30c Orange, F. Grill (100). Rich color, used with 12c Black, F. Grill (97), crisp shade, both well-centered, beautifully tied by two bold strikes of circle of wedges cancel on folded letter datelined New York Feb. 6, 1869, from Weston & Wolf to Charles Thorel & Co. in Yokohama, Japan, sender's directive "p. City of Antwerp via Marseilles", red "New York Paid All Br. Transit Feb. 27" (1869) circular datestamp on back, matching red "32" credit handstamp -- carried on Inman City of Antwerp, departing New York Feb. 27, 1869, arriving Queenstown Mar. 10 -- red London Paid datestamp (Mar. 11), red crayon "1" British Colonial credit, carried on Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. steamers from Southampton to Alexandria (Egypt), then overland to Suez, and from there to Hong Kong via Galle (Ceylon), "Hong-Kong C AP 20 69" and "Yokohama A MY 1 69" British P.O. circular datestamps on back

EXTREMELY FINE. AN EXTRAORDINARILY FRESH AND ATTRACTIVE FOLDED LETTER TO JAPAN FROM THE THOREL CORRESPONDENCE, WITH A CHOICE QUALITY 1868 GRILLED ISSUE FRANKING.

Charles (or Karl) Thorel was one of many western merchants doing business in Japan after the 1858 Harris Treaty formalized commercial relations between the United States and Japan. Thorel partnered with a Swiss-born merchant named Karl Ziegler in the silk-trading firm of Thorel, Ziegler & Company. The company was based in Yokohama and operated from 1865 to 1868, at which point the partnership dissolved. Thorel continued in business under the name Charles Thorel & Company. Were it not for the Thorel correspondence, collectors would have no 24c or 30c 1869 covers to Japan. In addition, there are quite a few Thorel covers with stamps of earlier issues or other 1869 values. This cover comes from the more recent discovery of Thorel letters, sold through Dr. Wilhelm Derichs auction house in Germany (August 29, 2014).

From the Magnolia collection.

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