INDEPENDENT MAILS continued...

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. THE ONLY RECORDED COMPLETE SHEET AND LARGEST KNOWN MULTIPLE OF ANY HALE & COMPANY ISSUE. AN IMPORTANT AND SPECTACULAR ARTIFACT OF THE 1844-45 INDEPENDENT MAILS.

There are three distinct states of the stereotype plate used to print Hale's stamps. In the First State, the "13 Court St." address is included in the design (Scott 75L1 in Blue and 75L2 in Red). The address line was removed from each position on the plate after Hale moved its Boston office to 23 State Street, which gives us the Second State of the plate (Scott 75L5 in Blue only). Robson Lowe reported that Hale's move took place in April 1844. The earliest recorded date of use of a stamp from the modified plate is June 5, 1844, which establishes the widest range of dates during which time the plate was modified. The Third State of the plate resulted from damage to positions in the left and right vertical columns, especially Position 1, which shows a severe dent at upper left.

Unused blocks of Hale's stamps are extremely rare. We record three: 1) 75L5, the unique complete sheet, Third State, offered here, 2) 75L5, block of fifteen with original gum, Second State Positions 1-3/6-9/11-14/16-19, offered in this sale (lot 254), and 3) 75L5, unused block of nine, Third State Positions 1-3/6-8/11-13, ex Schwartz. In a letter from James W. Hale, dated Dec. 12, 1887, he stated (in part): "I gave all the unused sheets of stamps to my children for playthings and presumed they were destroyed. But within a few days my youngest son informed me that he believed he had a few 'stowed away somewhere' and would try to hunt them up." (John R. Boker, Jr., Collectors Club Philatelist, Sep. 1962). This sheet might originate from the Hale family.

Ex Lilly. (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. THE ONLY RECORDED BLOCK FROM THE SECOND STATE OF THE PLATE -- AFTER THE "13 COURT ST." ADDRESS WAS REMOVED BUT PRIOR TO THE STEREOTYPE PLATE BECOMING DEFECTIVE -- AND THE SECOND LARGEST MULTIPLE OF ANY HALE STAMP.

As noted in lot 253, the plate was modified by removing the "13 Court St." address sometime between April 1844, when Hale moved (according to Robson Lowe), and June 5, 1844, the earliest recorded use of the 75L5 stamp from the modified plate. After the initial printing from the plate in its Second State (address removed), the edges of the designs at left (Positions 1/6/11/16) and right (Positions 5/10/15/20) were damaged to varying degrees. The defective plate is considered the Third State. The sheet offered in lot 253 shows the bruised-plate impressions and dent in Position 1 very clearly. This block has none of the bruising or Position 1 defect, and, therefore, it must be an early printing from the modified plate -- or Second State -- and as such is extremely rare. (Image)

THE UNIQUE PAIR OF HALE'S STAMP WITH "23 STATE ST." OVERPRINT -- THE FIRST HANDSTAMPED OVERPRINT IN PHILATELY. THIS PAIR AND ONE OTHER SINGLE ARE ALL OF THE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE BLACK OVERPRINT ON RED STAMP.

The change-of-address overprints -- handstamped and handwritten -- were implemented after Hale moved its Boston office from 13 Court Street to 23 State Street in April 1844 (this date according to Robson Lowe). March 14, 1844, is the earliest recorded date of use for any Hale stamp (Blue Type I, 75L1, in the Gutman collection). No later than the first few days of June, after the move to 23 State Street, the stereotype plate was modified by deleting the old address, leaving the second line at center blank. A June 5, 1844, cover is recorded with the Blue Type II stamp (75L5, address omitted) and manuscript "23 State St." overprint applied at Boston (Robson Lowe sale, Oct. 26, 1973, lot 2016). Stamps with and without the address, in Blue and Red, were used concurrently throughout 1844 and 1845, with Red stamp usage peaking between November 1844 and January 1845 (source: Michael Gutman). Based on surviving covers, Hale's Portsmouth N.H. office seems to have received an ample supply of Red stamps (Type I from an early printing), which they altered by drawing a line through the old address or changing the address to "23 State St." After September 1844, there is an increasing number of Blue Type II stamps, evidently from a later printing in a lighter shade on more opaque paper. However, Type I stamps still appear on covers well into 1845.

