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Three items related to fiery abolitionist John Brown and his ill-fated raid on Harper’s Ferry:

All ephemera related to John Brown’s legendary life and tragic end is now rare and collectible. Of these offered here: The Civil War cover was probably the only Brown pictorial envelope issued, as militant anti-slavery was not a popular wartime cause in the North. Shannon’s letters are scarce; failing to capture Brown, he was soon removed from gubernatorial office and retired into obscurity as Kansas descended into violent chaos. Holt, other than his brutal role in fighting Brown’s band, was an historical non-entity, killed early in the Civil War while in Confederate service; this may be the only one his near-illiterate letters to survive.