5¢ Red Brown (1), large margins to clear, tied by blue "Philada. Pa. 5cts. (Aug?) 24" integral-rate circular datestamp, used with D. O. Blood & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (2¢) Black (15L5), large margins to touched at bottom but the imprint is complete, small manuscript cancel, on brown envelope to Pikesville, Maryland, manuscript "In Haste" at bottom

Very Fine; minor ink erosion at right.

An extremely rare combination of the 5¢ 1847 Issue and the iconic Striding Messenger local stamp issued by D. O. Blood & Co. This is the only recorded 1847 Issue cover with the 15L5 stamp.

The Striding Messenger stamp was first issued in 1843 by the Philadelphia Despatch Post. It was the first pictorial stamp in the world. After the sale of the post to D. O. Blood & Co. in 1845, a similar design, incorporating the D. O. Blood & Co. name, was lithographed by Wagner & McGuigan. The design depicts a gargantuan letter carrier--the "City Despatch Post" bag slung over his shoulder--stepping over the Merchant's Exchange Building, which housed Philadelphia's post office. The image conveys the private posts' superior speed and reliability. It is especially fascinating to see it used here with the first federal postage stamp.

The USPCS census records only two examples of 1847 Issue stamps on covers with a D. O. Blood & Co. Striding Messenger stamp. The other cover bears a 5¢ 1847 stamp and 15L6 (with "City Despatch" through the messenger's legs, see Siegel Sale 791, lot 259).

Ex Philip H. Ward, Jr. (Siegel Sale 265), Henry C. Gibson, Sr., and John R. Boker, Jr.

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