Sale 1159 — 2017 Rarities of the World
Sale Date — Tuesday, 27 June, 2017
Category — The Civil War and Confederate States


FINE AND RARE EXAMPLE OF CENSORSHIP BY THE ADAMS EXPRESS AGENT OF CIVILIAN MAIL BETWEEN SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN CORRESPONDENTS.
This interesting pro-Confederate letter opens with comments on reported unreliability of American Letter Express and difficulty sending letters. The writer also describes watching the Battle of First Manassas. The last portion of the letter has been censored by being crossed out with squiggles and writing in a different pen (some ink bleed-thru to front). The writer's reaction to the censorship is expressed in the letter offered in the following lot.
The opening of mail, for censorship and espionage purposes, was a sore point with the civilian population. This reference to Adams Express opening and censoring mail is a significant contemporary account.
Walske-Trepel Cenus no. N-AD-66. Ex Gallagher. With 2005 C.S.A. certificate