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Part Four  BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1930  Page Five

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[[photograph: corner of a room with mirror over a fireplace to the left, oil painting above a chest of drawers behind an armchair to the right of a side table]]
[[caption]] A corner of our redecorated showrooms now open to retail buyers [[/caption]]

We are now holding a special exhibition and sale of 18th Century English silver, china, glass and other antiques, especially suitable for Christmas.

Norman R. ADAMS Incorporated
17th & 18th Century English Furniture
140 Charles Street, Boston
NEW YORK. LONDON AND BRISTOL, ENGLAND
Member British Antique Dealers Association and Antiques and Decorative Arts League
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Sophisticated Type of Colonial Furniture
[[photograph of a wooden chaise longue]]
[[credit]] (Courtesy of Mr. George Francis Dow)[[/credit]]
[[caption]] Chaise Longue, of Flemish Derivation, Once the Property of the Irascible Jonathan Belcher, One of the Royal Governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony [[/caption]]

By William Germain Dooley

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This interesting and very rare chaise longue, never before photographed or published, is authentically associated with one of the Royal governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 18th century. It was listed among the property and household effects of Governor Jonathan Belcher (1682-1757) when he disposed of his bulkier belongings at a "publick vendue" in Boston in 1749. Jonathan Belcher was a native of Cambridge, wealthy, graduate of Harvard in 1699, a frequent traveler abroad. He spent six years at the Royal Court of Hanover, ingratiating himself with the future George I of England, and paving the way for his gubernatorial appointments.

The year 1730 finds him Governor of Massachusetts. He was a man of society and the world, entertained with elegant liberality, and filled his sumptuous house with the finest English and Continental furniture, especially favoring the then popular Flemish style. This six-legged chaise longue is typical of the style and time. Internal evidence, such as the style of turnings, the carving, the wood, date this piece as around 1680, the inference being that His Excellency had been shopping in England for his furniture. Belcher was a man of domineering and irascible temper, which made him so unpopular with the restless colonists that he was recalled in 1741, and sent to New Jersey as governor in 1749.

Here the people were more quiet and submissive, and he continued in office till his death eight years later. He left a fine library to Princeton, and almost had old Nassau Hall renamed after him, but he declined the honor.

Upon leaving Boston he sold his heavier household effects at the "publick vendue" mentioned above. This chaise longue was bought by Edward Bartlett of Newbury, in whose family it has come down to the present owner. The length of the piece is sixty inches, with the six legs braced by unusually long stretchers carved in the Flemish manner. It is a transitional style, the carving not being cut completely through and the stretchers not yet assuming the commoner arched form. The back rest has a fine oval swinging head frame, with two cherubs (or putti) supporting a coronet. This design is very similar to a Flemish side chair in the Cluny Museum at Paris. The lower part of the head frame is doweled into the side posts to form hinges, and the top is held in place and adjusted by chains. Unmistakably English is an incised criss-cross border design running around the seat rail. In splendid condition, the only restoration is the caning; the wood is walnut. The matter of proportion, so important and so unusually unfortunate in a chaise longue, has been successfully solved, and on the whole places it in the first rank of its class, aside from its historical interest. It is now in the collection of Mr. George Francis Dow at Topsfield.

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A Saturday Transcript Feature -
Originated June 7, 1924

Antiques
A Special Exposition Issue
Next Saturday, November 29
[[image of floral ornament]]
To be sure that your advertisement will be placed on these pages we must have your copy and order before 12 noon, Friday, November 28.

Boston Evening Transcript
324 WASHINGTON STREET,  BOSTON, MASS.
Telephone LIB erty 6600
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ANTIQUES
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Boylston Place of Yesterday and Today
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Continued from Preceding Page
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times, Mrs. Wyman followed meekly behind, not to be outdone either in courage or curiosity. The cracking of old timbers and stairs was responsible for all that was uncanny.

Raymond, the costumer, later took the house at number seven, and this firm still occupies one of the two remaining houses left intact.

There were some years, just before and after the year 1900, when a foreign population crept into Boylston Place, and many of the old homes were occupied by Greeks, Jews, Italians and others.

