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Auction: 26015 - "The Treasure of the Eagles" Collection of Albania - Part I
Lot: 3018

(x) French Albania (1806-1814)
1809 (Feb. 2). Entire letter from Ragusa (Duvrovnik) to Venice (March 13th), sent through the postal services established by the French Army of Dalmatia (“Armee de Dalmatie”) in Dubrovnik, bearing “ragusa/d.to d,albania” postmark, with a handwritten postal rate of “22” Italian centimes, the correct tariff applied in accordance with Decree No. 46 issued on 12.1.1807 for the transport of a letter weighing from ¼ to ¾ ounce carried within the Italian Kingdom (Department of Dalmatia) to a destination within a distance of 3 radiuses. Letter sent during the last months of the third tariff period of the French Italian Kingdom postal administration (1.2.1807–30.4.1809); in 1810, Ragusa, together with Dalmatia and Istria, will pass under the newly created French Illyrian Provinces. A rarity of the French mail abroad, with just two examples recorded, and also highly desirable for the advanced collector of the Napoleonic period in particular.

provenance: Walter Andrea D'Agostino
The Fondo D’Agostino is an important historical collection of documents and correspondence relating to contagion control from the Renaissance through the 19th century, of scholarly significance for the study of early public health systems and the historical management of infectious diseases. It was assembled and later donated by Professor Walter Andrea D’Agostino (1920–2016), a diabetologist and distinguished scholar of epidemic diseases, and is today preserved at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan.
Before the greater part of the collection was donated, the Albanian section was acquired directly from Professor D’Agostino by the collector of “The Treasure of the Eagles”, while a smaller group of material relating to other countries was dispersed at auction. The present material in this collection therefore represents a rare and significant provenance, originating from what is arguably one of the most, if not the most important general collection in the world devoted to historical documentation on public health, contagion control, and disinfection practices, also detailed in the noted book "Contagio: Sudore, Lacrime e Sangue in Tempi di Pestilenze" by W. A. D'Agostino.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Estimate
£1,500 to £2,500

Starting price
£1300