The D.K. Collection of Southern Postmasters' Provisionals of the American Civil War continued...

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN IMPRESSIVE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TWO PANES OF 50 OF THE 2-CENT MEMPHIS POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL, INCLUDING THE BLOCK OF 46, WHICH IS THE LARGEST RECORDED MULTIPLE CONTAINING THE TETE-BECHE VARIETY. A MAGNIFICENT SHOWPIECE.

Matthew Campbell Gallaway (1820-1898), a colorful newspaper editor and aide-de-camp to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, was the Memphis Confederate postmaster who issued adhesive stamps and press-printed envelopes until Memphis fell to Federal forces in June 1862. Gallaway was often referred to as "Colonel," but military records show that he was paroled on May 10, 1865, as a 1st Lieutenant and Acting A.D.C. on General Forrest's staff (www.fold3.com). In August 1866 Gallaway, after resuming his position as editor of the Avalanche, was shot through the hand in a murder attempt by a United States tax collector named G. W. Wood (New York Times, Aug. 26, 1866). Gallaway survived and continued working as a newspaper editor until his retirement in 1887. He lived another decade, almost long enough to experience the arrival of the 20th century.

The 2c and 5c adhesive provisionals were printed in sheets from stereotype plates of 50 made from woodcut engravings of each denomination. The 2c stamp bears Gallaway's name, but the 5c stamp and envelope do not. The 2c was printed in Blue on thin paper, and the 5c was printed in a range of Carmine or Red shades on different types of paper stock (the thin paper is much scarcer).

Several positions on the 2c plate were flawed from damaged stereotypes. Impressions from these positions show printed "cracks" or are missing parts of the design. The ex-Caspary pane of 50 stamps with five stamps cut out and rejoined by hinges was last offered in our Sale 801 (lot 367). The block of 46 offered in this reconstruction edges out the intact block of 45 by one stamp, making this tete-beche multiple the largest recorded 2c multiple.

Ex Meroni, Caspary, Dr. Graves and Boshwit. The block of 46 was offered in our 1983 Rarities sale. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. ARGUABLY THE FINEST OF THE ELEVEN 2-CENT MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL COVERS KNOWN TO US. A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE EXAMPLE OF THIS QUINTESSENTIAL SOUTHERN POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL.

Matthew Campbell Gallaway (1820-1898), a colorful newspaper editor and aide-de-camp to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, was the Memphis Confederate postmaster who issued adhesive stamps and press-printed envelopes until Memphis fell to Federal forces in June 1862. Gallaway was often referred to as "Colonel," but military records show that he was paroled on May 10, 1865, as a 1st Lieutenant and Acting A.D.C. on General Forrest's staff (www.fold3.com). In August 1866 Gallaway, after resuming his position as editor of the Avalanche, was shot through the hand in a murder attempt by a United States tax collector named G. W. Wood (New York Times, Aug. 26, 1866). Gallaway survived and continued working as a newspaper editor until his retirement in 1887. He lived another decade, almost long enough to experience the arrival of the 20th century.

Samuel Mosby is believed to have been co-owner of Mosby & Anderson Storage, listed in the 1859 Memphis City Directory. The business was located on Union between Second and Third Streets (where the Hotel Peabody is today). (http://msgw.org/desoto/bios/mosby.html ).

We have attempted to verify and locate images for each of the Memphis 2c provisional covers listed in the census by Billy Matz (Confederate Philatelist, Mar. 1967) and the Hart survey in the Crown book. We have located images for 11 of the 13 covers listed. Two of the covers are addressed to James Street Esq. in Memphis and apparently have never been publicly offered (they were shown to us by the owner). One of the Street covers has an illegible datestamp, and the stamp on the other is tied by the target cancel. We assume that the dates in the Matz census (Aug. 2 and Oct. 7, 1861) were taken from the letters in these two covers, because we cannot find any other covers addressed to James Street. The two covers which we have been unable to verify with photographs are: "November 10, 1861, to Rev. Thomas Taylor, Newcastle, Tenn." -- this entry is apparently based on the Charles J. Phillips census, which identifies the cover as coming from the Manning collection, but a cover addressed to another post office would require 5c unless it was a circular rate. We would like to see a photograph of this cover. (From the Frank Hart survey): "H. C. Crane has Hon. J. G. Ham, Gov. of Tennessee, Nashville, Tenn." -- again, it seems odd that this cover is addressed to another post office. We would like to see a photograph of this cover.

Ex Richey, Brooks, Judd, Matz and Dr. Simon (Image)

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VERY FINE. EXTREMELY RARE AND ONE OF THE FINEST OF ONLY ELEVEN CONFIRMED COVERS WITH THE 2-CENT MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL.

Matthew Campbell Gallaway (1820-1898), a colorful newspaper editor and aide-de-camp to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, was the Memphis Confederate postmaster who issued adhesive stamps and press-printed envelopes until Memphis fell to Federal forces in June 1862. Gallaway was often referred to as "Colonel," but military records show that he was paroled on May 10, 1865, as a 1st Lieutenant and Acting A.D.C. on General Forrest's staff (www.fold3.com). In August 1866 Gallaway, after resuming his position as editor of the Avalanche, was shot through the hand in a murder attempt by a United States tax collector named G. W. Wood (New York Times, Aug. 26, 1866). Gallaway survived and continued working as a newspaper editor until his retirement in 1887. He lived another decade, almost long enough to experience the arrival of the 20th century.

