Sweden. Facit 2f on cover, 'THE MOUNTAIN POST LETTER'. Unpaid letter with content dated 'Tamsö 23 Juli 1857'. Delivered to a post office box in Repvåg on the Norwegian mainland and addressed to John Wolley, a travelling English ornithologist with the address Johan Borgen, Hammerfest. According to the letter's content, a shipment of bird eggs followed to Wolley, HAMMERFEST, then redirected1.8.1857 to Wolley's permanent residence, Muonioniska on the Muonio River (Swedish Lapland). Borgen sent the letter via the Alten post office, but since this place did not have the postal address, the letter was sent back to Borgen, who redirected it to Wolley's address in Stockholm. The letter was then sent via ALTEN 28.8.1857, arriving in Haparanda on 16.9.1857 (the mail went via Alten-Maunu-Sopporo-Vittangi-Pajala-Haparanda to Stockholm). Allegedly, the letter was sent in a special envelope (which is documented at other border stations) including 4 skilling to the Post Office in Haparanda, which franked the letter. The letter is one of very few known Norwegian letters with foreign franking. EXHIBITION ITEM. Certificate HOW 4, 3, 4, 4 (1998) and Mats Nilsson 4, 3, 3–4, 4 (2026).
