Europe and Overseas,Olympic Philately and Memorabilia - Day 2

1874 (Aug 24). Envelope sent free of charge from Santiago to England, addressed to Bellefontaine prés Montereau (France), with illustrated ''Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura/Chile 1869'' marking with cow, plough and bale, as well as ''Dirección General de Correos/Receptoría(?) de Chile'' handstamp with postman riding a horse, "Santiago/Chile" cds and framed ''Franca'', the latter three all in violet. The cover shows on reverse the cachet of the Chilean consulate in Liverpool, which makes believe that this mail was most probably carried in a mail bag for diplomatic correspondence carried via Panama and addressed to the Chilean consul in Liverpool, from where it was forwarded to France via the regular mail, posted and franked with very fine Great Britain 1874 6 d. grey (pl. 13, ''Huth'' perfin),tied by "Liverpool 16 OC 74" duplex, with red oval ''PD'' alongside, showing French transits and arrival on front and reverse. Cover with imperfections due to rough opening at top, nevertheless an exceptional, fascinating and probably unique mixed franking of Chilean official mail with Great Britain stamps, including a most rare usage of transatlantic diplomatic mail.

Provenance: Ángel Menéndez.