12¢ Black (17), three singles, large margins to clear, faint gum toning, used with 1¢ Blue, Type IV (9), large margins to slightly in, tied by "Philadelphia Pa. Apr. 15" (1856) circular datestamps on blue folded letter to Alexandrovsky, near St. Petersburg, Russia, sender's route directive "Via Prussian Closed Mail" and prepaid 37¢ rate, red "New-York Br. Pkt. Apr. 16" circular datestamp on back, magenta manuscript "14" credit--carried on the Cunarder Asia, departing New York April 16, 1856, arriving Liverpool April 28--red "AACHEN 30/4 FRANCO" (April 30) framed datestamp, blue manuscript "f6" on back and "f3" on front indicating German and Russian transit fees had been paid, bleached spots and toning along file fold, otherwise Fine, an extremely rare 1851 Issue cover to Russia and one of the few with the 37¢ Prussian Closed Mail rate, ex Giamporcaro and Hackmey, illustrated in The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: A Sesquicentennial Retrospective (p. 366).

The Winans Correspondence

The two folded letters offered in lots 294 and 295 are addressed to William L. Winans, who worked for the American railroad construction firm Harrison, Winans & Eastwick. He and his brother Thomas traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, while the firm worked on construction of the Czar's new railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The Winans' contract was to equip the new Russian railway with locomotives and stock cars. They established workshops in Alexandrovsky, near St. Petersburg. When the railway was completed in 1851, Thomas returned to Baltimore with his Russian wife, while William stayed until 1862.

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