Balloon Montes take off at Harmers auction

In the course of any given year Harmers of London handle hundreds of collections and many millions of Pounds worth of fine stamps and postal history. Few, however can rival the fabulous Geatano Vullo collection of Paris Balloon Posts for its historical content.

During the Franco Prussian war of 1870 to 1871 Paris , one of the world’s largest cities was besieged by the Prussians.

The rest of France and indeed the world was anxious for news of the beleaguered City but how could its citizens communicate with the outside world?

The ingenious French had been the first to fly manned balloons some years earlier and now this "invention" came to their aid. Why not put letters into these manned balloons and simply fly them over the encircling Prussians?

Almost sixty balloons, manned sometimes by spies or important people ascended from Paris during the four month siege, sometimes being captured by the Prussians, sometimes becoming captive of mother nature herself and taken on adventures defying the imagination.

By their nature the "Ballon Montes" are readily identified and many more were kept by the recipients than ordinary mail so not all are rare.

Harmers offered a total of 145 lots with a total realisation of £226,991. Some of the more interesting realisations include:

Lot 1508 Ballon number 6 "Armand Barbes", letter with a fine "Arostiers" handstamp on the reverse (indicating that the letter was not handed in at the post office but handed directly to the people handling the Balloon). Estimate £8,000 – realised £10,895.

Lot 1541 Ballon number 21 "Colonel Charras", letter to Sardinia . Estimate £1,500 – realised £3,635.

Lot 1553 Ballon number 24 " Galilee ", letter addressed to Belley bearing 10c. tete-beche pair (one of only three know tete-beche pairs on Ballon Monte known to us) Estimated £7,500 – realised £10,895.

Lot 1556 Ballon number 28 "Daguerre", letter addressed to Moscow with arrival datestamp on the reverse. Estimated £10,000 – realised £12,616.

Lot 1582 Ballon number 35 "Jules Favre No. 2", letter to St. Servan with blue Aeronautes" handstamp on the reverse. Estimated £5,000 – realised £9,175.

Lot 1596 Ballon number 42 "Ville de Paris", envelope ("Formula Bouquillard") posted unpaid and with blue "Aeronatutes" handstamp on the reverse. Estimated £4,500 – realised £11,469 .

To mention just a few!

These impressive realisations underline Harmer’s place at the forefront of Philately and are also an indication of the very strong market for rare and unusual material.