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Lot# 417 - Auction 265-273

  • Lot# : 417 Canada

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    1834 (Aug 21): Entire three page letter in German language, written by the missionary Zacharias Glitsch of the Moravian Church in the settlement of Hoffenthal, today Hopedale in Labrador to his brother Johann Caspar Glitsch in Sarepta at the Volga, Russia. Sent from Labrador with a commercial ship to Germany and further through forwarder to Herrnhut, Saxonia where it was despatched at the post office and transported via Berlin and St. Petersburg. The entire was struck on obverse with a framed "HERRNHUTH 20 Dec 34" despatch cds (thus four months after the letter was written), reverse with light "BERLIN 23 DEC." transit datestamp and framed "POLUTSHENO 1834 DEK. 18 VECHER" (received on Dec 18, 1834 in the evening) transit datestamp of St. Petersburg (Dobin 4.01). The entire shows a plethora of debit markings and the addressee had to pay finally '363' (kopek) noted on reverse.rnNote: The sender Zachrias Glitsch came to Labrador in 1822 and served churches in Hopedale, Nain, Okak, and Hebron during his 25-year tenure in Labrador, he died in 1857 in Herrnhut. In this letter he describes, that he is now for 11 months in Hoffenthal and he describes the unpleasant and even dangerous journey with an eskimo boat coming down from Okak (partial transcription included). Hopedale was founded as an Inuit settlement named Agvituk, Inuit for "place of the whales". In 1782, Moravian missionaries from Germany arrived in the area to convert the population. They renamed the settlement Hopedale (Hoffenthal in German) shortly afterward. 
    Starting bid : 1,500.00 CHF
    Hammer price : 3,000.00 CHF