Some More Cards from the 1800s!

With today's post done, I'm finally all caught up on incoming mail!  I kind of saved the best for last though as today's envelope is actually an eBay purchase from back in April of this year.

This year, I decided to start collecting a pair of original Allen & Ginter sets - the 1887 Flags of All Nations set and the 1888 City Flags set.  This particular purchase helped out both set collections a bit - beginning with a single new (to me) card of Brazil for the 1887 set!

I'm not much of a stickler for condition on my super, super old cards.  In fact, in many ways the more creases and glue on a card makes it more charming...and if that's the case, then this Brazil card might be the most charming card I own - there's a huge wad of paper stuck to the back of it!

In the same purchase, I was able to knock a bunch of cards off of my 1888 City Flags set:

That's five more cards - and while they are creased and dinged up a bit, I still think they are absolutely gorgeous additions to my collection!  

Finally, the seller I got all of the above cards from had one more that I had to have when I saw it:

That's a Flags of All Nations (second series) card of Samos.  Now, I don't (currently) have any plans to collect this set but the island of Samos is one of my favorite places that I've ever visited.  If you don't know, Samos is (now) a Greek island situated about a mile off of the coast of Turkey.  I take my History of Mathematics class there each year we do a travel trip because it's the home to the great Pythagoras (there's a statue of Pythagoras in the harbor even)!  In addition, there's something called the Tunnel of Eupalinos which is a ancient feat of engineering that's definitely worth looking into.  

Sunrise on our morning in Samos, 2017

That does it for the eBay purchase - and with that, I'm all caught up on my mail days!  I still have a long ways to go for both of the original A&G sets but that's okay, I'm not in a rush.  That said, if you happen to have any of the flag cards - here's a link to my want list.  I'd love to work out a trade!