1817 PACKET LETTER: Folded entire addressed "The Revd George Marsden... London" bearing a strike of the very rare CAPE PACKET LETTER oval datestamp of 20 DE 1817. "3/6" rating mark, the single Packet rate, notwithstanding it's weight between ½oz and 1oz whereby it should have been charged at 7/-. On reverse the indistinct arrival cds is likely 23 FE 1818 (from companion correspondence pieces). This is possibly THE most elusive of all Cape pre-stamp markings with few examples extant. Rare & exceptional, a key exhibition piece. The writer was one Edward Edwardes, newly arrived Wesleyan missionary to Namaqualand.