Down the fifteen-foot roadway, which led to the rear of the tannery, at right angles to the ugly, rear brick walls of surrounding emporiums, stands one gaunt structure, left empty and desolate. A three-story brick residence of former days——immutable and silent. On an early plan, the name "Upham" appears at this spot, so no doubt this forlorn relic was the home of that family.

The map showing the Lane in 1888, gives the names of residents there, many belonging to prominent Boston families. Whitney, Walcott, Hopkinson, Sturgis, Walker, Gardner and Nash were among the owners.

In 1872, Julia Ward Howe lived in the second house from Boylston Street and it was from one of her frequent guests, a kindly white-haired gentleman, who was her neighbor at the time, that reminiscences of that time were forthcoming. Mrs. Howe entertained much and often. Her guests were illustrious people from here, there and everywhere. Her friends looked forward eagerly to their visits with her, and long after, carried the memory of these happy times of profit and pleasure. About 1872-3, Adeline T. Whitney, the writer, also lived there. Dr. Wesselhoeft was on the corner. Rev. Mr. Treat, pastor of the Columbus Avenue Congregational Church, and other men of prominence made Boylston Place their home. It is said that Boylston Place was at one time called Slimper's Court, a family of that name having residence there.

It has been said that Dudley Boylston had the first residence  on Boylston Street. His daughter married Joseph Walker, who acquired property at the east corner of Boylston Place.

And what of Boylston Place today? History still clings to some of its walls, and time has but added enchantment to the little left of the early days. Some twenty-odd years ago the Tavern Club, an exclusive social organization for men, purchased the property at Nos. 4, 5 and 6. The main clubrooms occupy the site of the old tannery. In their theater, at the top of the building, there still stands some of the original rafters and part of the old roof,——and that tannery passed from use before the year 1800.

The fifteen-foot drive, which runs into the rear from the street, is a delivery entrance for adjoining stores, fronting on Boylston Street. The swinging sign of the Odd Fellows, whose quarters for many years, have also been on part of the tannery site, is distinguished by the words,

ANCIENT LANDMARK
1774, etc.

Numbers 5 and 7 are the only two remaining homes left intact.

Here in the heart of Boston, within walking distance of all downtown hotels, this narrow roadway leads off the main highway of Boylston Street. Each day thousands cross from curb to curb with not a thought of its romance. Once merely a rough, rutted cartway to a dingy tannery, later and for many years the entrance to a genteel street, down which trod at one time or another professional and learned men and many eminent scholars.

Today the narrow lane shrieks with the mart of trade. Van, coal derricks, trucks and motors crowd the place. Yet one semblance of the past remains——the dingy rag-man, with his rangy white horse and his rickety cart, a-winding down the lane for his regular plunder. The old, old lane——so antique in history, so modern in commerce!

And just within the year, as if to blaze her trail, myriad electric lights flood the place as if with the afterglow of day. These lend prestige to the quaint old place, and passers-by, even by night, may become a part of its present-day activities and come to know this ancient landmark more intimately, especially since it affords a quiet, convenient parking place

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PROWLINGS

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EXPRESS companies throughout New England will experience a preliminary Christmas rush next week, for exhibitors will then begin shipping their choicest pieces to the Hotel Statler for the Second Annual Boston Antiques Exposition, which opens Dec. 1. Already dealers are looking their stock over carefully, selecting and rejecting and deciding how the antiques should be placed to best advantage in their booths. Next week there will be a special Antiques Section in which the Prowler will endeavor to tell you something of the splendid pieces to be displayed and the unusual settings.

