Description:

1880 cover with 'AUSTRALIAN TOUR/OF/HENRY KETTEN' imprint at upper-left to Italy with very scarce franking of 1d & 6d tied by GPO cds of SP17/80, Brindisi transit b/s of 25/OTT/80, Bologna arrival & an unusual oval d/s also on the reverse with '7'-in-oval postman's h/s, minor blemishes. A short-lived rate to an unusual destination from South Australia. [The handwriting is probably Ketten's]



The Hungarian, Henry Ketten, was a renowned pianist & composer who performed for Queen Victoria in 1860, at the age of 12! He spent 3 years as conductor at the Imperial Theatre, Constantinople. His 1880 Australian tour was a resounding success, described in a local obituary as "a triumphal progress, his reception everywhere being as no former musician had ever received". He died in 1883, aged 35.