Lot
4319 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White, Paid Reply Card Essay, 132 x 259mm overall, triple folded with printing on two end folds, outer folds 132 x 87mm, inner fold 132 x 85mm, perforated 12, Very Fine and rare. USPCC No. MR1E-Jc $1,000.
Realized: $350
Lot
4320 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on Buff, Paid Reply Card Essay, Three unfolded large format cards with printing at top and bottom, one 132 x 258mm with "Tear off communication, and write reply on back of enclosed card." printed at bottom, one 132 x 258mm without the bottom printing, and one 131 x 240mm possibly trimmed to remove the printing at bottom, Very Fine and rare group. USPCC No. MR1E-Jd, Kb $1,600.
Lot
4321 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White, Paid Reply Card Essay, 132 x 242 mm overall, triple folded with printing on two end folds. Inner fold 132 x 86 mm and perforated 15 horizontally at bottom; middle or back fold 132 x 78mm; front fold 132 x 88mm, including 10mm tab at bottom, perforated 15 horizontally, this tab is folded under and glued to the back of the middle fold, and has the customary printing "Tear Off Communication and Write Reply on back of Enclosed Card", which, because of the extra fold, appears inverted on the bottom of the back of the folded card., Very Fine, ex-Mitchell, Slawson. USPCC No. MR1E-Ka $1,000.
THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS BROOKS PAID REPLY CARD ESSAY.
Realized: $400
Lot
4322 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ Black on White Wove, Liberty Paid Reply Card Essay, One Cent Essay showing stamp completed except for routing to desired border width, 19 x 29mm engraving on 37 x 46mm white wove paper, fresh and Very Fine, Only 3 Recorded Examples. USPCC No. MR1E-KA $300.
This essay was created in part using the National Bank Note Co. vignette of Liberty from the first postal card issue of 1873, this essay then formed the basis for the extensive Brooks second design essay cards that follow, it was with these that he waged his main campaign to persuade Congress to accept his patent.
Realized: $325
Lot
4323 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ Black on White Wove, Legend Paid Reply Card Essay, Completed essay of legend only 18 x 9mm on 40 x 36mm white wove paper, consisting of "United States, RETURN, Postal Card" in three lines, the first arched upward at its center, and the last arched downward at its center, fresh and Very Fine. USPCC No. MR1E-KB $300.
THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS ESSAY.
Realized: $240
Lot
4324 E
Franklin W. Brooks, New York, Liberty Paid Reply Card Essays Collection, a remarkable collection encompassing all facets of the Brooks second series design using Liberty vignettes, including La (4 in both colors - watermarked and unwatermarked), Lb (3 incl. unlisted dark blue), Lc (all 5 listed), Ld (all 6 listed), Le (3), Lg (3), LA, N (36 different from various subtypes including one specimen), NAb (1), NAbS (1), O (1), P (two different), Q (two different), R (two different), some toning as usual with overall quality better than the norm with better selected examples, F.-V.F. USPCC No. MR1E-L, LA, M, MA, $12,750.
AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF THE BROOKS LIBERTY PAID REPLY CARD ESSAYS.
The second design essays, with which Franklin W. Brooks waged his one man campaign against Congress, comprise by far the most numerous group of essays in the entire postal card field. Most of the types of proposed reply cards produced bearing the first design of essay stamp used by Mr. Brooks are also known in the second design, although two types were excluded: cards requiring the same stamp to be twice canceled, and triple folded cards. One new type was added (MR1E-O). Numerically, by far the greatest quantities of these cards are concentrated in three of the types (MR1E-M, MR1E-MB, and MR1E-N) while most of the other types are quite scarce. Unlike any of the other patented cards submitted to the Post Office Department for its consideration this stamp design was printed from a carefully engraved die, with both die and printing being the skilled workmanship of an established bank note company. Unquestionably this method required a much greater financial outlay than most patentees desired to expend, but Mr. Brooks felt confident that ultimately his patent would be accepted, and he was financially able, and also willing, to spend money to further this purpose.
The National Bank Note Co., which still retained the master die for the first issued postal card design (S1 as issued in 1873) even though they no longer had any contract with the Post Office Department for producing stamps, transferred the vignette of Liberty as on the first postal card to form the central design of the essay die prepared for Mr. Brooks. A new, upright, rectangular frame was designed for this vignette, sufficiently unlike the escalloped scroll work used on S1 to eliminate any possible charge of counterfeiting or other improper usage, but at the same time sufficiently near the general appearance of the regularly issued card so recently in use that connections were readily made in the minds of the Congressmen, business associates and others whom Mr. Brooks contacted in an effort to forward the acceptance of one of his patented types of cards.
Realized: $6,000
Lot
4325
Frederick G. Mead, New York, Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ Black + 1¢ Red on Light Gray, 133 x 104mm 21 g/4 smoky v. faint o-y-yellow (light pearl gray) card, dual-sided card with Red on first side and Black on return side, both with 1¢ stamp with "F.G. Mead" and "Response Postal Card", patent information in small type at top left of return side, which is pre-addressed to Mead in New York; scuff on front side, still Very Fine and rare. USPCC No. MR1E-SA $1,000.
The top portion was intended to be torn off at the dotted line, removing the original stamp in the process. The return side had the stamp lower which would remain intact for mailing back. Mead believed the different colors would avoid confusion for postal clerks in canceling the correct stamp.
Realized: $425
Lot
4326 E
Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove, first style with two woodcut "stamps" at right, titled "U.S. Postage One Cent" with "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, frameline around perimeter, mailed bearing two 2¢ red brown (210) singles, top tied by "Cincinnati O., Jul 14 '86" duplex addressed to Mann & Keudig at Altoona Pa., returned with second 2¢ tied by "Altoona Pa., Jul 21, 1886" duplex to R.W. Mercer at Cincinnati, Jul 23rd receiver, message from R.W. Mercer reads "How much will you pay for the loan of this card with an article in regard to the merits of this duplex post card. Reply on this card" and the response "We really cannot see that it would be an advantage to use to pay for the prestige of advertising this card. The P.O. Dept. will probably issue one before long as a bill has been introduced with that view."; slight aging, F.-V.F., a rare through-the-mails use of a postal card essay. USPCC No. MR1E-TA Estimate $750 - 1,000.
The postage on this card essay was of course not recognized as this was not issued by the Post Office, and therefore not a postal card. Mercer aggressively pursued acceptance of his cards with many letters to the Post Office Department. Apparently, the only reaction of the Department was to take exception to Mercer's use of "U.S. Postage in his design. This essay was discussed in a Postal Stationery (Jul.-Aug. 1962) article.
Realized: $1,050
Lot
4327 E
Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove, Style with two woodcut stamps at right, titled "U.S. Postage One Cent" with "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, frameline around perimeter, two examples, one on buff card and other on 17 g/4 smoky v. faint o-yellow thin wove card; former with creasing, F.-V.F. USPCC No. MR1E-TA $700.
Lot
4328 E
Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove, Second Style with two woodcut stamps at right, titled "Postage One Cent" with blank space where "U.S." was on previous essay, "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, back with "Postmaster will return to writer in not called for in ten days", no frameline around perimeter, four examples on different shades of card: Off-White, Light Gray, Pinkish Buff and Bluish Green, Very Fine group. USPCC No. MR1E-TAa-d $1,800.
The elimination of the "U.S." was likely in response to the Post Office Department's objections to the earlier essay.
Realized: $550