The attempts by different offices to delete or change the old address were sporadic and short-lived. There are at least seven major overprint varieties, which we list below as Types A to G: Type A) magenta ms. "23 State St." on Blue 75L5 stamp with blank address -- 2 recorded, each on cover, one dated June 5, 1844, earliest recorded use of Type II stamp or any stamp with change of address, Type B) black ms. change of address to "23 State St." on Red 75L2 stamp -- 3 recorded, including 2 on separate covers (one with variety Type C) and one off cover (Golden sale), Type C) black line thru old address on Blue 75L1 stamp -- 10 recorded, including 13 stamps on 11 covers (including Gutman census) and 3 off cover, Type D) black line thru old address on Red 75L2 stamp -- 9 recorded, including 6 covers (one with variety Type B) and 3 off cover, Type E) "City Despatch Office, 23 State St." red handstamp overprint on Blue Type I, Scott 75L4 -- 1 recorded, unused, Type F) "City Despatch Office, 23 State St." black handstamp overprint on Red Type I, Scott 75L3 -- 3 recorded, including the unused pair offered here and a single off cover, and Type G) "Office, 23 State St." red handstamp overprint on Blue Type II, unlisted in Scott -- 1 recorded on Jun. 22, 1844 cover.

Examining the patterns of usage, it seems that Type A was used at Boston, Type B and D at Portsmouth N.H., and Type C principally at New York City. The handstamp Types E and F were discovered in New York City (see below). The stampless cover with the same handstamp (see lot 258) originates in New York City. Handstamp Type G -- a similar device with "City Despatch" deleted -- is found on a cover from Boston, dated Jun. 22, 1844.

The pair of 75L3 offered here (ex Burger Bros. and Lilly) and the one recorded Red on Blue 75L4 stamp (ex Burger Bros., Lilly, Boker and Golden) were discovered in 1893 by Charles Gregory and reported in the January 1894 Metropolitan Philatelist. Gregory's pencil signature appears behind each stamp on the back of the card on which the pair is mounted. Only one other Black on Red overprint is recorded, ex Needham and Boker (R. Lowe sale, Oct. 26, 1973, lot 2015). Gregory's report reads in part: "Last spring [1893] the Rev. Dr. Eaton, Pastor Emeritus, of St. Clement's P.E. Church, one of the oldest of the Trinity Church Parishes, died. My nephew, Mr. William King Gregory...received as a token of remembrance of him from his widow, a small old-fashioned, portable writing desk...my nephew accidentally noticed that there seemed to be a small compartment under it and raising a thin piece of mahogany, he found this was indeed so. In this compartment he found the three Hale & Co. stamps which I now exhibit..." Both the pair and single later became part of the Burger Brothers stock, and they appeared in Sale 164 held by our firm in June 1953. Both became part of the Josiah K. Lilly collection, sold by our firm in September 1967. The pair was acquired by the Halls, and the single Red on Blue later appeared in the Robson Lowe sale of John R. Boker Jr.'s off-cover Carriers and Locals (Oct. 26, 1973) and our Golden sale.

Ex Burger Brothers and Lilly. (Image)

VERY FINE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE "CITY DESPATCH" HANDSTAMP USED AS A POSTAL MARKING -- THIS IS THE SAME HANDSTAMP USED TO OVERPRINT STAMPS WHEN THE BOSTON OFFICE MOVED FROM 13 COURT STREET TO 23 STATE STREET.

This letter was evidently carried free of charge by Hale & Co. from New York City to Boston and delivered by the local City Despatch, which was located at Hale's 23 State Street address. The City Despatch most likely was the local branch of Hale's operation (nothing is known about this firm beyond examples of its handstamp). "Mr. Kimball" refers to W. B. Kimball, Hale's associate in Boston.

Illustrated and discussed in Elliott Perry's Pat Paragraphs (reprint, p. 395). (Image)

VERY FINE. ONE OF SEVEN RECORDED COVERS BEARING HALE'S RED STAMP WITH THE OLD "13 COURT ST." ADDRESS DELETED IN MANUSCRIPT.

Our records (corroborated by Michael Gutman) contain a total of 12 Red stamps with either type of manuscript deletion (see lot 257 for classification) -- 3 of Type B ("23 State St.") and 9 of Type D (line thru address) -- including seven covers. One cover bears both Types B and D (Portsmouth, Jan. 16, 1845), which was the subject of a an article by Dr. Hubert C. Skinner (Chronicle, May 1995). There is one additional cover bearing Type B (Worcester, Mar. 26, 1845) and an off-cover example. Of Type D, counting the Skinner cover bearing both types, there are 6 covers and 3 off-cover stamps. All Type D overprints have the initials "P NH" and were used from Portsmouth N.H. (earliest Dec. 17, 1844, latest Jan. 19, 1845). (Image)

VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED USE OF A HALE STAMP ON A SHIP LETTER ORIGINATING IN EUROPE. ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INDEPENDENT-MAIL USAGES EXTANT.

The letter was directed by the sender to go via "Halifax Steamer of 4th March, via Liverpool, England", but in fact it was sent by another ship. On arrival at Boston, it was marked 6c due for an inbound ship letter. The Boston forwarder, S. C. Thiving, paid the 6c and affixed the Hale stamp for transit to the addressee in New York City. (Image)