3c Dull Red, Ty. III (26). Tied by "Washington D.C. Aug. (date?)" (1861) circular datestamp on cover to Centreville Mich. with blue and red "Star of the North, or the Comet of 1861" Lincoln patriotic design, shows Lincoln shooting upwards through the sky with a red, white and blue trail behind him, Upham imprint below, slightly reduced at right affecting stamp, some other slight edgewear and stains

FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE AND ATTRACTIVE EXAMPLE OF THIS LINCOLN DESIGN, COMBINING PATRIOTIC SENTIMENT WITH A CONTEMPORARY REAL-WORLD ASTRONOMICAL EVENT.

The rare "Comet of 1861" design is a wonderful combination of patriotic sentiment on the meteoric rise of our nation's 16th President, who had been relatively unknown before the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the real-world "Great Comet" of 1861. The 1861 comet was one of the brightest of the 19th century, visible to the naked eye for approximately three months, from June to August in the Northern Hemisphere, and by telescope for many months after. As such it was categorized as a "Great Comet", which generally means appearing once or less a decade. On the Fourth of July 1861, a soldier from the Second Wisconsin wrote about the comet, “We have been visited for a week past by a very large comet which at full day appears very bright and transparent; late at night the tail stretched nearly to the Zenith while the star was near the horizon." (http://civilwarwisconsin.com/campfire-stories/46-great-comet-of-1861.html). Popular media used the comet as a symbol for events then unfolding, especially the impending Civil War. It appears in several political cartoons of the period, but we believe none are as beautiful or apropos as the Lincoln design on this cover.

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