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Lot# 7548 - Auction 250-256

  • Lot# : 7548 Austrian Levant

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    Austrian Lloyd Agency 1855: Entire letter from Aleppo to London, endorsed "par Trieste", struck with clear and extremely rare bilingual Arabic "L + A / An canib-i posta Haleb Nemce 1855" (Lloyd Austriaco From the Austrian Post in Aleppo 1855) handstamp (Müller 2024a = 1'400 points / Tranmer fig. 1) in blue with framed "P.P." in blue alongside, partially prepaid with '12 K' up to Triest. However, in Alexandretta or Beirut the cover was passed to the French Levant postal sytem and the Austrian PP on front was deleted. The reverse shows Beyrouth (Dec 15) and Paris to Calais ambulant (Dec 29) transit as well as London arrival (Dec 27) cds's. French due was noted as '19' décimes, with 1 shilling on receipt. Cover with file fold not affecting the postmark, an impressive and appealing entire. Signed Nakri AIEP. Illustrated in 'Die Österreichische Post in der Levante' on page 214.rnProvenance: Collection Herry Schäfer, private sale.rnNote: This is the only bilingual Austrian Levant postmark - a rarity only in use from 1855/56. Ing. Edwin Müller (1960) knew only two items with this cancellation in black, a number not changed until 1976, when Keith Tranmer published his study on this subject (see collection 'Monte Napoleone', Corinphila sale 78, Sept. 1988, lot 895; collection 'Cihangir', Corinphila sale 121, May 2000, lot 1929). Keith Tranmer stated that this handstamp was used only as an arrival mark, however four covers including the present one are known to the describer, all struck in 1855/56 in blue or blackish blue and all being part of the same Dahlah correspondence, sent via Trieste or intended to be sent via Trieste to London, where this postmark clearly functioned as a temporary despatch postmark (Collection Franz See,  Corinphila sale 62, May 1979, lot 2423; Collection 'Cihangir', Corinphila sale 121, May 2000, lot 1994 & Corinphila sale 124, Oct 2000, lot 5756, this entire).
    Starting bid : 2,000 CHF
    Hammer price : 3,600 CHF