Lot 90001 – 1874, “Document informing about the commencement of the new U.S.-Japan postal agreement

1874, “Post Office Department, Office of Foreign Mails” letterhead datelined Washington D.C., July 23, 1874, signed by Joseph H. Blackfan and addressed to J. W. Barber, Third Asst. Postmaster General, informing about the commencement of the new U.S.-Japan postal agreement, effective Jan. 1, 1875, the “postal agencies maintained by this Department at Yokohama (Kanagawa), Hiogo, Nagasaki and Hakodati, will be discontinued on the 31st of December 1874”. A very rare official document communicating the cessation of U.S. post offices operating in Japan, when Japan postal service opened its foreign-mail department. An item of major importance for any collection of Japanese foreign mail or U.S. post offices in Japan.

Provenance: “Magnolia” (Part 4, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries sale 1271, 13.12.2022, lot 378)