Description

The Engraved 3p Beaver Essay in Black on Thin Wove Paper Prepared in 1851 by printer Ellis & Co. of Toronto and presented to Postmaster General James Morris, large margins all around, minute stain spot at top left, a wonderful 3p BEAVER ESSAY UNIQUE IN BLACK in private hands, VF
A 24-page booklet published by Charles Firby in 1996 gives a detailed historical account, with census and background information on other known examples - The 3p Venetian Red on Sir Sandford Fleming diary page (Eastern Auctions Ltd. March 2023; Lot 1 - sold for $475,000 hammer). Two examples reside in the permanent collections of Library and Archives Canada.
This Black Essay features design traits and characteristics different than the two known Red Essays (the Sir Sandford Fleming essay on diary page and the one in Library and Archives Canada). Furthermore, after careful examination, we are also of the opinion that the Essay in Black was engraved recess-printed and not by the lithographic process as initially observed. The revised edition of "The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada" by Winthrop Boggs (page 834) does state "engraved".
Provenance: Fred Jarrett, Sissons Sale 166, October 1959; Lot 3
Bill Lea Fine Stamps No. 8 private treaty catalogue (circa. 1988); item G1 stating "ex. Jarrett and Jephcott"
The "Lindemann" Collection (private treaty, circa. 1997)
Literature: Illustrated in Minuse & Pratt "The Essays and Proofs of British North America" handbook on page 7 and catalogued as "1E-A" and annotated "Designed by Sir Sanford Fleming, engraved by James Ellis".
Illustrated and discussed in Arfken, Leggett, Firby, Steinhart "Canada's Pence Era - The Pence Stamps and the Canadian Mail 1851-1859" handbook on pages 7-10 (Figure 4).
Article with historical context - "The 3 Pence Beaver Postage Stamp and the Search for a Printer", by Ken R. Johnson, Canadian Philatelist, Vol. 43, No. 5, September - October 1992, pages 400-408
Article in French, with interesting historical narrative leading to the essays and the issued stamp - "De La Rencontre de 3 Ecossais Naîtra le castor de 3-pence, le Premier Timbre - Poste Canadien", by Denis Masse, Canadian Philatelist, Vol. 37, No. 6, November - December 1986, pages 414-423
THE ONLY KNOWN THREE PENCE "ELLIS" ESSAY IN BLACK IN PRIVATE HANDS. AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME OFFERED AT AUCTION SINCE THE FAMOUS JARRETT SALE IN 1959, OVER SIXTY YEARS AGO! (Our estimate: 150000 C$)

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