ÿþ<html> <head> <title>The Bordeaux Cover</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="KeyWords" content="Bordeaux Cover, PennyBlue, Blue Penny, Penny Orange, Stamps, Mauritius, Philatelic History, Post Office"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/en.css"> <script language=javascript src="/en.js"></script> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFF0"> <center> <a name="Top"></a> <table border="1" width="791" bgcolor="#336699"> <tr> <td width="261"> <table width="261" border="0" cellpadding="2" height="73"> <tr> <td width="93" height="71"><img src="/Images/Logo.png" width="93" height="73" border="0"></td> <td width="154" align="center" height="71" bgcolor="#336699"> <table border="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr> <td> <font size="3" color="#E9E9E9">ENCYCLOP&AElig;DIA</font> <br> <font size="6" color="#E9E9E9">Mauritiana</font> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="5"></font></td> <td align="center" width="514"> <font size="6" color="#E9E9E9" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">The Bordeaux Letter</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="19" > <tbody class="LinkWhite"> <tr valign="middle"> <td align="center" width="53"><a href="/index.html">Home</a></td> <td align="center" width="70"><a href="/Nature/Geography/index.html">Geography</a></td> <td align="center" width="45"><a href="/Nature/Fauna/index.html">Fauna</a></td> <td align="center" width="60"><a href="/History/index.html">History</a></td> <td align="center" width="70"><a href="/Society/Language/index.html">Language</a></td> <td align="center" width="50"><a href="/Society/Music/index.html">Music</a></td> <td align="center" width="59" bgcolor="#9999FF"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/index.html">Stamps</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="LinkWhite" height="19"> <tbody class="LinkWhite"> <tr valign="middle"> <td width="53" align="center" bgcolor="#9999FF"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/index.html">History</a></td> <td align="center" width="72"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/Museums.htm">Museums</a></td> <td align="center" width="66"><a href="Genuine.htm">Forgeries</a></td> <td align="center" width="63"><a href="Prices.htm">Prices</a></td> <td align="center" width="80"><a href="Bibliography.htm">Bibliography</a><font color="#E9E9E9"></font></td> <td align="center" width="45"><a href="Links.htm">Links</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="19"> <tbody class="LinkWhite"> <tr valign="middle"> <td width="70" align="center"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/index.html">Overview</a></td> <td align="center" width="107"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/Ordinance.htm">Ordinance No 13</a></td> <td align="center" width="64"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/Barnard.htm">Barnard</a></td> <td align="center" width="56"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/MajorEvans.htm">Evans</a></td> <td align="center" width="78"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/BallCover.htm">Ball Cover</a></td> <td align="center" width="100" bgcolor="#9999FF"><a href="/Society/Communication/Stamps/BordeauxCover.htm">Bordeaux Letter</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="702" border="0" height="642"> <tr> <td height="21" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="444" colspan="2"><img src="Images/BordeauxLetter.jpg" width="588" height="725" alt="The Bordeaux Letter"></td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="30" colspan="2"><i><font size="2">The Bordeaux Letter</font></i></td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="84" width="400"> <p>On October 4th, 1847, the firma Edward Francis & Co.of Port Louis, Mauritius, confirms to their correpondent, the Wine Merchant Duncan & Lurguie in Bordeaux, France, an order for 30 barrels of wine.. </p> <p>This letter is posted via England in an envelope with both the One Penny Orange and the Two Penny Blue stamps.