A Civil War Adversity Cover

This article features a civil war adversity cover from my collection. While typically I feature stamps on this blog, I also write about some of my covers. You can read about an early American stampless cover, an 1854 letter, and a beautiful advertising cover, among others.

The Civil War adversity cover is a remarkable piece, a stamped and cancelled envelope made from the cover page of a piece of sheet music. For me, it is a wonderful item that reminds me of two vitally important institutions of mid-nineteenth century life. It represents the postal service, which was a vital link for business and personal correspondence. At the same time, the use of piano sheet music is a reminder that the piano was a central part of every self-respecting home. The use of the sheet music to make an envelope, a symbol of the sacrifices made by everyone during war.

The story of this cover in my collection begins with an episode of Conversations with Philatelists from last year. Trish Kaufmann was on for a discussion about the rebranding of the Civil War Philatelic Society. The entire episode is worth listening to. On the show, they also talked about adversity covers. In the final years of the American Civil War, there was a paper shortage in the South. All manner of paper items were recycled in order to make envelopes to send correspondence.

After the show, I went to Trish Kaufmann’s website to look at some of the adversity covers she has for sale. I was thrilled to see that she had one made from the title page of a piece of sheet music. Well, needless to say, this cover is now one of the great treasures in my collections.

The Cover

Let’s start with the cover itself. It bears the address of Capt. H. S. Van Eaton, ACS., Care of Capt. J.B. Chrisman A. C. S Brookhaven, Mississippi. The envelope has a CSA #11 10 cent blue postage stamp in the upper left hand corner with a Jefferson Davis profile. The envelope has a relatively clear cancel from Woodville, Mississippi on Oct. 20. Unfortunately, there is no year.

Trish Kaufmann was able to supply me with quite a bit of information about the recipient of this cover. Henry Smith Van Eaton (1826-1898) was born in Anderson Township, Ohio. After graduating from college in Illinois, he went to Woodville, Mississippi in 1848. There, he taught school and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Woodville in 1855. Van Eaton ran for office and became a district attorney in 1857 and a state house representative in 1859.

He enlisted in the Army of the Confederacy and served throughout the War with the 16th Mississippi Infantry. Returning to Woodville in 1865, he resumed his law practice. He went on to become a successful politician, serving two terms in the U.S. Congress between 1883 and 1887. Van Eaton was then appointed as a member of the Board of Visitors to the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. He died in Woodville, Mississippi on May 30, 1898.

Bouquet De Melodies

The envelope was made from the title page of a piece of sheet music. It has a central rectangle and four flaps that fold over to create the envelope. When unfolded, the inside of the envelope reveals the following words: Bouquet De Melodies / Pour Le / Piano. As you can see above, the letter P and the letter O in piano are largely missing because of the shape of the cut paper. I was curious about finding the source for this music.

The title Bouquet de Melodies is in reference to a whole series of piano arrangements of popular operatic and orchestral works. Each piece was sold individually, but as a part of the series. Each arrangement, apparently, being a flower in the “bouquet.” The arrangements are all by the German composer Ferdinand Beyer (1803-1863) for solo piano. Today, Beyer is known for his piano method books, but his arrangements were immensely popular during his lifetime. Indeed, selling the individual pieces as parts of a series was a smart way for publishers to sell more sheet music. The first pieces were published in 1848 with subsequent arrangements appearing at least for the next decade.

Finding a Match

Once I could identify the Beyer works, the bigger mystery was finding the edition. The arrangements were so popular they appear in multiple editions by various European and American publishers. The problem is that the title page for each edition and each publisher is different. Finally, I found an edition of some of Beyer’s arrangements by the publisher J. E. Gould of Philadelphia. The Library of Congress has several pieces, including an arrangement of tunes from the opera La fille du régiment. Comparing the title page with the cover, confirms a match. While there is no year on the document, most sources suggest these editions are from the mid-1850s.

The cover is truly a remarkable piece of postal, musical, and American history. It is amazing that the exact publication could be identified to show how household items could be put to use in communicating a message. Now, I only wonder what was so important to send in such a cover.