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Two of the most important sales of the season will be held shortly in New York, at the American Art Association Anderson Galleries. On Friday evening, Nov. 28, the splendid collection of Gothic furniture, stained glass, wood and stone sculpture and paintings assembled some twenty years ago by the late Colonel Ambrose Monell, of Tuxedo Park. On Dec. 5 and 6 the entire contents of the Villa Baratier, St. Jean-Cap Ferrat, France, Riviera home of Mr. and Mrs. Claus Spreckles will be offered at auction. The furniture includes many notable signed French pieces formerly in world-famous collections, some splendid Chinese and European porcelains, tapestries and decorative French woodwork.
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So homelike is the arrangement of the suite of rooms in Norman R. Adams's Charles street galleries that the Prowler had to be restrained from moving in at once. There is a dining room with sideboard and table of rich old mahogany, displaying Georgian plate of the sort which implies a line of ancestors antedating William the Conqueror. On the walls are the portraits of just such ancestors. The living room——or "parlour" as the eighteenth century had it——is gay with satinwood of Adam inspiration and Sheraton and Hepplewhite chairs. Now that the firm has decided to sell at retail as well as to the trade, this furniture will probably have to be replaced quite frequently.
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The Metropolitan Museum now owns the famous "Strozzi chair," pictured in these columns at the time of its sale in Vienna last summer, for $20,000. This chair, from the celebrated Figdor collection, is a fine example of Florentine work of the late fifteenth century. It is of walnut with a high carved back surmounted by a beautifully carved circular top. Traces of former gilding still remain on 
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the carving, which is in almost perfect state of preservation. Another notable addition to the museum's collection is a Gothic chair from the Church of San Orso, in the Val d'Aposta, in Northern Italy. This, too, formerly belonged to Herr Figdor.
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The Prowler is delighted at the interest among readers with regard to Moses Mellen, one of the early furniture dealers of this city. Emma Forbes Waite of Worcester agreeably looked through the eye-straining print of a file of old Boston directories and typed the results for this column. The items as they appeared in the directories are as follows:

MOSES MELLEN
Furniture ware house and feather store
2 Dock Sq.  1821
Brattle St.  1822
City Market House, Brattle St.  1823
38 Union  1825
Union, cor. Ann  1826-1829

There must have been gypsy blood in Mr. Mellen from the way he wandered out of Boston, or maybe the business section changed even more rapidly than it does today.
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Since last summer the Prowler has been pestering people with long memories and files of old directories in hopes of discovering who "Blake and Ritt——" were. The label found on an early nineteenth century mirror was torn at that point but a few lines later the address was given as City Market Building, Brattle St., Boston. Mr. P. S. White of Watertown reports that he has a center table with oval top of Italian marble, and a walnut frame supported by carved legs. On the under side of the frame is written apparently with a sharp-pointed instrument——"From Rittedge and Blake's." Hitherto Mr. White believed this to be an English concern and is happy to know that Boston may claim it. Both he and the Prowler would be happy to hear more about this elusive firm.
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People never think of Paul Revere as having any home life, but always picture him as dashing about the country on horseback. Out in Dedham one may see two relics of the patriot-craftsman which were purchased by the great-grandfather of the present owner at the auction in Canton of the household effects of Revere a short time after his death. One is a tea table with a beautifully shaped top; the other a graceful break-front sideboard in the Sheraton tradition, delicately inlaid and with ring-shaped brasses against elaborate back-plates believed to have been the work of Revere, himself. On the back of the sideboard is burned in the name "Franck," who may possibly have been the cabinetmaker.
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A fortunate sojourner in Bermuda discloses that the communion service in St. Peter's Church of the parish of St. George on that pleasant island was made in 1684 and presented by King William III.  M.E.P.
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Why Collect?

This discriminating acquisition of things of beauty or rarity or associated interest, whether for use or ornament or only for fun, seems to me, whether it makes you a collector or not, a very excellent way of spending your time and 
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money. And if anyone object, "But why spend them on antiques, instead of supporting the deserving craftsmen of your own time?" you have your answer: "Show me the modern furniture or silver or glass which is as good as the old, and I will buy it." You can add that it is more fun buying old things than new, which, for some obscure reason, is perfectly true. [English Graphic
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Few Walnut Stools Survive

Stools were mooted articles of etiquette during the walnut period. Certain ladies of the court who had "the right of the tabourette," which entitled them to remain seated in the presence of royalty, resolutely refused to use the chairs which were introduced as a substitute for the uncomfortable stool and there was a great to-do for a time until the chair finally was accepted as an accouterment of rank. Few stools of the Walnut era survive today, but those which are to be had derived, for the most part, from the royal palaces and are of decidedly superior workmanship. [Baltimore Sun
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Pictures on Glass

A number of well-known people have taken to collecting English glass pictures, and these have become quite valuable, really fine early examples being worth as much as $200. Until not long ago, however, such pictures had been thought of little value, and many of the finest examples now in the market were found hidden away in lofts and cellars of old-fashioned country houses.

