Rare United States Stamps and Covers continued...

VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE 1869 PICTORIAL ISSUE COVER FROM JAPAN TO ENGLAND, PREPAID AT THE 10-CENT TRANSPACIFIC AND 6-CENT TRANSATLANTIC RATES AND CANCELLED BY THE DISTINCTIVE JAPANESE "CHOP" CANCEL.

With 2001 P.F. certificate (Image)

A FINE AND EXTREMELY RARE USE OF THE 10-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL ISSUE ON A COVER CARRIED FROM PEKING TO SHANGHAI BY THE SHANGHAI LOCAL POST, THEN MAILED AT THE UNITED STATES CONSULATE. THE ORIGINAL 24-PAGE LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY DESCRIBES IN DETAIL THE TIENTSIN MASSACRE OF JUNE 1870.

In the enclosed 24-page letter, the writer, a missionary in Peking, carefully describes the infamous Tientsin Massacre of June 1870, an incident that nearly precipitated war between China and the West. Fueled by Chinese xenophobia and rumors that French Catholic nuns were abducting and murdering Chinese children, a mob of hostile Chinese attacked the Catholic orphanage in Tientsin and killed 18 foreigners, including 10 nuns. All of the circumstances and events are detailed in this letter. Due to its size and weight, the U.S. double rate applied. Service between Peking and Shanghai was provided by the Shanghai Local Post, as evidenced by the red "Paid" handstamp. In Shanghai the letter entered the U.S. mails thru the General Consul.

This cover and letter come from a correspondence that only recently reached philatelic hands, and it is both a rare 10c 1869 usage from Peking via the Shanghai Local Post and a remarkable contemporary account a horrific event in China's relations with the Western world. (Image)