£170 - £240
** BRISTOL (STAPLETON) - LETTER EX FRANCE TO P.O.W. BUT HELD IN PARIS POST OFFICE's "CABINET NOIR"; Fine 15 Nov. 1806 EL (sealed with wafer; mainly about financial matters) from "Bayonne" unusually addressed in full to; "M. Martin Marsan de Bayonne, Prisonnier de guerre, provenant de la prise Les Trois Freres de Bayonne, a Stapleton Prison a Bristol" with fine "P.64.P/BAYONNE" with fair red Paris "P.P.P.P." on the front and "12" prepaid rate on reverse, but clearly never delivered - these 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 distinctive blurred red wax (?censor's) seal at the top of the inside page. [Not recorded in MFPWE.] [Ex Barrie Jay.] Cross Reference: MILITARY - P.O.W. MAIL, FRANCE, BRISTOL, MILITARY - CENSORED MAIL
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