Victorian cover posted at the British Post Office, Beyrout on 20 January 1876, addressed to Mrs Selah Merrill, Andover, Massachusetts, USA. The name is that of the American archaeologist and later US Consul in Jerusalem, who was working in Palestine at the time and had married in Andover the previous year. Franked with a Queen Victoria 2½d rosy mauve, plate 3, cancelled with the G06 numeral obliterator alongside the Beyrout circular datestamp. Struck in red with a London PAID transit mark and a New York receiving backstamp on the reverse. A sought-after piece of British Levant postal history and early transatlantic mail, with an interesting Holy Land exploration connection.