</p> <p align="right">. <img src="/Images/red-arrowrup.gif" width="6" height="6">&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Top</a> </p> </td> <td height="84" width="300"> <table width="300" border="0"> <tr> <td>&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="444" colspan="2"> <p><img src="Images/BordeauxCoverFrontx2.jpg" width="658" height="424"></p> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="34" colspan="2"> <p><i><font size="2">The Front side of the Bordeaux Cover</font></i></p> <p align="right">. <img src="/Images/red-arrowrup.gif" width="6" height="6">&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Top</a> </p> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="34" colspan="2"><img src="Images/BordeauxCoverBackx2.jpg" width="706" height="442"></td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="34" colspan="2"> <p><i><font size="2">The Back side of the Bordeaux Cover</font></i></p> <p align="right">. <img src="/Images/red-arrowrup.gif" width="6" height="6">&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Top</a> </p> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="293" width="400"> <h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The History of the Trip</font></h3> <p>The handstamps relate the history of the trip.</p> <p>The Mauritius Post Office circular datestamp of October 4, 1847 (Nr. 1) on both front and back and the &quot;Penny Post&quot; handstamp on the stamps marks the beginning of the trip.</p> <p>The framed &quot;SHIP LETTER PLYMOUTH&quot; handstamp (Nr.2) marks the trip to England around the Cap of Good Hope and then to France (&quot;COLONIES &amp; ART.13&quot;) on the front of the cover.</p> <p>The arrival in France is documented by the &quot;BOULOGNE&quot; handstamp on the front side and the PARIS datestamp of December 26th, 1847 (Nr. 3).</p> <p>Finally, the &quot;BORDEAUX&quot; datestamp of December 28, 1847 (Nr 4) proves the arrival at destination.</p> <p align="right">. <img src="/Images/red-arrowrup.gif" width="6" height="6">&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Top</a> </p> </td> <td height="293" width="300">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="423" width="400"> <h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>The Owners</b></font></h3> <p>When a young French boy went through correspondence files in 1902, he could not realize that he was going to happen upon one of philately s greatest rarities. He was searching through a batch of dusty letters when he saw a cover franked with 1 penny and 2 pence stamps from the volcanic island of Mauritius. As he examined the cover, he recalled reading about the unusual stamps in a magazine. </p> <p>The young French boy was holding a cover franked with two of the stamps  singles of each value. The cover was addressed to  Messieurs Ducan & Lurguie in Bordeaux and Paris in October 1847.</p> <ul> <li> The boy knowing that his find was worth a lot of money, took his discovery to a stamp dealer in Paris, a Mr. Lemaire. The Dealer realizing the value of this cover, purchased it from the boy for about 40,000 francs. <br> </li> <li>The cover was later acquired by French collector Brunet de l Argentiere. </li> <li>In 1922 Arthur Hind purchased this rarity. </li> <li>It was sold to Maurice Burrus during the H.R. Harmer auction of the Hind collection in London in 1934. </li> <li>Raymond H. Weill Company purchased the cover for $78,400 during the 1963 Robson Lowe auction in London. </li> <li>It changed hands once again when it was purchased by Hiroyuki Kanai in 1970 to add to his remarkable Mauritius collection. </li> <li>It was auctioned again in November 1993 at a Feldman auction and sold for 5 Million Swiss Francs (approx. USD 3 Million) to a collector in Singapore </li> </ul> <div align="right">. <img src="/Images/red-arrowrup.gif" width="6" height="6">&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Top</a> </div> </td> <td height="423" width="300">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="33" colspan="2"> <p align="center"><font size="5" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><a href="#" onClick="history.go(-1)"><img src="/Images/red-arrowleft.gif" width="6" height="6" border="0">&nbsp;Back</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="Museums.htm">Next Page&nbsp;<img src="/Images/red-arrowright.gif" width="8" height="8" border="0"></a></b></font> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <br> <br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">Copyright ©2002-2005 Encyclopaedia Mauritiana</font> <br> <div class="LinkGrey"> <a href="http://www.mauritiusencyclopedia.com" target="_blank">Encyclopedia</a> <a href="http://www.kreol.mu" target="_blank">Creole</a> <a href="http://www.sega.mu" target="_blank">Sega</a> <a href="http://www.birds.mu" target="_blank">Birds</a> <a href="http://www.oldmaps.mu" target="_blank">Maps</a> <a href="http://www.orchids.mu" target="_blank">Orchids</a> <a href="http://www.leicaphoto.net" target="_blank">Leica</a> <a href="http://www.alpareflex.com" target="_blank">Alpa</a> <a href="http://www.kilfitt.org" target="_blank">Kilfitt</a> <a href="http://www.cadelec.com" target="_blank">Cadelec</a><br> <a href="http://www.werner.mu" target="_blank"> </a> <a href="http://www.ngyantun.com" target="_blank"> </a> </div> </center> </body> </html>