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Description
[Post Offices]
Royal Post route sheet, 1738
Royal Post route sheet, dated 18 August 1738, used to track the transport of mail between Paris and the northern provinces.
Pre-printed section, completed in pen by successive postmasters
36 x 21 cm (visible area); 49 x 34 cm (including frame)
This route sheet specifies that it concerns ‘Jacques’, ‘Ordinary Courier to Saint-Quentin’, responsible for ‘the King’s and Public Dispatches’; on the left is a list of towns (Louvre, Senlis, Compiègne, Noyon, Ham, Saint-Quentin, Cambray, Valenciennes, etc.). These are the post stations located on the Northern Route (towards Picardy and Flanders). On the right, the arrival and departure times for each stopover town are indicated. Each entry is countersigned by the local postmaster.
The list of towns mentioned corresponds to a strategic route linking Paris to the Austrian Netherlands and the strongholds of the North (Valenciennes, Maubeuge), an area of intense trade but also a key military zone.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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