Lot 366
Circular From the American Letter Express Company. An exceedingly rare and short-lived cirular relating to Confederate States postal history, being a nearly pristine example of the American Letter Express Co. advertisement, 1p, 5¼"x3", Nashville, Tennessee, c. July-August 1861. Announcing "To the People of the Confederate States" uninterrupted letter service "to and from all points North and South." The company was chartered by the Tennessee Legislature and was incorporated on June 28, 1861 by Messrs. Thomas E. Jackson and William McGill as an alternative means of conveying letters and printed material to the Northern states following the suspension of national postal service on June 1, 1861.
Mail destined for the north was collected at Nashville bearing an American Letter Express Co. label glued to an envelope that enclosed the original letter, together with the company's prepaid fees, usually 15 cents. The letters were then expressed to Louisville for distribution to points in the Union. With President Lincoln's acquiescence, Postmaster Montgomery Blair ordered the service discontinued on August 26 and its agents arrested. An intriguing ink notation on the verso reads, "This is the way Strickland & Co. carried on their correspondence with their secesh friends and accounts for there [sic] knowledge of the movement of our forces in the field." It is estimated that fewer than a dozen specimens of complete American Letter Express Co. advertising labels survive.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 3,000.
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