MALTA to ITALY chisel slit due cholera outbreak 1883 cover to Reggio de Calabria (Southern Italy) with two pair plus single Great Britain QV ˝d pale green (SG.Z90) tied Malta "A25" duplex dated B/DE 6 83 showing single chisel slit on address panel, reverse 8 12 80 arrival, cover opened at both base and right edges. Chisel slits were applied due to a cholera outbreak in Southern Italy. Covers with such chisel slits have been noted on Malta outgoing entires for JY 4, JY 8, JY 29, AU 5, AU 12, NO 24, DE 6 1883. £200
NASSAU via PHILADELPHIA to LONDON, Bahamas postal history 1852 outer wrapper docketted "Nassau 13 Oct 1852" landed blue PHILADELPHIA OCT 30 showing "24" surface charge to New York (where it caught the Cunard steamer “Europa” to Liverpool) and black circled "5" for ship to The Rev. George Osborn, Wesleyan Mission House, London rated 1/- with 17 NO arrival backstamp. In late September 1852 there was an outbreak of cholera in the Bahamas in which over a 1,000 persons died within a period of five months. The Daily Atlas described “Vessels in the harbour being crowded with people fleeing the scourge”. Also on NO 17 1852 the RMSP "La Plata" arrived Southampton “under melancholy circumstances” – nine dead on board and 21 taken ill during the voyage from the West Indies (Pratique 6/02).
£175