Lot 40039 – 1840 1d Mulready envelope, Forme 2 stereo A153, sent from Mexico to Liverpool

1840 (Dec 16) 1d Mulready envelope, Forme 2 stereo A153, sent from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to Liverpool via New York cancelled by a red oval handstamp of Gilpins Exchange – Reading Room and Foreign Letter Office – New York with a handstruck « 8 » (Robertson M65) alongside indicating an 8d charge as an incoming Ship Letter. Backstamped with a Vera Cruz dispatch cds for 16th December, a F.Karck of New York forwarding agents cachet and a « Liverpool / Ship Letter » handstamp (Robertson type S14). This famous Mulready remains the sole recorded example posted to the UK from outside Europe. An important and extremely attractive exhibition piece. Note: Illustrated on page 118 of the « Mulready Postal Stationery » by Alan Huggins and Alan Holyoake. Expertise: Cert. BPA (1998).Provenance: Grunin and « Mayflower ».