366. Auktion März 2018

1849,  Ceres 10 c. yellow-brown, good to large margins all around, tied by grid cancellation to local folded letter from "LAON 19.NOV.54", very fine, signed Pacal Scheller

1870, Ceres 10 c. yellow brown with "17" on provisional postcard from "PARIS-R.de PONT-NEUF 21.OCT" with text, transported by ballon 'Garibaldi' to Brezolles with arrival mark, small corner crease, otherwise fine

WAR 1870/71: BALLON MONTEE: NEPTUNE: Small envelope with original contents, dated "Paris 22. Sept.", written by Colonel Maximilien Foy, 2nd in charge of the General Staff to his sister in law Rachel Trubert at Château la Vallière with arrival mark of September 26 and private arrival notation of the same day, taxed on front with "3" decimes; the envelope with small tears and seal on reverse removed, otherwise very fine. One of the rarest "Pli confié" of all 'ballon monté'; certificate Roumet (2015)

GARIBALDI: Small entire letter, franked with 2 copies Napoléon perforated 5 c. green and Lauré 10 c., tied by star numeral "11" with adjacent "PARIS R. ST. HONORÉ 20 OCT. 70" to Chartres in the occupied territory, few short perfs, otherwise very fine; a rare and very attractive franking, certificate Roumet (2015)

VILLE DE PARIS: Entire letter franked with Siège 20 c., tied by star cancel "15" with adjacent "PARIS R. BONAPARTE 12 DEC. 70" to Indre. The 'Ville de Paris' landed in Nassau, Germany and all mail was captured; fine and scarce

Envelope with Siège 10 c. and 20 c., each tied by red "PARIS (SC) 14 DEC. 70" to Bruxelles, Belgium; the 10 c. applied with part at top left missing, otherwise fine; a scarce letter, sign. Brun

DUQUESNE: Entire letter franked with 2 copies Napoléon perforated 5 c. green (one with bottom right corner missing) and Lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel "15" with adjacent "PARIS R. BONAPARTE 5 JANV. 71" to Tournai in Belgium with transit and arrival marks of January 12; a scarce franking in fresh condition, certificate Behr (2013)

GÉNÉRAL BOURBAKI: Envelope franked with Siège 20 c. blue, tied by red cds. "PARIS (60) 19 JANV. 71" to Rennes with transit and arrival marks of January 23, fine and scarce

VICTOR HUGO: Entire letter franked with Lauré 10 c. and 20 c., tied by cds. "TOURS 22 OCT. 70" with adjacent "P.D." to the Isle of Jersey with clear arrival mark, on reverse also good strike of rare red "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE Aerostiers Nadar, Dartois Duruof"; the 10 c. applied around the edge of the cover; a fine and very rare 'pli confié' to a foreign destination

MONTGOLFIER: Entire letter franked with Siège 20 c., tied by clear star cancel "4" with adjacent "PARIS RUE D'ERGHIEN 24 OCT. 70" to Bordeaux with arrival mark of November 4. In the area of the small village of Nixéville the balloon came under heavy gun fire and the balloonist jettisoned 2 bags of mail of which parts came into the postal system, socalled "Pli de Nixéville". A fine and scarce piece

GÉNÉRAL UHRICH: Entire letter franked with Lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS (60) 14 NOV. 70" to Coutances with arrival mark of November 24; 3 pages of text incl. the just introduced allowed 4 questions, fine

GÉNÉRAL CAMBRONNE: Letterfront with upper backflap franked with Siège 20 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS R. ST. HONORÉ 27 JANV." to Grenoble with transit mark of Lyon and arrival mark of February 4; the stamp was affixed somewhat around the edge of the cover; a nice item from the last flight, sign. Calves

Entire letter with 3 pages of text, tied by GC "892" with adjacent "PARIS LA CHAPELLE-ST.-DENISE 27 JANV. 71" to Lille with arrival mark of February 4; fine and scarce, sign. Robineau

VILLE DE FLORENCE: Entire letter franked with Lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS R. ST.-LAZARE 24 SEPT. 70" to Niort with arrival mark of September 29, sign. Calves

ETATS-UNIS: Entire letter franked with Lauré 10 c. and 20 c. (both defective), tied  by star cancel with adjacent "PARIS PL. DE LA BOURSE 26 SEPT. 70" to London with arrival marks on front and reverse; supposed to be the earliest recorded 'ballon monté' item to abroad, sign. Roumet

ARMAND BARBÉS: Entire letter with interesting contents, franked with Lauré 20 c., tied by light strike of GC "3997" with adjacent date stamp "TOURS 10 OCT. 70" to Le Havre and redirected to Angoulême with arrival mark of October 12; a fine and scarce 'Pli confié'

GEORGE SAND: Entire letter franked with Lauré 20 c., tied by clear "LILLE A PARIS 8 OCT. 70" to Palud with arrival mark of October 11; very fine and scarce

