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Auction: 21020 - Rhodesia 1910-13 Double Head Issue: The Cottonwood Collection Robert M Gibbs Trustee
Lot: 24

(x) Issued Stamps
Perforated 14
Halfpenny
Paul Graetz Expedition Cover
1911 (2 Dec.) envelope (290x118mm.) registered from Fort Roseberry to a photographer/projector maker in Berlin, bearing ½d. olive-green and 1d. red in combination with 1897 4d. ultramarine and claret and 1898 6d. reddish purple each cancelled with a very late use of the "859" BONC and with the ½d. additionally tied by a fine strike of the single-ring "fort roseberry/n.e. rhodesia" datestamp with code "o", showing manuscript "R No 92" with the "R" subsequently over-stamped with oval-framed "r", the reverse of the envelope twice sealed with two "fort roseberry/n.e. rhodesia" red wax seals with large and small parts remaining, London Registered hooded datestamp (6.1.12) and Berlin (8.1) datestamps; central vertical crease and a few other trivial imperfections, nevertheless a remarkable four colour franking and quite rightly considered to be the greatest of all ½d. Double Head covers. Photo



Note: Paul Graetz was posted to German East Africa in 1901. He was to undertake three expeditions to cross Africa. In 1907 a newspaper announced that he planned to cross Africa in an automobile eventually arriving in Swakopmund in May 1909 , 630 days after setting off. In 1911 he again set off, this time initially on water with the expedition boat "Sarotti", later on the boat being carried on land. During this journey a wounded buffalo attacked Graetz and his photographer, killing the photographer and injuring Graetz who sustained a broken jaw amongst other injuries. Graetz was still recovering from his injuries when he mailed this envelope to Berlin. The expedition ended just before reaching the Congo River. He subsequently resumed this journey in 1912, via the Congo River

With thanks to Derek Lambert. See the Rhodesia Study Circle Issue 284, March 2021

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Sold for
£1,900

Starting price
£1400