Lot 1503

First Opium War - The Opium Trade 4 Opium trade related Edward Crooke 局碌 correspondences Amongst the four, there are 3 mails from Opium Clipper Ship Hercules dated separately at 1836 (July 4, July 24, Aug 3), letters written on board the 'Hercules' at Cumsingoon Island to Edward Crooke in Canton; there are no postal markings other than a Chinese ink characters "局碌"on the flap; there is a usual filing fold. 3 good mails from Cumsingmoon. Another entire, dated 6 July 1836, is sent from Manila to Canton, endorsed by a private ship "p. Cabot". No postal mark since the mail is carried by a private ship. Hercules was built at Calcutta in 1814. She traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company, before returning to Calcutta registry. She then traded opium between India and China before becoming an opium receiving ship for Jardine Matheson. In 1839 she was one of the vessels that surrendered her store of opium to be burned at the behest of Chinese officials at Canton.

一組四件鴉片商人局祿書簡