384. Auction

1406, commercial entire letter from Florence to Venezia, sender embossed seal at bottom right, minimal ink blemish and some light toning, still fine and very scarce early mail, signed Vollmeier

1436, folded entire from Venezia, written by a noble and sent to an ecclesiastic relative in Bovolone, fine and scarce early mail, signed Vollmeier

1460, commercial lettersheet from Bologna, addressed to the famous merchant Baldesi in Venezia, minimal paper hole not distracting, still fine and scarce, signed Vollmeier 

1525, folded entire from Bergamo to the general procuror in Brescia, endorsed "Cito", interesting political text related to the battle of Pavia that saw the King François the First taken prisoner to the Pizzighettone fortress; some slight peripheral wear and aging on the flap, of no importance, most unusual

1599, entire letter from Rome to Venezia with autograph from the Prince of Macedonia, fine two-headed eagle paper seal, "4" soldi applied but possibly not levied, scarce  

1713, "SANIT MONIS..." disinfection dry seal applied on lettersheet to Casale Monferrato, one of the earliest sanitation seal, signed Vollmeier

"PNI ESTE" (Vollmeier-Nr. 2), very fair strike in black on undated folded entire. A fine item and the rarest postmark from the Este Post, signed Vollmeier and illustrated in his opus on page 607

1703, "D´Italie" endorsement on folded entire from Carpi, Modena to Nancy, charged "17" sous, fine and scarce mail from the Italian campaign during the Spanish Succession War (1701-1714)

1734, "AR. DITALIE" on folded entire to Paris, tax "12" sous, fine and scarce mail from the Polish Succession War (1733-1735)

1794, "2E DIV. ARMÉE D´ITALIE" very fine strike on folded entire from a soldier of the Second Division stationed at the "Port de la montagne" (Toulon), sent to Grasse, "8" sous for a double weight step letter, tariff of 1st January 1792; very fine, signed Vollmeier

1797, "ARM. D´ITALIE 6ME DON" on entire letter written from Lazi, "a small village located on the mountain of Italian Tirol", and addressed to Melun, charged "13" sous, tariff of 25 December 1796; fascinating text from a son to his parents describing in details the hardships of battle, minimal toning of no importance

1797, "PORT PAYÉ ARM. D´ITALIE 6ME DON" on entire letter from Vicenza to Treviso, manuscript cross to validate the pre-payment and on reverse "4" sous, tariff of 25 December 1796, very scarce (illustrated in Giribone & Vollmeier on page 550)

1798, "ARM. D´ITALIE 12ME DON" superb strike on folded entire from the commander ship´s captain to the "Général en Chef de l´armée d´Italie", endorsed "Service de la Marine très pressé", a delightful and scarce item in very fresh condition

1798, "ARM. D´ITALIE 24ME DON" nicely struck in red on folded entire from Perugia to Amiens, endorsed "B.(ureau) de spoletto", charged "19" sous, signed Pothion

1801, "N°6. PORT-PAYÉ ARM. D´ITALIE" superb strike on entire letter from Ferrara, addressed to a prefect in Bruxelles, reverse "8" décimes, tariff of 22 March 1800, "P.P." applied on transit in Paris; fascinating text by a soldier who took, for a sum of money, a wine merchant´s place during conscription and complained that he did not receive full payment. A fine cover with a very rare postmark combination, signed Pothion

1801, "N°12. PORT PAYÉ ARM. D´ITALIE" almost complete strike on folded entire from Brescia to the Puy, reverse "5" décimes, tariff of 22 March 1800, a very scarce pre-paid mark (illustrated in Giribone & Vollmeier on page 589)

1805, "N°12 ARM. D´ITALIE" neatly struck on folded entire from Villafranca to Grenoble, charged "8" (décimes), tariff of 20 July 1702, interesting text inside "we are about to battle, all military troops have been rapidly gathered on the Adige´s shore...", very fine

1809, "N°14 ARM. D´ITALIE" rather faint strike in red on folded entire from Raab, Hungary to a marshal of the empire "à la Grande Armée", redirected to the army of Spain, initial tax barred and red "N°1 ARM. D´ALLEMAGNE" applied on reverse as a Déboursé mark, the recipient being a high official the letter was considered a service mail. A delightful and rare combination (illustrated in Giribone & Vollmeier on page 596)

1812, "N°3 ARM. D´ITALIE" very fine strike on entire lettersheet to Modena, dated inside "Rastemburg 17. Giugno" and written by an italian soldier one week before the beginning of the Grande Armée march towards Russia; adhesive stamp added and cancelled posthumously on the inside, still fine and scarce

"ARM. D´ITALIE 6ME DON" in red, a somewhat weak strike on lettersheet addressed "au Général en Chef de l´armée d´Italie Bonaparte" in Milan, scarce mail to Napoleon before his coronation in 1804

