1688 - DUTCH REGISTERED MAIL
TRANSCRIPTIONS, TRANSLATIONS AND COMMENTS BY KEES ADEMA

FRONT OF LETTER
 

                           It would still be worth it                                                                                               Regards,
                           if the value was                                                                                              your honoured servant
                           1 to 2% lower                                                                                                        Hendrick Helt

Notes: 1: The Heerengracht is one of the major canals in Amsterdam, currently still known as the Heerengracht or Gentleman's Canal.
           2: Cromhaut is an old term for the horizontal beam of a structure. On that beam the hind legs of a butchered pig were fastened after the beast
              was slaughtered and preparatory to butchering. The reference could be to a Butcher's Shop or a person named Cromhout. (See other notes below)
           3: The "bond without a name" is a literal translation but it refers to what is now known as a bearer bond, one that can be freely traded without
               getting endorsements.
           4: At that time in the Netherlands, there were separate exchanges in the separate cities and each market set its own prices. It is this difference
               which the writer is trying to exploit.

FULL TEXT OF LETTER SHOWING THE SPECIAL "HUMBLE" FOLDING STYLE TO INDICATE RESPECT
 

3 Stuivers Postage Due Mark

Registered Mail Mark

Dateline: Hague September 21, 1688 

Signature of Henrick Helt

Historical Notes:

The postmark – Adema type H3 [named from Kees Adema's definitive books on the postal history of the Netherlands] - The following  are Kees' comments on this letter. (He is a friend and fellow member of the Collector's Club of New York): This postmark was in use from 1686 to 1735 and the inside diameter should is 16 mm. The letter was transported by a messenger on horseback who left the Amsterdam skippers' office on the Rokin at 7 pm each evening. He rode to Alphen on the Rhine. Postillions from all different directions, in this case The Hague, would meet up there at 2 a.m. and mail bags were exchanged. The postillion who had arrived from Amsterdam would now return with mail from The Hague and other towns. The rate between all these towns was 3 Stuivers and an arrival marking would be placed to indicate that the addressee had to pay for the postage, in other words it was a hand stamped postage due marking. The face of the letter shows two double crossed lines – this means it was registered. Unlike regular postage, the registration fee, also 3 stuivers, had to be paid in advance by the sender. The registered mail was kept separate from the regular mail but was carried by the same postillion. The letter was originally folded in a so called "humble manner", a way of showing respect towards the addressee. The letter came from the archive of a merchant called van Uijlenbroeck, who lived in the 'huijsen van Cromhout'. There were four "houses" on the Heerengracht (Gentleman's Canal) # 364, 366, 368 and 370.

Please also note that this item comes with additional Exhibition Ready pages with an Old Dutch transcription and translations into Modern Dutch and English along with the above comments by Kees Adema, the leading authority on Dutch Postal History. See Below:

Offered by Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd.