367th. Auction

1849, Ceres 1 fr. carmine, fresh color and good margins, used, fine

1853, Napoléon III. 1 c. deep olive-green, block of 4 with sheet margin at right, unmounted mint, very fine

1870, Bordeaux 1 c. oliv on bluish, block of 4 with good margins all around, unused o.g., fine, signed Brun

1870, Bordeaux 40 c. orange, good to large margins, unused o.g., very fine, signed Brun

VICTOR HUGO: Entire letter franked with Lauré 10 c. and 20 c., tied by cds. "TOURS 22 OCT. 70" with adjacent "P.D." to the Isle of Jersey with clear arrival mark, on reverse also good strike of rare red "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE Aerostiers Nadar, Dartois Duruof"; the 10 c. applied around the edge of the cover; a fine and very rare 'pli confié' to a foreign destination

VILLE d'ORLÉANS: Entire letter with extensive 3 pages of text with dispatch "PL. DE LA MADELEINE 23 NOV. 70" (stamp fallen off due to sea water) to the isle of Jersey 'poste restante' with London transit mark of December 2 on front and arrival mark of December 3; very fine

BATAILLE DE PARIS: Entire letter dated '4 novembre 1870', addressed to Samoens, franked with Ceres 20 c., tied by GC "3997" with adjacent clear "TOURS 3 DEC. 70"; showing on reverse transit mark of Annecy and arrival mark of December 28/29, 1870; the 'Bataille de Paris' transported no official mail, only some private letters transported by the passengers and the aerostier; very fine and rare plis confiés

PAR MOULINS: Bordeaux 20 c. in horizontal strip of 5, partly cut into, tied by GC "532" of Bordeaux to entire letter on flimsy paper, fine and scarce, sign. Calves and certificate Behr (2015)

Entire letter franked with 5 copies Lauré 20 c., all affixed around the edges of the cover, tied by indistinct PC, to Paris with transit mark of Dieppe of January 28, addressed to a brigadier at St. Denis; an attractive and scarce letter, certificate Behr (2015)

Entire letter franked with Bordeaux 20 c., type II, report I, horizontal strip of 5, partly touched, tied by GC "1002" with adjacent "CHERBOURG 4 JANV. (71)" with transit mark "CHERBOURG A PARIS" and 2 faint arrival marks of Paris of December 10, 1875 (here the letter was re-directed), also privat notation of dispatch and receiving date (the later one in error 1874); a rare letter from the "Repêchage Vimpelles", certificate Behr

BOULES DE MOULINS: Envelope with letter (not quite complete and therefore undated) franked with Lauré 80 c. and 20 c., tied by GC "1769" with adjacent "LE HAVRE 31 DEC. 70" and part of railroad transit mark on reverse; the envelope with small faults at top (here backed), otherwise very fine; certificate RPS (2006) states "Probably from the 1910 finds"

SIÈGE DE BELFORT: Small soldier's letter with full text on reverse and dated "Belfort le 24 décembre 1870" addressed to St. Genis Laval with frontside clear arrival mark of January 7, 1871. This is one of the very few recorded balloon mail letters of Belfort. On Christmas Day 1870 soldiers got the permission to write letters on a quarter sheet of paper, unsealed so that no military information could be sent out. A first attempt of the balloon flight was made on December 25, but the balloon came down in the suburb of Fourneau, a further attempt 2 days later was also unsuccessful. On December 30 a third attempt was successful. A few existing items all have arrival marks between January 6 and 8. A very interesting and rare item of early airmail, accompanied by interesting additional information on exhibition page and article "LES BALLONS DE BELFORT" of 'LE COLLECTIONEUR' No. 53 of 1982 about the item offered here

PAPILLONS DE METZ: 2 small soldier's letters, the first dated September 19, 1870, addressed to Bignois near Lyon with text "Wounded lightly at the right shoulder in the affair of th 18th of August but I am much better" (vertical paper break), the second one dated October 1, 1870, addressed to Allevard les Bains, the later one very fine

1872/75, Ceres with large numerals: Error of colour 15 c. brown on rose in horizontal pair with normal stamp, unused without gum; the normal stamp with thinning at left, otherwise fine; a rare ensemble, certificates Ceres and Gautre (both 2002) (Yvert 55c)

1876/86, Sage: Type II, 10 c. green, 15 c. grey, 25 c. yellow-brown on yellow, 40 c. brick red, 50 c. carmin on rose, 75 c. deep lilac on orange and 5 fr. violet, all unused o.g., fine, all signed Brun (Mi. ca. 3.300,-)

1922, War orphans 5 fr. + 1 fr. blue and black, block of 4 from the left lower sheet corner, stamps mint never hinged, fine (Mi. 1.040,-)

1928, Ile de France air mail 10 fr. on  90 c. and 10 fr. on 1,50 fr., unused with original gum, very fine, signed A. Diena and Calves with certificates (1975)

1928, Ile de France 10 fr. on 90 c. red, wide spacing, with additional franking 50 c. red, tied by octagonel "New York au Havre 23.8.28" to cover, signed Calves and v.d. Weid with certificate (1986)

1928, Ile de France 10 fr. on 1.50 fr. blue with additional franking, tied by octagonel "New York au Havre 23.8.28" to registered cover with six line special flight cachet in black alongside, stamp with tiny traces of creasing at top, otherwise very fine, signed v.d. Weid with certificate (1986)

1930, Sourire de Reims 1,50 fr., cpl. booklet with sheetlet of 8 stamps, unmounted mint

1930, air mail 1,50 fr. lilac red, progressive die proof (3rd state) in issued colour

1936, Airmail 50 fr. yellow-green, copy from the lower left sheet corner with printing date, unmounted mint (Mi. 1.300,- +)

1936, Airmail 50 fr. deep green with sheet margin at top, unmounted mint, fine, signed Calves and Berck (Mi. 2.000,-)

1944, Provisional gouvernment, unissued 50 fr., 2 imperforated pairs in different colours, unmounted mint

1952, Meeting of the Council of Europe 30 fr., épreuve de luxe in green, fine

1952, Meeting of the Council of Europe 30 fr., twp épreuve de colour in red and depp blue, fine

1956, Europe 15fr., Epreuve d'Artiste in 20 different colours, mostly signed, mostly fine

1957, Europe 20f. as complete imperforated sheet of green color proofs, the last row bi-colored, the others one color, mint never hinged, fine

1958, Europe 20+25fr. as special imperforated souvenir sheet, mint never hinged, very rare with only 20 printed, fine

1958, Europe 35f. as complete imperforated sheet of color proofs, five stamps bi-colored, the others one color, mint never hinged, fine

1960, Europe 0,25-0,50fr., each as die proof (poinçon original) on thick carton paper, mounted on card, fine, certificate Gautre

1962, Coq d'Or 0,25 fr., unmounted mint, very fine (Mi. 800,-)

1963, Europe 0,25-0,50fr. sepia as epreuve de presentation (mise en train sépia), very rare with only 3 issued, fine

1982, Europe Historical events 1,60-2,30 fr., each as complete imperforated sheet of color proofs, 3 different colors of each value, mint never hinged, fine

1993, Europe 2,50-3,40fr., each as imperforated sheet, mint never hinged, fine

1997, Europe 3fr. as imperforated block of four with upper sheet margin, mint never hinged, very rare with only 50 imperforated stamps known, fine