COLONEL CHARRAS: Entire letter with Lauré 20 c., tied by star cancel "37" with adjacent "PARIS Bt. MALESHERBES" to Chateaubriand with arrival mark of November 2 and matching reply, dated November 4, 1870 from Chateaubriand to Paris, franked with Lauré 20 c., cancelled by Paris star cancel and showing on reverse faint cds. "PARIS (60) / 8 / 1... JULI 71"; an interesting and scarce 'pair'

L'UNION: Envelope franked with Lauré 20 c. (slightly rounded corner) tied by star cancel "3" with adjacent "PARIS PL. DE LA MADELEINE 21 SEPT. 70" to Poitiers with arrival mark of October 20. The 'L'union' was an old exhibition balloon owned by Gabriel Mangin, loaded on September 21, 1870 with 275 kg of mail with pilot Albert Bertaux at Vaugirard Gas Works, where it burst on inflation. The mail was recovered and put on the following official flights; a rare and interesting entire, certificate RPS (2006)

PAR MOULINS: Bordeaux 20 c. in horizontal strip of 5, partly cut into, tied by GC "532" of Bordeaux to entire letter on flimsy paper, fine and scarce, sign. Calves and certificate Behr (2015)

Envelope with original letter dated "Hanwell (Great Britain) 31 December 1870", the envelope franked with 5 copies Lauré 20 c. tied by GC "2565" with adjacent "MOULINS-S-ALLIER 6 JANV. 71", usual small faults, very fine, certificate Roumet (2015)

Entire letter franked with 5 copies Lauré 20 c., all affixed around the edges of the cover, tied by indistinct PC, to Paris with transit mark of Dieppe of January 28, addressed to a brigadier at St. Denis; an attractive and scarce letter, certificate Behr (2015)

Entire letter franked with Bordeaux 20 c., type II, report I, horizontal strip of 5, partly touched, tied by GC "1002" with adjacent "CHERBOURG 4 JANV. (71)" with transit mark "CHERBOURG A PARIS" and 2 faint arrival marks of Paris of December 10, 1875 (here the letter was re-directed), also privat notation of dispatch and receiving date (the later one in error 1874); a rare letter from the "Repêchage Vimpelles", certificate Behr

BOULES DE MOULINS: Envelope with letter (not quite complete and therefore undated) franked with Lauré 80 c. and 20 c., tied by GC "1769" with adjacent "LE HAVRE 31 DEC. 70" and part of railroad transit mark on reverse; the envelope with small faults at top (here backed), otherwise very fine; certificate RPS (2006) states "Probably from the 1910 finds"

Small collection of 8 entires, two with complete franking, the other ones with stamps fallen off (one partly)

UNDERCOVER MAIL: Entire letter dated "Annonay le 14 Septembre 1870" with envelope addressed to a prisoner of war and outer envelope with cds. "NEUFCHÂTEAU 12 OCT. 70" to the same person c/o Gare du Nord at Bruxelles with arrival marks; a scarce ensemble

MILITARY MAIL: 1870, 10.8., telegram formular, franked with perforated issue 1 fr. orange, from Paris headquarters to the commander of "8e batterie 10e artillerie - camp Chalons" inquiring on the whereabouts of units; an interesting and rare document

2 covers from Dübendorf March 3 resp. March 11, 1871 to France, the first one still without postage free label, instead with straight line "Franco"; in the small camp of Dübendorf the labels were not available in early March

"K:PR.FELD-POST-AMT 10. ARMEE CPS. 27/2" on sealed letter containing 100 Thaler to Nordheim; a rare money letter

10.9.1870, Fieldpostcard endorsed "Belagerungs-Corps vor Straßburg" to Prussia; a scarce and interesting document of the siege of Straßburg

'LAISSEZ-PASSER." dated "Paris le 17 février 1871" for a French worker and his family; at bottom checkpoint handstamp "ETAPPEN-KOMMANDO ZU VITRY S/S"

"LAISSEZ-PASSER" for an English lady retourning to London, dated "Paris le 3 février 1871", little unfresh

"VERSAILLES AUSWECHSLUNGS STELLE", blue boxed marking on reverse of opened-out envelope, franked with Siège 20 c. from "PARIS SENAT 18 FEVR. 71" to Switzerland, charged in red crayon

"VERSAILLES AUSWECHSLUNGS STELLE", blue marking on reverse of envelope with Siège 20 c. from "PARIS MONTAIGNE 12 FEVR. 71" to London, charged with "4 d."; a scarce cover to abroad

"TAXE ALLEMANDE", straight line of entire letter from "PARIS 21 FEVR. 71" to Abbeville with tax mark "20", stamp with faults

RED CROSS: "SOCIÉTÉ DE SECOURS AUX BLESSÉS MILITAIRES DES ARMÉES DE TERRE ET DE MER / COMITÉ AUXILIAIRE DE STRASBOURG", red seal on red cross card to Dijon, fine and scarce