Sparks 56th Auctions Spring 2026 - Stamps & Postal History of the World

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United States

United States Pre-philately

United States

Lot 107

375.00 CAD

Live

Red River Settlement, 1854 (February 12), Ross Correspondence to Toronto, endorsed "care of Dr. Burns/ Toronto / Canada West," entering the

Red River Settlement, 1854 (February 12), Ross Correspondence to Toronto, endorsed "care of Dr. Burns/ Toronto / Canada West," entering the mails with "Pembina M. Ty. / Feb 12/54" manuscript marking, struck black oval "United States / 6d" exchange office handstamp at upper right, reverse with faint Windsor (13 Mar) transit and next-day Toronto receiver, with corresponding docketing on front "Recd Mar 15th", remarkably fresh, very fine.

Lot 108

250.00 CAD

Live

Red River Settlement, 1854 (April 19), Ross Correspondence to Toronto, entering the mails with "Pembina M. Ty. / April 19/54" manuscript

Red River Settlement, 1854 (April 19), Ross Correspondence to Toronto, entering the mails with "Pembina M. Ty. / April 19/54" manuscript marking, struck with black oval "United States / 6d" exchange office handstamp, partial Upper Canada transit mark at upper right, likely Windsor, reverse with faint Toronto receiver (May 15), with corresponding docketing on front "Recd May 15th", scarce and very fine.

United States Pre-philately

Lot 800

60.00 CAD

Live

1811 (February 28), New York to Madeira via forwarding agent, stampless folded letter, with commercial contents datelined New York,

1811 (February 28), New York to Madeira via forwarding agent, stampless folded letter, with commercial contents datelined New York, endorsed on front "via Philadelphia / Brig Fanny", and on reverse by forwarding agents David & Lawrence Lewis of Philadelphia, without postal markings, vertical filing fold, else very fine.

Lot 801

80.00 CAD

Live

1812 (July 20), ship letter from Charleston, South Carolina, to New York, stampless folded letter carried by the ship Telegraph, bold red

1812 (July 20), ship letter from Charleston, South Carolina, to New York, stampless folded letter carried by the ship Telegraph, bold red "6" in circle (11mm) handstamp for the 6-cent ship rate for arrival at port of destination, manuscript routing "pr Telegraph" at lower left, very fine with slight separation reinforced by archival tape which does not detract, very fine. Written by C. Barton to Henry Whittemore one month after the United States declared war on Great Britain, the letter contrasts the refinements of Charleston society, where Barton recounts attending a "crowded house" at the theatre to see The Honey Moon and The Falls of Clyde, the audience "full of ladies of the first class", with a report of a search party pursuing highway robbers committing "great depredations" only five miles from the city, the posse setting fire to a house to force a surrender and local "teamsters had to carry a loaded gun to keep them off."

Lot 802

80.00 CAD

Live

1817 (October 18), St. Louis to Kaskaskia, pre-statehood Missouri Territorial folded letter, from Rufus Easton, the first Postmaster of St.

1817 (October 18), St. Louis to Kaskaskia, pre-statehood Missouri Territorial folded letter, from Rufus Easton, the first Postmaster of St. Louis and Territorial Delegate to Congress, struck with small two-line ST. LOUIS (18 Oct) dispatch handstamp at upper left and manuscript "Paid 10" rate at upper right, the 10-cent rate satisfying the single-sheet zone rate for a distance under 80 miles, addressed to Michael Jones Esq., Register of the Land Office at Kaskaskia, some separation along original folds reinforced with archival tape, fine.

Lot 803

100.00 CAD

Live

1824 (November 16), manuscript Copiah Court House, Mississippi, to Richmond, Massachusetts, early Mississippi Territorial stampless folded

1824 (November 16), manuscript Copiah Court House, Mississippi, to Richmond, Massachusetts, early Mississippi Territorial stampless folded letter, manuscript "Copiah C.H. Mi. 16th Novr. 1824" dispatch at upper left and manuscript "25" cent rate at upper right, believed the earliest recorded use of the Copiah Court House manuscript, uniform age toning and very slight separation along original folds, otherwise fine and scarce. Written by a young woman named Harriet to her "kindred soul" E. Goodrich, the letter describes her arduous journey from New Orleans, which she characterised as a "sea of mud," up the "dangerous and wonderful river" to Natchez, and offers biting social commentary on local society, mocking the "crimson satin coat" and "pink satin head dress" of Eugenia Bracey, the young bride of the Honourable Secretary John A. Quitman, as more suitable for a city assembly room than the "wilds of Copiah." The letter concludes with a harsh assessment of the local populace as "illiterate, unreligious and covetous," advising her correspondent to remain content in Massachusetts rather than emigrating to a place of such "superstition."

