344. George A. Custer. Headquarters Third Division Cavalry Corps mailing envelope, 5.25 x 3, addressed in Custer’s hand to, “Mrs. Genl Custer, 369 H Street, Was[shing]ton D. C.” Envelope bears a three-cent George Washington postage stamp, and an April [1965] Washington, D. C. postmark. In very good condition, with paper loss to bottom affecting city, scattered toning and soiling, and a separated bottom edge. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.…(MB $200)
Outstanding letter of recommendation for a soldier “in the undertaking of Castelnuovo” 346. Andrea Doria. Italian con-
dottiero and admiral from Genoa (1466–1560). LS in Italian, one page both sides, 8.5 x 12, October 9, 1545, in Genoa. Boldly penned letter to “Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Sir Ferrando Gonzaga, prince of Malphetta [Molfetta],” in part (translated): “Sir Andronico of Spinosa, exhibitor of the present letter, served so well His Majesty when we were…in the undertaking of Castelnuovo; for these accomplishments he is worthy of respect and should be placed under the protection of the ministers of His Majesty and, because, at the time, he was at Barbarossa, as your Lordship is probably already aware, beginning this year he is estimated to be poor and needs some help, not only for the present time, but for his life in the future. However, despite your Lordship already acting as his protector as I heard from him, I did not want to abstain from offering my intercession as well. I wish to give him a good recommendation and I command that in the Kingdom of Sicily it may be possible…to use this person according to the merits of his service.” Reverse of second integral page bears an address panel in another hand and a wax and paper seal. In very good condition, with partial separation to hinge, intersecting folds, and scattered light toning. When Pope Paul III assembled the Holy League (made up of the Papacy, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, Venice, and the Maltese Knights) in early 1538, Andrea Doria—then an imperial admiral in the service of Charles V, essentially in control of the whole of Italy—commanded the expedition against the Ottomans, led by Hayreddin Barbarossa. After Doria’s fleets enabled land forces to capture the strategic town of Castelnuovo on the Dalmatian coast (in present-day Montenegro), the League was defeated, leaving the Spanish troops on Castelnuovo without the support needed to maintain their holding. Barbarossa laid siege to the town, and within the year, it was back in Ottoman hands. This loss ended the ongoing Christian attempt to gain control of the Eastern Mediterranean. Anything signed by the Genoese naval legend is extraordinarily rare; this letter, offering a recommendation for a fellow soldier from the Holy League’s attack on the Ottomans, with explicit references to Barbarossa and Castelnuovo, is the finest we have encountered. RR Auction COA.…(MB $300)
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