The pictures are actually painted on the back of the glass, engravings being used as transfers. [St. Louis Globe-Democrat
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GIGANTIC AUCTION 
OF 
AMERICAN ANTIQUES

By order of SAMUEL and HYMAN WEINER
[Weiner's Antique Shop]

Who have purchased outright the entire contents of the Cambridge Storehouse of the Philip Flayderman Estate, consisting of an entirely complete line of Early American Antique Furniture, and now offer this collection at unrestricted public sale

December 3, 4, 5 and 6, 1930
at 2 P.M. each day in Talbot Hall

MECHANICS BUILDING
111 Huntington Avenue, Boston
•
ON EXHIBITION, DECEMBER 1 and 2
from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M.
•
This sale offers to collectors and dealers the most amazing collection of Early American Antiques ever sold at auction

WILLIAM K. MacKAY COMPANY
Auctioneers  [[image - inverted triangle]]
Exceptional opportunity for collectors and dealers to obtain pieces of authentic original Americana. Individuals can buy for gifts, dealers replenish their depleted stocks.

Catalogue on request from
WEINER'S ANTIQUE SHOP
11 Park Street, Boston
and 
WILLIAM K. MacKAY CO.,
7 Bosworth Street, Boston
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COLONIAL LIGHTING
The story of its development from the days of the Pilgrims to the Civil War. Over 400 photos of lamps, lanterns, candlesticks. Invaluable for collectors, architects, decorators and libraries.
The only book on this subject.
7.50 at all Bookstores
Published by LITTLE BROWN & CO BOSTON MASS

The author Arthur H. Hayward, 324 Washington St. Boston Mass., on receipt of regular price will autograph and promptly mail a copy without any additional charge
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KOOPMAN
ANTIQUES
73 CHESTNUT STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
(n) Sto  je 14
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FOR SALE -- Onyx Necklace
Once owned and worn by Mary Baker Eddy; with a written guarantee. Address A. H., 91 Belknap Street, Dover, N. H.
(n) SWS (4230B)  n 15
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ANTIQUES
Waterford
Baccarat and 
Bohemian Glass
Visitors are always welcome to our galleries
ELLIS LEVENSON
265 Newbury Street, Boston