Samuel Mosby is believed to have been co-owner of Mosby & Anderson Storage, listed in the 1859 Memphis City Directory. The business was located on Union between Second and Third Streets (where the Hotel Peabody is today). (http://msgw.org/desoto/bios/mosby.html ).

We have attempted to verify and locate images for each of the Memphis 2c provisional covers listed in the census by Billy Matz (Confederate Philatelist, Mar. 1967) and the Hart survey in the Crown book. We have located images for 11 of the 13 covers listed. Two of the covers are addressed to James Street Esq. in Memphis and apparently have never been publicly offered (they were shown to us by the owner). One of the Street covers has an illegible datestamp, and the stamp on the other is tied by the target cancel. We assume that the dates in the Matz census (Aug. 2 and Oct. 7, 1861) were taken from the letters in these two covers, because we cannot find any other covers addressed to James Street. The two covers which we have been unable to verify with photographs are: "November 10, 1861, to Rev. Thomas Taylor, Newcastle, Tenn." -- this entry is apparently based on the Charles J. Phillips census, which identifies the cover as coming from the Manning collection, but a cover addressed to another post office would require 5c unless it was a circular rate. We would like to see a photograph of this cover. (From the Frank Hart survey): "H. C. Crane has Hon. J. G. Ham, Gov. of Tennessee, Nashville, Tenn." -- again, it seems odd that this cover is addressed to another post office. We would like to see a photograph of this cover.

The cover offered here has a clipping of a Mozian auction description from 1941 affixed to back which reads in part "Mr. Pratt who plated this stamp and examined most of the known copies, mentioned it is the finest he has ever seen."

Ex Pratt, MacBride, Hart, Dr. Graves and Boshwit. With 2007 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE. THE FINER OF TWO RECORDED COVERS WITH THE MEMPHIS 2-CENT PROVISIONAL CANCELLED BY A TARGET.

Matthew Campbell Gallaway (1820-1898), a colorful newspaper editor and aide-de-camp to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, was the Memphis Confederate postmaster who issued adhesive stamps and press-printed envelopes until Memphis fell to Federal forces in June 1862. Gallaway was often referred to as "Colonel," but military records show that he was paroled on May 10, 1865, as a 1st Lieutenant and Acting A.D.C. on General Forrest's staff (www.fold3.com). In August 1866 Gallaway, after resuming his position as editor of the Avalanche, was shot through the hand in a murder attempt by a United States tax collector named G. W. Wood (New York Times, Aug. 26, 1866). Gallaway survived and continued working as a newspaper editor until his retirement in 1887. He lived another decade, almost long enough to experience the arrival of the 20th century.

Samuel Mosby is believed to have been co-owner of Mosby & Anderson Storage, listed in the 1859 Memphis City Directory. The business was located on Union between Second and Third Streets (where the Hotel Peabody is today). (http://msgw.org/desoto/bios/mosby.html ).

We have attempted to verify and locate images for each of the Memphis 2c provisional covers listed in the census by Billy Matz (Confederate Philatelist, Mar. 1967) and the Hart survey in the Crown book. We have located images for 11 of the 13 covers listed. Two of the covers are addressed to James Street Esq. in Memphis and apparently have never been publicly offered (they were shown to us by the owner). One of the Street covers has an illegible datestamp, and the stamp on the other is tied by the target cancel. We assume that the dates in the Matz census (Aug. 2 and Oct. 7, 1861) were taken from the letters in these two covers, because we cannot find any other covers addressed to James Street. The two covers which we have been unable to verify with photographs are: "November 10, 1861, to Rev. Thomas Taylor, Newcastle, Tenn." -- this entry is apparently based on the Charles J. Phillips census, which identifies the cover as coming from the Manning collection, but a cover addressed to another post office would require 5c unless it was a circular rate. We would like to see a photograph of this cover. (From the Frank Hart survey): "H. C. Crane has Hon. J. G. Ham, Gov. of Tennessee, Nashville, Tenn." -- again, it seems odd that this cover is addressed to another post office. We would like to see a photograph of this cover.

The target cancellation was used infrequently on Memphis provisionals. It is found on two of the 2c covers and on an off-cover block of six of the 5c provisional.

Ex Caspary, Muzzy, Pope, Tara and Everett. With 1956 and 2002 P.F. certificates, and 1983 C.S.A. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE. A COLORFUL AND RARE USE OF THE MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL ON A PATRIOTIC COVER.

The Crown census lists five patriotic covers with the 5c Memphis provisional.

Ex Matz and Dr. Green. With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE AND STRIKING APPEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE USE OF THE MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL ON AN EAVES-PRODUCED CAMEO CORNER CARD COVER.

Ex MacBride, Dr. Green and Boshwit (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND CHOICE MULTIPLE OF THE MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL ON A CORNER CARD COVER.

