(Bremen transit mail) 1817 entire from Leeds, England to Bolzano, Italy, endorsed "via Hambrg" but instead routed via Bremen with straight-line E.P.B. handstamp, red desptach date stamp and red manuscript rates on front; light horizontal filing crease at top, a scarce routing handstamp.
(Hamburg - Prussia) 1859 (2/4) entire to Pesth, Hungary bearing single franking right-hand marginal 1857 3 Sgr orange-yellow tied bt very fine Hamburg Bahnhof double-ring date stamp, arrival backstamp of 4/4; fine and attractive.
(Hamburg) 1823 entire to Portugal bearing framed Hamburg Paid cursive framed handstamp of the British Post Office and stated to be the last recorded date of use, oval-framed Lisboa arrival and manuscript 280 reis charge, reverse with London FPO transit; fine and rare
(Hamburg) 1858 (22 May) small envelope addressed to Ballarat, Victoria, Australia with ‘gull wing’ despatch date stamp, London Paid transit of MY 24, at top an unclear UNCLAIMED handstamp and at left fine red three-line ‘SENT BACK TO ENGLAND/ WITHOUT A REASON/ FOR NON DELIVERY’, reverse with unclearly dated Melbourne cds; slight fault at centre of envelope.
(Hamburg) 1861 cover to Cuxhaven franked by two 1860 imperf 1Sch. brown, each with good to large margins, cancelled by short four-line cancel, oval date stamp to left; without any backstamps, fine and fresh.
(West Africa – Gold Coast) 1888 (26/5) cat illustrated cover to Frankfurt bearing framed Aus/ West – Africa/ mit/ Hamburger Dampfer handstamp tying a 20pf., reverse with Verviers Coln tpo and arrival cancels, front with manuscript Quittah, den 26/5 88; fine and scarce.
(West Africa – Togo) 1890s cover to Berlin bearing framed Aus/ West – Africa/ mit/ Hamburger Dampfer handstamp tying a 20pf., manuscript “Little Popo/ 24/2 XX” provenance in English, arrival backstamp; fine and unusual.
1849 outer letter sheet to Finland sent unpaid via Hamburg, showing various manuscript rate markings and a framed Obetalt.FR./ Dannemark/ H.Borg 17 Aug 49 handstamp, reverse with Copenhagen despatch and Stockholm transit; fine condition.
1850 (7 Dec) entire to Carlshamn, Sweden franked 1849-50 25c. pair (cut into at top and touched elsewhere) and two 1f. tied by four grille handstamps with Cette despatch in association, annotated at top “franco Hambourg” and two framed oxidised red PF handstamps applied, reverse with Hamburg date stamp and double-ring K.S.& N.P.A. Hamburg transit of Royal Swedish-Norwegian Post Office, Ystad arrival on front. A standard entire to Sweden was 0.60Fr upto 7.5g., this entire is franked at 2f.50, a four times rate plus 10c. Alternatively it may be that with the “franco tous” under stamps the sender just wanted to ensure sufficient postage to destination, so maybe a normal tariff overfranked 1f.90. A very interesting First Issue cover, Soluphil Certificate.
1860(30 April) stampless registered outer letter sheet prepaid in cash from Hamburg to London bearing red HAMBURG/ PAID cds and HAMBURG/ CROWN/ REGISTERED, Registered arrival below, at top left Charge handstamp. A good example of this scarce London Foreign Branch handstamp despite light filing creases.
1877 cover to Hamburg bearing very fine negative Correos de la Chimba Bolivia with illustrated Ship centre, framed FRANCA and oval-framed fancy CANCELADO, the reverse with three-line La Chimba/ Enero date stamp, routed via British Post Office at Panama with three-line handstamp on front, London transit and arrival backstamps, receiving in Hamburg a handstamped 'T' and manuscript "360" charge. Peter Holcombe Certificate.