Arago: Developmental Period (1919-1945)

This registered airmail cover from Beirut (Beyrouth), Lebanon, to Curityba (Curitiba), Brazil, was posted September 30, 1932. It was the first Graf Zeppelin flight to South America to carry dispatches from Lebanon. The cover is franked with three Lebanese stamps (7.50, 10 and 50 piasters), tied by dispatch postmarks, and has a Lebanese bilingual black/gray airmail etiquette.

To connect with the Graf Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen, the cover went by airmail via Aeropostale to Marseille and Paris (October 3 airmail arrival postmark on reverse). It was then forwarded from Paris (October 8 dispatch postmark on reverse) to Friedrichshafen and postmarked October 10, 1932, for the flight. The zeppelin arrived in Recife, Brazil, on October 13, 1932, where it was forwarded via Condor to Curityba and received the arrival postmark on October 14, 1932.