£280
MADEIRA COVER TO G.B. REF. AMERICAN WAR CHAOS, ETC. WITH CADIZ FORWARDING AGENT ENDORSEMENT; Very fine 10 Dec. 1776 EL from "Madeira" to the "Jamaica Coffee House, London" but unusually routed via Spain with red "ANDALUCIA/ALTA" on the front and neat "Cadiz 27 Decr. '76, Forwd. by Sir yr. mt. obt. Hl. Servts. Butler & Mathew" Forwarding Agent endorsement on the flap; charged "16" [1s-6d] Spanish Packet rate with a very fine "IA/20" arrival Bishop Mark. The writer notes that "The opportunity by which this goes has appeared unexpectedly; it is a French Tartane [vessel] that arrived here from Cadiz yesterday...". In addition to this unusual postal history the contents give news of the chaos caused to trade by the recently begun American War of Independence and the burning of Basseterre (St. Kitts); "The Captures of the American privateers make trade very dangerous, and more so to us than to any other place... [a Ship's Captain recently arrived from St. Eustatius & Curacao] ...brings also the disagreeable news of Basseterre been burned...". Basseterre in St. Kitts burned to the ground on 4 Sept. 1776. Fascinating letter ref. the mercantile fall-out from this pivotal year in Anglo-American relations.Cross Reference: ST. CHRISTOPHER/ST. KITTS NEVIS, FORWARDING AGENTS, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SPAIN
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