13 November 1839 Waghorn Sidebottom 14b Cover

13 November 1839

1839, "Forwarded by/Mr. Waghorn's Agra Agency/Mr. McCallum/Registration fee paid Bombay." (Unlisted in Sidebottom; Smith 14a). Bold strike of four-line handstamp on folded cover docketed with Agra Nov. 13, 1839 origin date, addressed to Lyon, France, sender's directive "through the agency of Mr. Waghorn via Marseilles, Bombay", red Agra Nov. 18 despatch (Giles 5, recorded as only in black), Lyon arrival datestamp, red "Paquebots de la Mediteranee" handstamp, horizontal file fold thru handstamp VERY FINE. A TRULY REMARKABLE THOMAS WAGHORN COVER FROM AGRA. THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THIS HANDSTAMP, WHICH WAS USED WITHIN THE NORMAL OPERATING YEARS OF THE WAGHORN OVERLAND SERVICE. THIS MARKING IS UNLISTED IN SIDEBOTTOM AND DIFFERS SLIGHTLY FROM THE HANDSTAMP IN THE SMITH BOOK. ONE OF THE KEY RARITIES OF WAGHORN COVERS. Agra, most famous for the Taj Mahal, was the capital of the North-Western Provinces administrative region of British India from 1836 to 1858. We have been unable to find any mention of a Waghorn office in Agra. Smith makes brief mention of a similar marking (p. 29 in his book), which is a five-line handstamp with "To" at center. This leads us to believe this was either a short-lived operation and/or exceptionally small. Since most trade was conducted along coast cities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, most Waghorn covers are to, from or carried through those cities. The only other example of this handstamp we can locate is in the renowned Heddergott collection.

"Magnolia" Dilip Shah