UK 1854 STAMPLESS FOLDED LETTER JERSEY TO BORDEAUX FRANCE W/ CONTENTS
1854 (December 12), Stampless folded letter from Jersey, Channel Islands, to Bordeaux, France, struck on the front with a fine black 'JERSEY / 12 DEC 1854' double split-ring c.d.s. and a red double-circle 'ALS-C / GRANVILLE' (15 Dec) French exchange office transit marking, with reverse transit/receiver backstamps including Nantes à Paris (16 Dec), Paris à Bordeaux (17 Dec), and Bordeaux (17 Dec), and accompanied by the original commercial letter dated December 12, 1854. Please review scans for more information.
Addressed to Messrs. Barckhausen & Cie in Bordeaux[cite: 159], this mercantile letter was written by Henry Frères in Jersey on December 12, 1854, discussing customs regulations and spirit import restrictions: "...nous apprenons à notre douane qu'on ne peut pas introduire les spiritueux dans un vaisseau de moindre grandeur que 50 tonneaux..." (customs advise that spirits cannot be imported in vessels of smaller tonnage than 50 tons). The cover features the elusive ALS-C (Angleterre-Ligne de Calais / Channel Islands exchange) marking applied at Granville, representing a scarce postal convention link between the Channel Islands and France].
Technical & Social Commentary
- Technical Analysis: Stampless commercial folded letter bearing black Jersey dispatch c.d.s., red ALS-C Granville French exchange office transit mark, and complete transit/arrival backstamps.
- Geopolitical Context: Documents mid-19th-century postal conventions and customs accounting between the British Channel Islands and the French Second Empire.
- Logistical Narrative: Carried across the channel from Jersey, processed through the Granville exchange office for entry into the French postal network, and routed via rail through Nantes and Paris to Bordeaux.
- Social/Mercantile Insights: Preserves commercial correspondence detailing maritime spirit import regulations, tonnage laws, and wine/spirits trade relations between Jersey and Bordeaux.
Please examine lot scan carefully and please send any questions at least 48 hours before the auction closes. Please note that cover condition usually includes normal wear and tear to cover edges, opening tears and some creases and wrinkles. Only exceptional or extreme condition issues will be mentioned.
Legend:
PS - Postal Stationery
FL - Folded Letter
SFL - Stampless Folded Letter
RPO - Railway Post Office
CDS - Circular Date Stamp
DPO - Dead Post Office
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