NEW YORK TO PROVIDENCE — RED OVAL STEAMER 5, FEBRUARY 1847

I find this an appealing folded letter, both for the red oval STEAMER 5 marking and for the commercial correspondence it carries. The letter was written in New York on February 6, 1847, and addressed to the Lonsdale Company, Providence, Rhode Island. The oval handstamp is strong and legible, and the unusually graceful address makes a very presentable cover.

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    The text discusses the historical significance of the North River in New York City as the heart of the 'Steamboat Revolution' and details the Fall River Line's operation from North River, connecting passengers to Fall River and further to Providence and Boston.

  • Address panel with red oval "Steamer 5"

    The red oval STEAMER 5 is the principal postal-history feature. It indicates handling in connection with steamer mail and shows a five-cent charge. I would not describe this simply as a New York town postmark, nor identify a particular vessel from this marking alone. The ordinary single-letter rate for a distance under 300 miles was five cents under the 1845 postal law, but the exact steamer-service accounting and route should be checked against specialist references before claiming a special rate or rarity. There is no dated town postmark on the face. The February 6 date comes from the enclosed letter, not the postal handstamp.

  • Condition

    The folded letter is complete as shown, with original folding, a red sealing-wax remnant on the reverse, light toning and normal handling marks. The face is particularly clean, and the red marking is unusually attractive.

  • The letter and its commercial setting

    The writer acknowledges the company's letter of February 3, refers to 290 bales of cotton shipped aboard a vessel whose name needs further checking, and promises attention when the shipment arrives. The firm also reports sending a check on the Mechanics' Bank for $4,468.23. The letter describes a considerable rise in cotton prices, with buying by both manufacturers and speculators. It says roughly twelve and a half percent had been paid on the recent market, and encloses samples of 115 bales to show the market. The exact figures and some commercial abbreviations should be retained from the manuscript rather than silently regularized. This is a useful glimpse of how cotton moved from southern shipping channels into the New England textile economy. The Lonsdale Company was associated with the Rhode Island cotton-manufacturing industry. The correspondence shows the practical mechanics of the trade: shipments, samples, bank payments, and rapidly changing prices. The signature appears to be a New York commercial firm ending in '... & Co.'; I have left the exact firm name unassigned pending closer comparison with contemporary directories.

  • Back panel with intact red wax seal