- Home
- Collections
- Search the Collection
- Mourning envelope from Parthenay
Mourning envelope from Parthenay
Object Details
- Description
- This mourning envelope originated from Parthenay on January 1, 1871, (fourth collection) and was prepaid 1 Franc for the 20 centimes French internal letter rate plus the 80 centime fee for the special “Boules de Moulins” service to Paris. Under this scheme, letters were placed in zinc balls and then floated down the Seine River into Paris. Within Paris a series of nets were erected to trap the zinc balls. Unfortunately, this scheme was not very successful, and no zinc balls were recovered during the period of the Siege. Examples of the zinc balls were retrieved later (one as late as 1982--fully 111 years after it was put in the Seine River), from which the known letters survived. The red stain at the upper left indicates that an 80 centimes stamp of the 1870 "Bordeaux" issue was originally on this envelope, but it became dislodged while floating in the water.
- Credit line
- Bequest of Harriett M. Leach
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- January 1, 1871
- Object number
- 0.260305.10.35.1
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink
- Dimensions
- Height x Width: 2 3/16 x 3 3/8 in. (5.5 x 8.5 cm)
- Place
- FRANCE (republic)
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- On View
- Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
- Topic
- Floyd S. Leach Collection
- Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1877)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_0.260305.10.35.1
- Usage
- Usage conditions apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.