Auction 333-341 Europe & Overseas - Day 5

French Post Office in Beirut 1866 (March 6): Double rate Envelope to Tolland, Connecticut, bearing Napoléon perforated 20 c. blue, two single examples, a pair and a strip of three as well as a pair of 40 c. orange, nearly all glued over the envelope's edge, tied by indistinct Gros chiffres '5082' numeral, "BEYROUTH SYRIE" despatch cds and framed "AFFRANCHISSEMENT / INSUFFISANT" in black alongside, reverse with "NEW YORK / Am PKT APR 2" transit cds in black. The rate to the USA was lowered on January 1, 1866 to 120  centimes, the present cover therefore underpaid by 20 centimes, According to the postal convention, the entire franking was voided and the letter treated as unpaid upon arrival in New York. The manuscript '74/60' denotes postage due as 60 c. in silver coin or 74 c. in paper currency. The manuscript '42' shows a debit of 42 cents by France to the USA. The additional USA adhesive 1861 3 c. dull red, affixed in Beirut, served no purpose, nevertheless an attractive and scarce oddity.
Note: This cover is part of the correspondence to Azariah Lathrop Benton, born 1816 in Tolland and died there in 1896, presumably sent by his brother William A. Benton. Azariah Lathrop Benton grew up with the intention of becoming a Congregational missionary. His parents were in such circumstances, however, that his more immediate duty seemed to be at home. William A. Benton, his brother, took up the work, and was a missionary in Syria for twenty-two years. The envelopes from this correspondence were always made in a thin fragile paper, sent either paid or unpaid with French postal services and were always bearing a useless US adhesive.