Lot 804

300.00 CAD

Live

1835 (December 29), Great Fire of New York, folded letter to New Orleans, Louisiana, struck with red circular New-York (31 Dec) dispatch

1835 (December 29), Great Fire of New York, folded letter to New Orleans, Louisiana, struck with red circular New-York (31 Dec) dispatch and manuscript "25" cent rate, four-page letter from the merchant firm Baker and Moore to Gen'l William Battey care of Dr. Charles Luzenbourg at the Franklin Infirmary on the Pontchartrain Rail Road, file folds, an exceptionally vivid contemporary recording of the disaster. Written while the ruins of the Great Fire of New York were still smouldering, the letter describes the "great Calamity" in detail, the sender writing "our City was about half burned up" on "one of the coldest nights that we ever experienced" with wind "blowing a gale from Northwest", further noting the desperate measure of "blowing up of some stores & Houses with powder to check the flame in its progress" and observing that while "the Banks have been liberal," the loss of insurance capital had been so catastrophic that "many Widows & orphans have had their all taken from them." A postscript notes the onset of the Second Seminole War in Florida, observing that "trouble is anticipated with the Indians."

Lot 805

150.00 CAD

Live

1838 (March 31), Little Rock, Arkansas, to West Lothian, Scotland, transatlantic stampless letter, to Mr. George Steel at "Shots Iron

1838 (March 31), Little Rock, Arkansas, to West Lothian, Scotland, transatlantic stampless letter, to Mr. George Steel at "Shots Iron Works," circular LITTLE-ROCK / ARK. c.d.s. and straight-line PAID handstamp with manuscript "25" cent rate notation, red New York (23 Apr) transit c.d.s. struck just above two-line WHITBURN / PENNY POST handstamp, reverse with boxed LIVERPOOL / SHIP LETTER (S13) and circular MAY 25 1838 arrival mark, rated 1/8 due including the 8d ship letter fee and 1d Penny Post charge, very fine, with fascinating contents. Written by Robert Brownlee, the letter describes life in Little Rock 18 months after Arkansas statehood, characterising it as a "Wild West" environment settled by "Double Barrelled gun" and "Bowie Knife." He recounts two murders in rapid succession - a 17-year-old boy shooting a local doctor through the eye at the post office, and a knife fight on the floor of the legislature - a reference to the famous stabbing of Representative Joseph J. Anthony by Speaker of the House John Wilson. He records abundant local game including bears, wolves, and turkeys, and describes encountering thousands of Native Americans from Florida (the Trail of Tears) being moved through the territory, noting they were "clad in a manner all over with rings, beads, ribbons, and feathers."

Lot 806

300.00 CAD

Live

THE JENNINGS-MCKAY CORRESPONDENCE: A CHRONICLE OF ANTEBELLUM NASHVILLE AND THE AMERICAN INTERIOR, 1839–1846, an extensive archive of 37

THE JENNINGS-MCKAY CORRESPONDENCE: A CHRONICLE OF ANTEBELLUM NASHVILLE AND THE AMERICAN INTERIOR, 1839–1846, an extensive archive of 37 stampless folded letters, primarily addressed to Sarah M. Jennings (later Mrs. Harrison B. McKay) in Nashville, Tennessee, variously originating in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Red Sulphur, Virginia, the covers and cancellations in of varying quality, but with fascinating contents, offering a window into the American South and Midwest of the period. This correspondence represents a useful primary source for historians focused on the Whig-Democrat political divide and the social mores of the Antebellum South, and is replete with references to the political fervor of the period, including offering eyewitness accounts of the Jackson-Clay rivalry. A 1839 letter from Nashville documents the "silly pageantry" of the Baltimore Convention and the "steam" of local political rallies, where the writer notes, "the Democrats are carrying on the Legislature entirely after their own notion". Throughout are frequent references to the speeches of Henry Clay and the enduring shadow of Andrew Jackson. Writing from Missouri in 1843, Thomas R. Jennings provides a sobering professional perspective on the economic instability following the Panic of 1837, advising Sarah of the "gloomy prospects" and precarious nature of wealth in the 1840s. One 1840 letter from Philadelphia contains a gripping account of the "harsh & wild features of the Country," including a meeting in a frontier bar-room with a "sinister looking giant" who offered to assassinate a local rival for five dollars. A fascinating holding.

