1854 (May 11): Great Britain 1841 1 d. red-brown imperforate, Alphabet II, lettered FB, margins at top and at base, used on 1854 cover from Malta to Dublin, Ireland endorsed 'via Marseilles', tied by double arc "MALTA" datestamp in black with reverse showing London (May 24) and Dublin transits in red and 'Kingstown' arrival (May 25) in black. Cover endorsed at lower left 'R.E.' - the sender being Lieutenant Richard Fitzrichard Eyre, grandson of Baron Eyre of Ireland, he was in the 44th Regiment and died of Cholera in the Crimea. An extraordinary and unique usage - no imperforates are recorded used in Malta by Stanley Gibbons - the cover was most probably accepted as a Soldier's or Sailor's Letter at the concessionary 1 penny rate. Reportedly "the earliest G.G. 'Used Abroad' cover where the Office came under the direct control of the GPO in London" - Parmenter, page 1/14. Extremely rare.rnrnProvenance: Collection H.S. Damsell, RL, London, 16 Nov 1955, lot 26, Collection H.A. Cann, Harmers, London, 15 June 1970, lot 1, Collection Louis Frank, RL, Basel, 18 Oct 1972, lot 1042.