5¢ Red Brown (12), two full margins, others touching to slightly in, used with two 10¢ Green, Type I (31) and pair of 10¢ Green, Type III (33), the Type I singles have perfs trimmed on all sides, tied by grid cancels and "Edgartown Ms. Mar. 29" (1858) circular datestamp with another clear strike on cover to Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies, addressed to Captain S. Lyman Norton of the ship Minstrel, in care of Paine, Stricker & Co., sender's directive "Via Southampton" and prepaid at the old 45¢ rate (lowered to 33¢ in February 1856)--carried on the Cunarder Arabia, departing New York March 31, 1858, and arriving at Liverpool April 11--"(Bost)on Br. Pkt. 30 Mar." backstamp (only part remains), red "40" credit handstamp, red "London Paid" transit datestamp (April 12), manuscript "80" for additional postage due in Batavia

Fine overall appearance; small part of bottom left corner repaired, part of backflap replaced (visible along top edge), two 10¢ Type I stamps trimmed and scored by horizontal line.

The sender applied 45¢ in stamps and wrote "via Southampton" to indicate the route, but by this date the rate to Java by British Mail via Southampton was only 33¢. The sender was either unaware of the rate change two years earlier, or they affixed additional postage for the faster route via Marseilles (45¢ rate) to ensure that the letter was fully prepaid regardless of which route was used.

After the first leg of the journey from the U.S. to Great Britain, the cover was carried by the Peninsular & Oriental Line Indus to Alexandria (arriving May 5). It traveled overland to Suez and then by steamer Hindostan to Galle, Ceylon (arriving May 22). The next leg from Galle to Singapore was on the Cadiz (arriving May 30). Finally, the trip from Singapore to Batavia was made on another vessel, and an additional 80 Dutch cents was collected from the addressee.

This sale contains three remarkable covers addressed to Captain S. Lyman Norton as he sailed the ship Minstrel from Boston to the East Indies and Far East in 1857 and 1858. Included are covers with the 1851-56 Issue addressed to Java (lots 246, offered here, and lot 297) and Singapore (lot 270).

Ex Emmerson C. Krug, Paul C. Rohloff, Frederick R. Mayer and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in Bakers' U.S. Classics (p. 214), Starnes, United States Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations 1847 to GPU-UPU (p. 30) and Frajola-Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856 (p. 151). With 1977 and 2006 P.F. certificates.

The Norton Correspondence

This sale contains three remarkable covers addressed to Captain S. Lyman Norton as he sailed the ship Minstrel from Boston to the East Indies and Far East in 1857 and 1858. Included are covers with the 1851-56 Issue addressed to Java (lots 246 and 297) and Singapore (lot 270).

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