks, signed Brun

Preprinted lettersheet (text cut out) franked with siège 10 c. and 20 c. with star cancel "20" and adjacent "PARIS R. ST. DOMINIQUE-ST.-GN56 / 24 OCT." to London with "LONDON PAID NO 5 70" applied over the franking and additional arrival mark on reverse, fine

Entire letter with long text on 3 pages, franked with horizontal pair lauré 30 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS PL. DE LA BOURSE 24 OCT." to the rare destination of Stockholm with arrival mark of November 11 and Swedish railway transit mark; a fine and desirable entire, certificate Sismondo

COLONEL CHARRAS Miniature entire folded letter with long text, franked with lauré 20 c. with clear Losange "A.R.A.M." with adjacent "ARMEE DU RHIN 28 OCT." and boxed "P.P.", addressed to Moutiers les Mauxfaits without arrival mark, stamp with clipped perfs at bottom, otherwise very fine and a gorgeous item (see also lot no. 9854)

Wrapper of flimsy paper containing a newspaper cut-out with poem "Les cuirassiers de Reischoffen" and on reverse other interesting news, franked with lauré 20 c., tied by clear and scarce red cds "PARIS SC 27 OCT." to Arcachon with arrival mark of November 2; very fine and interesting 'Printed Matter'

'Gazette des Absents' no. 2 with additional long text, franked with lauré 40 c., used as seal and therefor affixed around the edge of the letter (separated by opening), tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS (60) / 28 OCT." to Argentona in Spain with arrival mark "MATARO BARCELONA 5 NOV."; a scarce destination with a highly interesting documentary of its time - 'Gazette des Absents', certificate Renon

Entire letter on flimsy paper, franked on reverse with Lauré 40 c. and Siège 10 c. and 20 c., each tied by clear star cancel "5" with repeated strike on front with adjacent "PARIS R. DE BONDY 25 OCT." to Martinique and re-directed within the island. A wonderful 3-colour-franking where the missing corner perf of the 40 c. stamp can be completely neglected. An extremely fine and fresh entire with a very rare destination, certificate Brun (2017)

Envelope franked with lauré 80 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS R. DES Vlles Hdrttes 25 OCT." to Yokohama, Japan with transit mark of Marseille (November 2) and Yokohama arrival mark of December 25; the envelope with imperfections improved at right, otherwise fine and attractive. One of the rarest destinations of Ballon Montés, we know of only 2 other letters; signed Calves with certificate (2006)

Plis confiés: Entire flimpsy letter, franked with siège 20 c., fixed around the edge of the cover due to the lack of space, tied by cds. "TOURS 1 NOV" to Louvière with arrival mark; fine and scarce, certificate Boule (2001). A nice proof of how the saving of space was regarded as important

FULTON Gazette des Absents no. 3 with long text, tied by star cancel "16" with adjacent "PARIS R. DE PALESTRO 31 OCT." to Gigean with arrival mark of November 5

Unfranked Agence Havas German edition with clear "PARIS (60) 29 OCT." to Treves, taxed "4" in blue crayon and adjacent pretty oval tax mark "4 Sgr.", on reverse transit mark "PARIS A ARRAS 4 NOV."; a scarce and interesting item

Small entire flimpsy letter dated "Paris le 29 octobre 1870" franked with siège 10 c. and 20 c. with clear large boxed "P.D." and tied by transit mark "PARIS A CALAIS 4 NOV." to London with arrival mark of November 5; most desirable and rare miniature letter to abroad (see also lot No. 9846)

Entire letter dated 1.11., sent unfranked to Carcassone with double line tax mark "30", transit marks of November 5 and arrival mark; in Carcassone franked with lauré 30 c. and re-addressed to Contanstinople with clear arrival mark of November 12; a rare and interesting cover with scarce destination, and an interesting combination of cash and stamp franking. Signed Roumet and Calves, certificates Robineau (1991) and Sismondo (2001)

Plis confiés: Entire letter, dated October 30, franked with lauré 20 c., tied by Losange "P LA R", addressed to Pau with arrival mark of November 4, fine and scarce, signed Roumet

FERDINAND FLOCON Entire letter, dated November 3, franked with lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS (60) 3 NOV." to Aubusson with arrival mark of November 8; a fine letter from the famous Roseleur-correspondance

Gazette des Absents no. 4 with one page of text, franked with siège 20 c. with clear red "PARIS (SC) 3 NOV.", addressed to the Admiral "Rognault de Premesnil, commandant de Coëtlogon, division navale des mers de Chine et du Japon, voie francaise - par Marseille" with transit marks of Nantes of November 5 and Marseille of November 8; a very fine letter of great rarity, a masterpiece of any 'Ballon Monté' collection!

Gazette des Absents no. 3 with one page of text, franked with lauré 10 c. and 20 c., tied by weak star cancel with faint adjacnet "PARIS 2 NOV." sent to Bruxelles and here re-addressed to Hamburg, the stamps additionally tied by Belgian Losange "60" with adjacent cds. "BRUXELLES 8 NOV." with machine arrival mark of November 9; a fine and interesting letter to abroad

Pli confié: Envelope endorsed "Par ballon monté" franked with lauré 20 c., tied by clear GC "2602" with adjacent cds. "NANTES 5 NOV. 70", addressed to Castelnaudary with transit and arrival marks; a fine and scarce envelope, signed Calves and certificate Sismondo (2001):  

VILLE DE CHÂTEAUDUN Gazette des Absents no. 5 with short text, franked with lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS PL. DE LA BOURSE 5 NOV." to Etretat with arrival mark of November 9, very fine