1801, Batavia to United States from a U.S. Trading Vessel en route to Japan. Folded letter datelined "Batavia June 19th 1801" from Lewis Thatcher, a crew member of the American sailing ship Margaret, written to his uncle George Thatcher in Biddeford, Maine, "Boston Ms. Jan. 22" (1802) circular datestamp, "SHIP" handstamp and red manuscript "14-1/2" due rate, slight wear and small nick at top

VERY FINE. A REMARKABLE LETTER WRITTEN FROM BATAVIA BY AN AMERICAN ON BOARD A TRADING VESSEL BOUND FOR JAPAN IN 1801. AN EXTREMELY EARLY POSTAL LINK BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES.

In his letter written from Batavia on June 19, 1801, crew member Lewis Thatcher informs his uncle that he arrived from Indramayoe with a cargo of coffee for the Dutch East India Company "and we have discharged it and taken in another cargo for the Company to carry to Japan -- Where I expect to be gone about 6 months from this place..." He continues, "Capt. Derby has purchased a small Brig and is going to send her to the Isle of France to purchase a ship to return here to take in a load of Coffee for America."

The Margaret was an American sailing ship with a crew of 20 plus 6 guns. Under Captain Samuel G. Derby, she left Salem on Nov. 19, 1800, arrived at Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, Feb. 4, 1801, reached Sumatra Apr. 10, and finally Batavia Apr. 25. At Batavia Captain Derby agreed to take the annual shipments to and from Japan as a charter for the Dutch East India Company, an agreement reflected in the letter offered here. The Margaret left for Nagasaki on June 20, 1801, the day after this letter was written (it states "we are to sail by 4 o'clock tomorrow morning."). As the letter predicted, the Margaret returned from Japan and back to the United States loaded with trade goods, some of which are housed in the Salem museum.

The Netherlands was the only European country with which Japan allowed trade. The Dutch East India company made annual voyages to the man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor. Because of the Napoleonic Wars, Holland brought all of her ships home and negotiated with American ships to fly under the Dutch flag from 1797 to 1809. The Margaret was the second ship to reach Japanese waters and the first from which the captain and crew toured Japan, 52 years before the Perry Expedition.

From the Magnolia collection.

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