With 2005 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. THE LARGEST RECORDED MULTIPLE OF THE 5-CENT MEMPHIS POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL. WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ALL SOUTHERN POSTMASTERS' PROVISIONALS MULTIPLES.

The stereotype plate used to print the Memphis 5c provisional in sheets of 50 was created with ten subjects (two rows of five) at right turned 90 degrees clockwise relative to the other 40 subjects. This arrangement is confirmed by the existence of corner-margin multiples that have precisely the same alignment, which would be impossible if the sideways positions resulted from work-and-turn printing. Only a few multiples exist that show this unusual tete-beche format. Multiples are also known that show the work-and-turn printing method, including three tete-beche pairs (vertical head-to-foot, vertical foot-to-foot, and horizontal head-to-foot).

Ex Walcott, Matz, Pope and Boshwit. Illustrated in the Pratt book on page 27 (Image)

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FINE. ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED 5-CENT MEMPHIS PROVISIONAL TETE-BECHE PAIRS ON COVER, AND THE ONLY RECORDED COVER WITH THE STAMPS FOOT TO FOOT.

If we count only the tete-beche printing varieties and exclude the multiples which contain sideways positions on the plate, there are just three recorded examples of the Memphis 5c provisional tete-beche. Each is a pair on cover, and each shows a unique orientation. The vertical pair on the cover offered here has the impressions aligned foot to foot. The other two are a head-to-head vertical pair (offered in the following lot) and a side-to-side horizontal pair. These tete-beche multiples were created during the work-and-turn printing process. They differ from the sideways tete-beche multiples, which reflect the unusual 5c plate layout (see lot 1050). The sideways multiples are only known in unused condition.

The stamp to the left (as positioned on this cover) shows some of the plate marks of Position 45 (Pratt named this Position 37 in his plating diagram, because he assigned "S" numbers 1-10 to the sideways positions). If we imagine the second plate impression on the same sheet of paper to be turned 180 degrees and aligned below the bottom row, then the adjacent stamp (to the right on this cover) would be Position 47 (Pratt's Position 39). Neither Pratt nor we have been able to analyze Position 47 (or 48) for plating marks (they are missing from the block of 37 in lot 1050). However, the alignment between the full impression and the small portion of the adjoining stamp to the right, which is visible in the margin, does not match the alignment of any two of the other known positions in the bottom row. Therefore, by process of elimination, it seems almost certain that this pair comes from one of the two Position 45/47 vertical tete-beche pairs in the original sheet.

The addressee, Mrs. Mary W. Nash, is addressed in care of Reverend James W. Moore. Reverend Moore's papers are located at the Austin Seminary Archives at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Seminary's website provides a biography of Reverend Moore: "Rev. James Wilson Moore (1797-1873) was the first Presbyterian minister to preach and settle in Arkansas and is known as the father of Presbyterianism in Arkansas. After studying at the Theological Seminary at Princeton, he was licensed to preach in 1827 by Northumberland Presbytery in Milton, Pennsylvania and then ordained as a missionary to Arkansas. In January of 1828 he preached the first Presbyterian sermon in Little Rock, which was then in the Territory of Arkansas. Moore married Elizabeth G. Green of New Jersey in 1830, and in 1840 the family settled in a country home Moore named 'Ruralia,' about thirty miles east of Little Rock. There Moore established a school for boys called Sylvania Academy where he taught for the next 25 years."

Illustrated in the Pratt book (page 30) and Crown book (page 210). Ex Worthington (acquired from New England Stamp Co. on 3/9/1907), Caspary, Wise, Pope and Boshwit. With 2007 P.F. certificate (Image)

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FINE AND RARE. ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED TETE-BECHE PAIRS ON COVER, AND THE ONLY COVER RECORDED WITH THE STAMPS HEAD TO HEAD.

If we count only the tete-beche printing varieties and exclude the multiples which contain sideways positions on the plate, there are just three recorded examples of the Memphis 5c provisional tete-beche. Each is a pair on cover, and each shows a unique orientation. The vertical pair on the cover offered here has the impressions aligned head to head. The other two are a foot-to-foot vertical pair (offered in the preceding lot) and a side-to-side horizontal pair. These tete-beche multiples were created during the work-and-turn printing process. They differ from the sideways tete-beche multiples, which reflect the unusual 5c plate layout (see lot 1050). The sideways multiples are only known in unused condition.

Ex Ferrary, Walcott and Alex Hall. With 1992 C.S.A. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. MEMPHIS IS THE ONLY POST OFFICE REPRESENTED BY COVERS COMBINING THE POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL ADHESIVE AND PRINTED ENTIRE. THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST OF THREE OR FOUR COMBINATION COVERS KNOWN TO US.

Three Confederate post offices issued provisional adhesive stamps and printed entires concurrently: Charleston S.C., Lynchburg Va. and Memphis Tenn. Of the three, only a few Memphis entires are known with an additional 5c provisional stamp for the 10c rate. In this case, the distance between Memphis and Yorktown -- just over 100 miles -- was well under the 500-mile limit for 5c. Therefore, the weight must have exceeded one-half ounce.

Ex Dr. Green. With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

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