Sale 284

Harbour Auction


Balloon Flights
 
 
Lot Photo Description
Lot 2413

Austria 1917 Military balloon covers, two fieldpost postcards, first with handstamped Balloon Division No. 1 cachet cancelled Hungarian F.P.O. 91, Jan 21; second with Balloon Company No. 13 cachet and balloon handstamped cachets, postmarked Austrian F.P.O. 440, Sept 30; F.-V.F.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 2414

Germany 1897 Godard balloon flight, Leipzig-Tarnau, special card for a Godard's flight in the balloon Aug. Polich taking place at the Leipzig fair, violet handstamp indicates the balloon left Leipzig on 19 Oct at 5:20 a.m. and arrived in Tarnau on 20 Oct at 5:30 a.m., traveling a distance of 1610 km at an altitude of 3200 m (about two miles), addressed to Munich, unfranked but with Tarnau c.d.s. 21 Oct a manuscript "10" (pf due), F-V.F. and rare.
Estimate 750 - 1,000
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Lot 2415

Germany 1910 Balloon post, special postcard, flown from Detmold, 23 Oct, on the balloon Elmendurf, to an altitude of 4080m, signed by pilot "Heymans", 5pf Germania tied by Ibbenburen c.d.s., Very Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 2416

Germany 1911 Balloon post, formular postcard flown from Augsburg, July 17, by pilot H.H. von Veltheim, penciled flight details are partly illegible including balloon name, addressed to Vienna but not mailed, Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 2417

Germany 1912 Balloon post, special postcard, flown with two passengers from Leipzig, 7 Nov, on the balloon Leipzig, to an altitude of 2000m, signed by pilot Heinrich Wolf, addressed to Brussels, dropped over Roda where it was postmarked 3 Nov, sent unpaid with Belguim 20c postage due tied by Brussels c.d.s., 11 Nov, returned to pilot Wolf in Leipzig, Fine.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 2418

Germany 1912 Balloon Post, formular postcard flown on ballon Ihis (?), July 13, pilot "Ikawitz", no flight details, Austrian 5h green tied by July 15 "(?)fers" c.d.s. with violet boxed "Deutschnoven" handstamp, light crease, Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 2419

Great Britain 1903 Brock's Benefit Crystal Palace (Sept 24), picture postcard, "One Shilling Day" with printed message on reverse, posted to Queenstown, Ireland (Sept 25), with London duplex and arrival c.d.s., punched hole, stamp missing, believed to have been flown, very rare.
Estimate 300 - 400
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Lot 2420

Great Britain 1905 Beckenham Flower Show (July 12), picture postcard with printed message "Despatched from the Clouds by Balloon Post, from the Beckenham Flower Show, Wed., July 12, 1905", posted from Chislehurst to Beckenham, with manuscript notation "Found on Chislehurst Common by…" bearing KE VII ½d tied by "Chislehurst, 8PM, JY 12 03" duplex; card somewhat discolored on message side from exposure, a rarity of which Pringle states only six or seven such pieces of drop mail have survived, this being a later posting time than that which he records in his book.
Estimate 1,500 - 2,000
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Lot 2421

Great Britain 1906 Shrewsbury Flower Show (Sept. 8) picture postcard, "Lievsys No. 503", to Birmingham bearing KE VII ½d tied by "Shrewsbury" c.d.s., minor corner crease at lower left, according to Francis Field this is a scarce "flown" card.
Estimate 500 - 750
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Lot 2422

Great Britain 1907 "The Daily Graphic" Balloon Mammoth (Oct. 12) picture postcard, flight for the long distance record, with the three members of the crew illustrated, posted from Tosse, where the unmanned balloon landed, back to England, with Tosse, 14.10.1907 c.d.s., framed "T" handstamp, and British "2d/FB" handstruck due marking, handwritten message from Charles C. Turner "The Daily Graphic" representative on the flight, Fine and rare.
Estimate 400 - 600

J.L. Tannar's balloon, the Mammoth, set off on a distance record attempt sponsored by "The Daily Graphic" newspaper from Crystal Palace on October 12, 1907. The balloon first touched down at Mellerud, Sweden where the crew descended, however, the lines holding the balloon snapped, it re-ascended unmanned and eventually touched down at Tosse. Some mail had been taken off by the pilots at Mellerud, much of the remaining mail in the basket fell out during the flight to Tosse, the pieces which remained on board being posted on its landing at Tosse.
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Lot 2423

United States "Wise." balloon, handstamped illustrated imprint on 3¢ entire (U10) postmarked "Lancaster, Pa., May 12, 1859"; flap missing, repaired nick at top, Very Fine. A marvelous example of this rare "airmail" collateral item. A month and a half after this cover was sent, on July 2, "Professor" John Wise left St. Louis in a large balloon, The Atlantic for New York City, carrying a bag of mail consigned to him by the United States Express Co. A storm nearly forced the balloon into Lake Ontario and Wise was forced to jettison the mail bag, along with the balloon's lifeboat in order to gain enough altitude to reach the town of Henderson, N.Y. The earliest attempted airmail delivery in the United States was a failure. The flight covered a distance of 809 miles in 19 hours and 50 minutes, the longest non-stop air flight until 1910. Wise attempted another airmail delivery later that year from Lafayette, Ind. but made it only 30 miles before he was forced to land. The mail continued to N.Y. by train. This cover is addressed to a "Mons. Carlincourt" in Utica, N.Y. Carlincourt was a pseudonym for Wise's fellow aeronaut, "Professor" Thaddeus Lowe (see next lot).
Estimate 750 - 1,000

Provenance: Bischel
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Lot 2424

United States "Wise." balloon, imprint as previous, worn impression, on orange cover addressed to aeronaut "Prof. Thaddeus S.C. Lowe" at Valley Forge, Pa., 3¢ rose (65) tied by target with "Westchester, Pa., Feb 25, 1864" c.d.s. alongside; missing flap, repaired nice at top, otherwise F-V.F.
Estimate 750 - 1,000

Provenance: Bischel, where it was said to be the only recorded example [see preceding lot]
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Lot 2425
 
Two important reference books. Early British Balloon Posts by John Pringle, M.D., 1st ed., 126pp + 3 color plates, HB, privately printed circa 1930 (manuscript gift inscription on frontice piece, March 10, 1939). A well illustrated record of the first attempts to carry mail by balloon in Great Britain, 1902-1907, with a chapter on Dr. Barton and his dirigible airship. Fine in original cloth. Gordon Bennett Balloon Race by Drs J. Boesman, 216pp, 1976, PB. Covers the history of the race, 1906-1938, and adds a priced catalogue, 1906-1976, priced in U.S. dollars. Like new.
Estimate 200 - 300
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