United States Pre-philately

United States

Lot 807

60.00 CAD

Live

1840 (September 14), Mills Point, Kentucky (now Hickman), to Fayette, Mississippi, stampless folded letter, red circular MILLS POINT / KY.

1840 (September 14), Mills Point, Kentucky (now Hickman), to Fayette, Mississippi, stampless folded letter, red circular MILLS POINT / KY. (14 Sep) dispatch datestamp and manuscript "25" rate, reverse with contemporary docketing "S. B. Owen's Letter / With Rect [Receipt] enclosed," unusually fresh, very fine. Written by S. B. Owen to John M. Faulks, the letter provides a glimpse into the chaotic financial landscape of the American South following the Panic of 1837. Owen discusses the urgent need to convert "Union" money into more stable currency, instructing Faulks to go to Natchez or elsewhere to get the money "shaved off," a contemporary term for selling depreciated bank notes at a discount, in exchange for as much "Louisiana money" as possible, emphasising that if Faulks sends the "Union" money directly it will be "of no use to me."

United States Pre-philately

United States

Lot 808

60.00 CAD

Live

1843 (August 6), Carlisle, Kentucky, manuscript cancel, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stampless folded letter on striking yellow paper,

1843 (August 6), Carlisle, Kentucky, manuscript cancel, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stampless folded letter on striking yellow paper, manuscript "Carlisle Ky / Aug 6" dispatch and "18¾" (cents) rate for the single-sheet rate for distances between 150 and 400 miles, addressed to J.A. Chappelle with extensive contemporary docketing, some minor archival tape reinforcement on internal folds, extremely fresh, with historically interesting political contents enclosed. Written by W.W. Fritts on the "morning of the last day of the Election," the letter provides a feverish blow-by-blow account of the 1843 campaign's climax, describing "great excitement" as the Whigs and the "Lokies" (Locofocos/Democrats) are "raking the hills and the hollows" for every last vote, with real-time tallies for candidates Linnell and Tibbatts, news of the likely removal of the Mason County courthouse to Maysville, and the apparent victory of a candidate named Gaines, the letter closing with Fritts jokingly anticipating his own "stumbling and falling down" in the big city of "Phillydelphy" like a "green horn."

United States

Lot 809

100.00 CAD

Live

1845 (March 21), Isle of Mull to New York, stampless transatlantic letter with slavery content, from Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland to

1845 (March 21), Isle of Mull to New York, stampless transatlantic letter with slavery content, from Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland to New York, carried by the Cunard steamer Acadia, struck with sharp boxed Tobermory datestamp (21 Mar), prepaid in manuscript “1/-” for the British packet rate, transiting London with red Paid datestamp (3 Apr) and black oval backstamp (4 Apr), blue manuscript “12”, full black wax seal on reverse, quite fresh and very fine. A fascinating family and ecclesiastical letter from Mary Macleod to her cousin, the Rev. John Neil Macleod, including forceful commentary on the contemporary controversy surrounding the Free Church of Scotland, condemning the “strife and contention” of the Disruption and questioning acceptance of funds from American slaveholders, asking how they could denounce brethren at home while “resorting to such a place to get Money.”

Lot 810

200.00 CAD

Live

1845 (July 15), St. Augustine, Florida, to Turks Islands, forwarded via New York, stampless folded entire, circular ST. AUGUSTINE / FLA.

1845 (July 15), St. Augustine, Florida, to Turks Islands, forwarded via New York, stampless folded entire, circular ST. AUGUSTINE / FLA. (July 15) c.d.s. in red, manuscript "10" rate crossed-out, clear strike of red oval "Forwarded by / GEO. & JOHN LAURIE / NEW YORK" handstamp on reverse, small central stain from seal, else a fine and scarce example of early Florida statehood mail to an uncommon destination. The contents comprise a six-page letter signed "SPA," written months after Florida's admission as the 27th state. The author is scathing of President Polk's administration, writing "the new President has pursued the system of most of his predecessors and displaced many an honest man that he might Polk his favorites into office," and noting the "Locofocos [radical Democrats] have carried every election." The letter also addresses the resolution of the Arredondo claim, a landmark case involving nearly 300,000 acres, with "Col. Lewis from Alabama" securing 60,000 acres.