(n) Stc  n 1
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Aunt Lydia's Attic
Overflows into Fourteen Rooms
See Our Inexpensive Christmas Gifts
ALSO CHOICE PIECES
(Come and Rummage)
Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays or by appointment.  CEN ter Newton 0691. 795 Chestnut Street at Fenwick Road, Waban, 10 miles West of Boston. 
(n)
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E. J.  SPICER, Inc.
Rare Paintings and Prints--Period Furniture
164 NEWBURY STREET, BOSTON
(n) S4t  n 8
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RIGID PINES WINTER SHOP
Mondays  ANTIQUES AT ATTRACTIVE PRICES
MODERN DEDHAM POTTERY
MRS. DEAN S. LUCE
294 Sherman St., Canton, Mass. (n)
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AUTOGRAPH LETTERS
Of famous people of all nations, bought and sold. Send list of what you want, or have to sell.
WALTER R. BENJAMIN, 578 Madison Ave., N.Y. City 
(n) Stc  au 16
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ANTIQUE WEAPONS
SWORDS, GUNS, PISTOLS, etc. List to buyers. DEXTER, 910 Jefferson St., Topeka, Kansas.
(n)12t:  n 20
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WANTED PARTNER TO GO INTO ANTIQUE BUSINESS in Boston or Cambridge. Address N.L.E., Transcript. Boston  (nA):
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TWO OLD MAHOGANY TIP TABLES
2 Pole Fire Screens, Tea Cadddie, small pieces of china, old glass, etc. Suitable for gifts. 2 Rutland St., Cambridge. Tel. POR ter 2125-M
(n):
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PRIVATE FAMILY OFFERS ITS COLLECTION OF FURNITURE, prints, paintings and small things suitable for gifts. No dealers. 42 Shepard St., near Harvard Sq., Cambridge Tel. POR ter 1646.  (n)6t:  n 22
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SMALL MAPLE DESK $145; solid mahogany bureau $85; rare maple gateleg table, oval pine top $75: day-bed $10; andirons $4, etc., 15 Brown St., (off Brattle) Cambridge.  POR ter 5419-J.  (n)S4t  n 22
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FOR SALE
Large Sevres Vase, background of famous Sevres blue. For appointments to see address S.K.J., Transcript, Boston  (n):
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ANTIQUE COUCH
FOR SALE. Excellent condition. No dealers. ASP inwall 2397.  (n):
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Complete Service
For over twenty years our appraisals and inventories of contents of homes have been used by leading banks and attorneys for Probate and Insurance purposes
May we serve you?
J. ROBERT BOOMER
103 Newbury Street
Boston, Massachusetts KEN more 1428
(n)Stc  n 1
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Real Antiques of all kinds
for Christmas presents
LITTLE RIVER ANTIQUE SHOP
ANNIE L. WOODSIDE
27 Appleton St., Malden, Mass.
Telephone MAL den 0384-W
(n)S5t:  n 8
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ANTIQUES——Selling out. Mahogany Secretary, $35; card table, $20; bureau, $20; 4 light glass chandelier, $45; swell front Sheraton bureau, $70. KIRKS, 277 Dudley St.
(n):
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IF INTERESTED IN SMALL ANTIQUES there are seven rooms full of choice pieces at 290 Parker St., Newton Center, Mass. Tel. CEN ter Newton 3237-M.
(n)S6t  (457B)  o 25
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For Sale--OLD-FASHIONED MILLSTONE
EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD ONE
Telephone Natick 139
(n):
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PERSONAL LETTER BY
MARY BAKER EDDY
Address  M.K.E., Transcript, Boston.
(n)SW (492B) n 22
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FOR SALE  OLD CURLY MAPLE DESK
Call mornings or evenings, H. D. McCARTHY, Suite 14, 26 Bellevue St., West Roxbury.
(n):
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Antiques Wanted
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I WILL BUY
Lithographs, Engravings and Paintings
OF OLD SHIPS, old buildings, Buffalo and other hunting, Indian fights, trout fishing, bird shooting, Whaling and early advertisements. Locomotives and trains and any old and curious pictures. No clippings, post cards or photographs or book pictures. COLLECTOR, 124 Cottage Park Road, Winthrop, Mass.
(nw)WStc  n12
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Antique Jewelry and Silver Purchased
FREDERICK T. WIDMER, Jeweler
31 West Street (Third Floor)
(nw)SWtc  jy 12
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DICK FINE THE ANTIQUES MAN SAYS, Your antiques are valuable. Why not get what they are worth? See me before selling
Call DICK FINE, MIL ton 9002.
(nw)tc  [[??22]]
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WE ALWAYS PAY HIGHEST PRICES FOR ANTIQUE FURNITURE, CHINA, CURRIER & IVES PRINTS, OLD SILVER, ETC.
WEINER'S ANTIQUE SHOP. 11 Park St., Boston.  HAY market 4231.  (nw)tc  je 12
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AMERICAN collector, who appreciates the value of good antiques will purchase entire collections, as well as individual examples of fine furniture, silver, etc.  Address  P.J.J., Transcript, Boston  (nw)tc  au 8
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Old Coins and Postage Stamps
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COINS, STAMPS, BOUGHT AND SOLD, Catalog quoting prices paid. 10c.
WM. HESSLEIN, 101 Tremont Street, corner Bromfield Street, Boston.  (n)SW13t  n 1
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WANTED——OLD U. S. STAMPS especially on envelopes used before 1880; also autograph letters and Colonial Documents, good prices paid 
Address R.K.A., Transcript, Boston.
6t:  n 22
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