1859, 10 c. black, used uncancelled on newspaper "GAZETTA DI BOLOGNA"

1860, Trinacria ½ t. blue, fresh color, good to wide margins, used with clear boxed “ANNULLATO”, fine, a very attractive example of this scarce stamp, signed H. Köhler (slightly showing through) and certificates Heinrich Köhler (1950) and Philatelic Experts (2024)

Provenance: 124. Heinrich Köhler-Auction (1949)

1860, Trinacria ½ t. blue, fresh color, with equally wide margins on all sides, used with red cds. “(PARTEN)ZA DA NAPOLI 26 DEC (1)860”, reverse with traces of optical brighteners visible only under UV, otherwise very fine and especially attractive with the vivid red cancellation, signed Sorani with certificate

1860, Croce di Savoia ½ t. blue, fresh color, with extraordinarily wide margins all around, used with black boxed “ANNU(LATO)”, tiny paper inclusion at top, with these margins a very attractive and rare stamp, signed E. Diena, A. Diena and G. Bolaffi and certificate Philatelic Experts (2024)

1859, 6 baj. on green, two copies, one with large margins, the other one slightly cut into at left, otherwise large margins with part of sheet margin at top and part of neighbour stamp at bottom, tied by clear grid, with adjacent c.d.s. "FERRARA 25 FEB. 60" to entire letter to Venice. Some minor ink corrosion in the address, still very fine and attractive. An extremely rare letter; just 4 double frankings (for comparison. 28 single frankings) have been recorded, according to the certificate Colla (1993) this is the finest existing. Signed Alberto  Diena with certificate (1960) 

5 cmi. dull light green, last printing, large margins, tied by c.d.s. "LUGO 20 DEC 63"  to lettersheet to Fusignano, with adjacent "DOPO LA/PARTENZA". A scarce and late usage. Certificates Colla (1988) and Bottacchi (2024).(Sassone 13Eb)

5 cmi. dark yellow-green, horizontal pair, and 40 cmi. scarlet, clear to mostly large margins and nice fresh colour, tied by c.d.s. "YENNE 10 DIC. 57" to small letter sheet with adjacent red "SARD. BELLEY", to Poirs in France. Extremely fine. Signed Bottacchi with certificate (2024) (Sassone 13Ae,16A)

1855/63, 5 cmi. bright green, vertical bisect (used as 2 cmi.) with large margins, tied by light cds. "PERGOLA MARCHE 31 OCT. 63" two small piece. Very fine and most attractive. A great rarity; just two further bisects of this stamp have been recorded, of which one is used on entire. Signed Sorani and Bottacchi, the later with certificate (2024).

10 cmi. dark bistre brown, good to mostly large margins, tied by c.d.s. "TORINO 26 GEN. 62" to double raid printed matter raptor to Scio, Veneto, with arrival mark on front. A fine and rare franking. Signed Bottacchi with certificate (2024) (Sassone 14Da)

20 cmi. grey-blue, first printing, vertical strip of 4 and single stamp, all with good to large margins (upper stamp of strip sharp crease in upper margin), tied by c.d.s. "TORINO 11 NOV.58" to lettersheet to Alexandria, Egypt, with arrival mark of the French PO on reverse. A rare and most attractive item. Certificate Bottacchi (2024)

20 cmi. blue, somewhat touched at top and right, otherwise good to large margins, used on the first day of the Provisional Government of Lombardy, tied by c.d.s. "MILANO 1/7" (1859) to entire letter to Torino. A fine and extremely rare 'first day letter'. Signed Alberto Diena and Bottacchi with certificate (2024)

40 cmi. red, 1860 printing, diagonal bisect, upper left half, tied by clear and upright c.d.s. "SERIATE 5 FEB 61" (Lombardy) to entire letter to Milan, with arrival mark on reverse. A rarity and most attractive. Certificates Enzo Diena (1984) and Colla (2019)

3 l. bronze, large margins all round and in deep colour, used with 40 cmi. (cut in at right) and in combination with Kingdom 80 cmi. orange-yellow, tied by cds. "LIVORNO 16 NOV.63" to small piece. A most valuable and attractive 3-colour franking with the 2 high value. Certificate Bottacchi (1994)

1861, embossed, 1 cmi. grey, printing sheet of 100 stamps, unmounted mint. One stamp small marginal tear, otherwise very fine and fresh. A rare multiple. Signed Bottacchi with certificate (2024)

1861, embossed, 2 cmi. greenish grey, sheet of 50 stamps, unused with original gum, most stamps unmounted mint. Small marginal faults and three stamps with the diagonal crease; folded between stamps three times. A very rare multiple. Certificates Raybaudi (1992) and Bottacchi (2024)

1851, Lion 2 so. brown-red on blue paper, fresh color and good to wide margins, used grid of diamonds, fine, an attractive example of this scarce stamp, signed. E. Diena and A. Diena and certificate Philatelic Experts (2024)