Auction 333-341 Western Australia & Great Britain - Day 3

1854: Lithographed 4 d. pale blue, a used example with good to large margins all round, variety "Tilted Frame" (Row 7, stamp 4, Pane B, position 129) in combination with February 1858 2 d. brown-black on red (Transfer Type 2), each cancelled by void obliterators in black. Maltese Cross "PERTH" despatch at left (July 12) in black and carried by European & Australian Mail Co. "Emeu", which left Sydney on 11 July 1858, via Melbourne (July 16), via King George's Sound (date not known) and thence to Galle (Aug 7), Aden (Aug 18) and Suez (Aug 24). Transferred to the "Teviot" at Alexandria  vias Malta (Aug 30) to Southampton (Sept 9), with reverse showing London arrival datestamp (Sept 10). Signed on reverse "Tilted Frame - Frank Chadwick". An outstanding cover of the utmost rarity.
Provenance: Collection L. Shenfield, Harmers, New York, 17 March 1975, lot 434.
Note: The cover is addressed to Henry Drummond Wolff (1830-1908) at the Foreign Office in London, where he started as a clerk. He was a Conservative MP for Bournemoth and later Portsmouth, from 1874 until 1885. He was British high commissioner in Egypt from 1885 to 1887 and was later appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Teheran in 1888, a post he held until 1891, thereafter he was Ambassador to Madrid from 1892 to 1900.