Part II - LOCALS A - G continued...
SPECIAL NOTE: Lot Numbers with an "A" preceding them will be offered in three special sessions. Please refer to the Arrangement of the Sale web page for the schedule.
| Lot | Lot Description | ||
| A | 853 |
 Bury's City Post, New York
N.Y., 1c Blue, Embossed (32L1). Large margins all around, clearly
embossed, slight thins, uncancelled, affixed to the address side of a
folded Valentine poem to "Miss Zelia Giraud, Laight Street",
addressed in ink with "44" street number written in pencil (indicating
carrier/local delivery), red "New-York Feb. 15" circular datestamp (no rate
markings of any kind), rectangular ghost impression on back across flap
where a stamp has been removedEXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF BURY'S CITY POST 32L1, A DISTINCTIVE STAMP MADE BY EMBOSSING THE DESIGN ON COARSE BLUE PAPER -- REMINISCENT OF THE NATAL FIRST ISSUES. Bury's City Post is an enigma among local posts, due to the lack of contemporary documentation and conflicts presented by the surviving material. Only two examples of the embossed Blue stamp (32L1) and two of the handstamped "D.F.B. City Express" stamp (32L2, one on cover, one off cover) are recorded. The other 33L1 cover -- ex Ferrary, Caspary, Lilly and Middendorf -- bears the uncancelled Bury's with a 3c 1857 (Scott 25) tied by a Detroit Mich. circular datestamp dated Aug. 10 (1857). If genuine, this cover would place Bury's post in Detroit in 1857, which seems improbable. The 32L1 cover offered here and the only known 32L2 cover are both addressed to Miss Zelia (also Celia and Azelia) Giraud at 44 Laight Street, New York City. They come from a group of four covers to Miss Giraud at 44 Laight Street that was part of the Boker collection. One of the four ex-Boker covers is a decorative Valentine envelope with the U.S. City Despatch Post stamp (6LB3) tied by Feb. 13 (1843) circular datestamp. The other ex-Boker cover is a Valentine usage with Boyd's 20L3 stamp and red Feb. 14 (1845) oval datestamp. The 32L2 cover has an uncancelled stamp at upper right and no postal markings. Obviously, the Giraud correspondence places Bury's post in New York City in the 1844-46 period. Complicating the matter is the fact that the 32L1 stamp on this Giraud cover is pictured and described off cover as lot 783 in the Harmer, Rooke & Co. May 15-17, 1963, sale catalogue of the Burrus collection. A thin in the stamp is noted, but no mention is made of the Giraud cover in the Burrus description, nor do Giraud covers appear elsewhere in the catalogue. Although the ghost impression on back is of a size and shape similar to the Bury's stamp on front, allowing for the possibility that it was moved from its original position, it is impossible to guarantee that the stamp originated on this cover. Therefore, it is offered as an off-cover stamp. The stamp itself is very distinctive and a great rarity among local posts. Solving the question of when and where Bury's operated offers a challenge to someone willing to search city directories to locate the proprietor, D. F. Bury. Ex Burrus and Boker. (Image) |
E. 7,500-10,000 |