OVERSEAS COUNTRIES - Lot 331

OVERSEAS COUNTRIES L.A.S. in German signed E. G. Duclercq, Port-au-Prince, February 20, 1834, addressed to Johann Clofmann & Cie in Bordeaux. 2 folio pages, with handwritten "Duplicate" on the second letter; addresses on verso, linear postal mark "PAYS D'OUTREMER", transit stamps and traces of seal. A few small marginal tears and minor foxing. Interesting set of commercial correspondence dispatched from Port-au-Prince in early 1834, testifying to the activity of European trading houses established in Haiti in the first decades after independence. The letters describe maritime shipments, prices and transactions involving Bordeaux wines - notably Lafite, Saint-Julien and Saint-Maurice - as well as various considerations relating to local cargoes and prices. The correspondent details the sales made and the difficulties of the local market, providing a concrete overview of exchanges between Bordeaux merchants and the trading houses of Saint-Domingue. The presence of a "duplicate" letter underlines the vagaries of transatlantic communications and the precautions taken to ensure the proper reception of commercial information. A fine set of colonial correspondence combining postal history and international trade, with "Pays d'Outremer" markings and content directly linked to French trade circuits in the West Indies at the beginning of the July Monarchy.