£220 - £300
** PORCHESTER CASTLE (HANTS.) - VERY EARLY LETTER EX FRANCE TO P.O.W. BUT HELD IN PARIS P.O.'s "CABINET NOIR"; Fine 20 Mar. 1797 EL (with wafer seal; from a contact seeking news of other POWs in Porchester) from "Libourne" addressed to; "Clouzel Prisonnier Francois au Chateau Porchester par Calay a Porsemouth" with fine "P.32.P/LIBOURNE" on the front beside a fine red Paris "P.P.P.P." mark and WITH "15" [?] prepaid rate on reverse, but clearly never delivered and thought to have remained in the Paris P.O.'s Secret Office ("Cabinet Noir"), and having the distinctive diamond-shaped hole at the top of the first page inside. Only two earlier Revolutionary Wars POW covers have been recorded (both from France to POWs in Britain and both apparently also kept back in the Cabinet Noir in Paris). [Not recorded in MFPWE.]Cross Reference: FRANCE, MILITARY - P.O.W. MAIL, HAMPSHIRE
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Free Registration
24% inc VAT*
