Lot
16 
Forwarded by Bolles & Co., Lahaina Maui, clear strike of red truncated box on cover to Adamsville R.I., red "Honolulu, Hawaiian-Islands, Nov 24" cds (HON HI35), black "San Francisco Cal '12' Dec 21, 1860" integral due cds for the 10¢ transcontinental rate plus 2¢ ship fee; cover worthy of proper restoration, Very Fine appearance. Estimate $5,000 - 7,500.
THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE BOLLES & CO. FORWARDERS MARKING.
Benjamin F. Bolles arrived and entered business at Lahaina in 1848 establishing a ship chandlery and general merchandise store that operated from 1848 to 1861. Starting in 1851, he was closely associated with Gorham Gilman and in 1861 he moved to Honolulu.
Letter was likely written by a whaler who deposited the letter with Bolles & Co. who took it to the Lahaina post office. The letter was sent to Honolulu by an interisland schooner and from there it was carried by the American Bark "Comet" departing Nov. 26th to San Francisco arriving Dec. 18th. It was postmarked Dec. 21st for the departure of the Butterfield overland mail to St. Joseph Mo. via Los Angeles, El Paso and Ft. Smith and then carried east on the railroad.
References: Illustrated and discussed in Fred Gregory's Hawaii Foreign Mail to 1870 on proof. II-364, fig. 19-17.
Realized: $3,750