£140 - £200
** PLYMOUTH - PRISON SHIP LE BIENFAISANT - LETTER EX FRANCE TO P.O.W. BUT HELD IN PARIS P.O.'s "CABINET NOIR"; 20 Nov. 1806 EL (from the addressee's brother with family news and comments on the long delays to letters) from "Bruville" to; "M. Collas, Officier de L'Hirondelle [taken near St. Malo on 18 Mar. 1799], a bord du Bienfaisant a Plimouth (par Morlaix)" with mainly fine "P.55.P/LONGUYON" along with a very fine red Paris "P.P.P.P." and having the prepaid "6" rate on the flap but clearly never delivered - letters still in transit after Napoleon's suspension of Mail exchange from 21 Nov. 1806 are thought to have remained in the Paris P.O.'s Secret Office ("Cabinet Noir") - there is a piece of the contents removed at the top of the inside page. Possibly posted on the very day that all the Mails to Britain were stopped. [See MFPWE, p.116.]Cross Reference: FRANCE, MILITARY - P.O.W. MAIL, DEVON
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