Lot 811

100.00 CAD

Live

1845 (November 17), Houston, Republic of Texas, to Bastrop, Texas Ranger's cover, struck with circular HOUSTON / TEX (Nov 17) dispatch and

1845 (November 17), Houston, Republic of Texas, to Bastrop, Texas Ranger's cover, struck with circular HOUSTON / TEX (Nov 17) dispatch and black "10" due rate handstamp, manuscript sender's address "W. Nicholson Comp. D Texas Rangers," some light staining at lower left, BGM owner's mark on back, a fine Texas Ranger's cover. Mailed forty-two days before the December 29 annexation of Texas, the sender, W. Nicholson of Company D, was a member of the Texas Rangers, the force responsible for frontier defence during this volatile transition period.

Lot 812

Scott 2

225.00 CAD

Live

1847, 10c black Washington on bluish paper, used, four close to ample margins, struck with bold red grid cancel and partial c.d.s., also in

1847, 10c black Washington on bluish paper, used, four close to ample margins, struck with bold red grid cancel and partial c.d.s., also in red, small repaired tear at lower left, else of very fine and fresh appearance, signed Pfenninger.

Lot 813

80.00 CAD

Live

1849 (March 21), Richmond, Virginia, to Paris, France, stampless transatlantic letter, struck with red RICHMOND / Va. (21 Mar) c.d.s. with

1849 (March 21), Richmond, Virginia, to Paris, France, stampless transatlantic letter, struck with red RICHMOND / Va. (21 Mar) c.d.s. with matching PAID and 5 rate markings, manuscript "Per packet for Havre via New York" routing instruction, red OUTRE-MER / LE HAVRE (28 Apr) entry strike and manuscript "6" decime due on arrival in France, black LIGNE-DU-HAVRE (28 Apr 49) TPO c.d.s. on reverse, lovely quality, very fine. Written during the period in transatlantic postal history between February 1848 and October 1850, following the failfure of the Herout & de Handel Line, when direct mail to France reverted to classic Havre sailing packets, the contents, from an American merchant to Auguste Faviel in Paris, contain commercial intelligence on tobacco and produce markets in the wake of the 1848 French Revolution.

Lot 814

150.00 CAD

Live

1849 (October 22), Kaskaskia, Illinois, to San Francisco, California, Gold Rush period stampless cover, black circular KASKASKIA / ILL.

1849 (October 22), Kaskaskia, Illinois, to San Francisco, California, Gold Rush period stampless cover, black circular KASKASKIA / ILL. (Nov 30) datestamp and manuscript "40" heavy water staining and age-toning, but with exceptional contents detailing life accompanied by original four-page letter from Jane Seymour with fascinating historical contents related to Cholrea, a mail boat disaster, and the challenges faced by California-bound pioneers. Written to her father, who had departed for California via Fort Laramie, Jane Seymour provides a harrowing account of the cholera epidemic, with neighbours "afraid of the Cholera," noting one death from "the congestive chill." She further references a "mail boat at St. Louis burned about the last of August" with the loss of "about 2 hundred pounds of letters from the emigrants," likely referring to the burning of the steamboat Algoma or a similar disaster on the chaotic post-Great Fire waterfront, explaining a catastrophic loss for those en route to California who relied on St. Louis as their final communication hub. The letter further describes the booming California economy, with a man making "ten dollars a day clear," and local frontier news including a stabbing at a party and the appointment of a new Land Office judge.

Lot 815

275.00 CAD

Live

1849 (December 25), Ferrisburgh, Vermont, to San Francisco, "Upper California", Gold Rush era stampless cover & letter, bearing black

1849 (December 25), Ferrisburgh, Vermont, to San Francisco, "Upper California", Gold Rush era stampless cover & letter, bearing black NEW YORK / 40 (Jan 17) datestamp, denoting the transcontinental fee for distances over 3,000 miles, manuscript routing "per Cherokee" at upper left referring to the steamship carrying the mail via the Chagres (Panama) route, significant edge wear and central vertical crease, but scarce. Written on Christmas Day by Anna R.M. to her husband Lloyd Minturn on the anniversary of his departure, she expresses sharp scepticism of the Gold Rush, comparing the current "mania in California" to previous failed land speculations and lamenting the "shamefully neglected" Pacific mail service, mentioning the arrival of Bayard Taylor whose accounts of California as a "good wheat country" contrasted sharply with other reports of a barren land where nothing could be raised.