Auction 309-320 - Europe & Overseas - Day 6

French Indochina 1878 (May 11): Envelope from the French Army in Hue Annam to Paris bearing General Issues Cérès 25 c. blue type I, in fresh colour and with good to large margins, tied by octagonal "CORR. D. ARMÉES HUE 11 MAI 78" datestamp in blue, a splendid illustration strike aside. Reverse with "SAIGON COCHINCHINE 28 MAI 18" transit, Marseille - Lille ambulant and PARIS arrival cds's, all in black. Ex collection Provera.rnNote: Very interesting and early item from the years between the annexation of Cochinchine and Tonkin and the complete loss of sovereignity in 1884. Despatched in Hue, the seat of the Annamese Emperor, presumably by Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837-1902), a French colonial administrator and diplomat. Philastre arrived in Cochinchina for the first time in 1861. In 1873, he played an important role in mediating between the French colonial authorities in Annam and the royal court in Huế. In 1874, Philastre negotiated the Second Treaty of Saigon with the Annamese court.