Incoming blockade-run cover canceled CHARLESTON S.C. ? / 10 with matching oval STEAM-SHIP handstamp and pencil “12(¢)” on cover from Berlin Germany to Miss S. B. Valentine Care of M. S. Valentine Esq. Richmond, Virginia America. Top back flap missing; two CSA certificates dated 1987 and 2002. According to the prior owner, this was sent by way of Nassau, Bahamas, through Charleston by blockade runner Chicora. Ex Agre and Felton. $1,100.

Mann Satterwhite Valentine II (1824-1892) earned a fortune through a product called Valentine’s Meat Juice — which was exactly as it sounds and proved excellent at nourishing wounded soldiers during the
war and restoring weak constitutions after. Mann Valentine founded the Valentine Museum in 1898, stocking it Smithsonian-style with collections of odd fossils, rocks, and Indian artifacts. Over time, it became dedicated to the history of the city. He is buried in historic Hollywood Cemetery.