This folded letter was sent from Rome.

At this time the Pope was still in full authority in the Roman States.
In the insurrection of 1848 the people of Rome defeated the government.
The people wanted to join Sardinia in war with the Austrians.
The also demanded a democratic government
and the proclamation of Italian nationality.
The Pope escaped the city and sought help from the Catholic powers.
After extensive fighting, the Romans surrendered to
the French in June, 1850 and the Pope regained control.

The Papal states comprised Rome and the surrounding territory was
well as the provinces of Romagna and the Marches and Umbria.
Romagna seceded in 1859 leading to an 1860 plebiscite to join Sardinia.

Rome remained under the rule of the Pope with the assistance of a French garrison
until the French troops were withdrawn during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
Italian troops gained control of Rome by September 20, 1870.
A plebiscite on October 2, 1870, led to the incorporation
of the former Papal States into the unified Italy.

The cover was franked with stamps from the 1852 Papal Arms issue including
two pairs of 8 bajocchi  black and one 6 bajocchi black on greenish green paper (Scott 9 and 6).

There are four Rome CDS.
The cover was stamped with a boxed P.P. indicating that the cover was prepaid to the destination.

The cover made the Transatlantic voyage on a French Packet.
The Boston receiver shows Fr. Pkt. as the source of the mail.
Boston was the destination of the cover.

There is a red transit mark on the front is explained admirably by
Paolo von Bagaglia's interesting analysis of this cover and its markings:

Brief general notes: Until March 31, 1857 France was the intermediary Postal Administration for correspondence originating from the Italian States addressed to the USA, by virtue of the Anglo-French Postal Convention.  Such correspondence was to be carried across the Atlantic ocean by British Packet Boats, in accord with the convention noted above.  No British transit postal markings appear on the postal items because the mail was carried in closed packets. An alternative was possible:  the shipment of mail by boats departing from a French harbour, thus not "conventioned".  The new Postal Convention between France and the Roman States, effective from October 1, 1853 until December 31, 1857, established a 38 bajocchi rate for every 7.5 grammes to prepay the delivery of correspondence only to a destination port on the Atlantic coast of the USA. This rate was to be paid with adhesive postage stamps.  (Stamps were first Issued on January 1, 1852 in the Roman States.)  There were two possible destination ports: Boston or New York. This new Postal Convention also established the usage of a special hand stamp "P.P."¹  This marking had to be impressed on the cover front to show the rate to the border of those European countries that did not have postal relations yet (for example, Spain and Portugal), or the rate to the disembarkation port for overseas countries (for example, Brazil and USA, where the recipient had to pay the internal transit from the port of arrival to the destination), had been prepaid correctly with adhesives.²  Upon arrival for example, such correspondence to the United States was charged 5 cents US internal postage due for each ½ ounce (14.75g) of weight. The previous Postal Convention between France and the Roman States, which had been valid until September 30, 1853, had established a rate of 27 bajocchi for the same multiples of weights, conditions and possible destinations.  The French transit Post Offices were Marseille and Pont de Beauvoisin (from October 1853 to December 31, 1857). Notes about the cover in question: The franking is composed of two pairs of the 8b. white on machine made paper (8b. denomination was Issued on October 1, 1852) and a 6b. greenish grey on hand made paper (6b. denomination was Issued on January 1, 1852), totaling 38 bajocchi (flat rate for weights within 7.5 g, as noted above). The prepaid rate can be analyzed as follows:  Roman States transit (3.76b. = 20 cents of frank) + Mediterranean sea transit (6.58b.= 35 cents of frank) + French transit (27.66b. = 147 cents of frank).  Only about forty covers are known with this rate (or multiples).  The postage stamps are tied by three strikes of the double circle date stamp "ROMA" (probably the type 24, from M. Gallenga, I Bolli di Roma in bibliography, introduced in January 1849 as a departure date stamp and used as obliterator of adhesive postage stamps applied on postal objects departing from Rome until the end of October 1855) dated "29 / GEN / 55" (January 29, 1855).  The CDS is also repeated on the cover front. The postage stamps are also tied (exceptionally?) by an American postage due hand stamp "5" (= five cents US postage due) applied in Boston.  This is part of and completes the franking to destination.  It represents the amount that the recipient (in Boston) had to pay for the internal (domestic) transit.  There is also a boxed "P.P." (P.P. = Porto Parziale {Italian}, in accordance with the regulations of October 1, 1853 between Papal and French Postal Administrations) hand stamp impressed in red on the front (the ink appears to be oxidized and turned into reddish brown, or something). The French exchange (transit) Post Office was Pont de Beauvoisin (from October 1853 to December 31, 1857) as witnessed by the CDS: "3? - ET. PONT. - PONT. DE B." (ÉTAT PONTIFICAL - PONT DE BEAUVOISIN) dated "5 FEVR. 55" (February 5, 1855), impressed in red on cover front. Sources: "Vaccari Magazine" n.26, of P. Vaccari "I Bolli di Roma" M. Gallenga Sassone Catalogue Editor's Notes:  1.  Port Paye - I have references which define this as post paid but I believe it really meant paid to port as opposed to P.D. - paid to destination. 2.  The reason for marking mail showing the fees had been collected to the point of transfer in the destination country was the method of collecting revenues on covers moving between countries.  If you didn't have a postal agreement with a country, you couldn't collect the cost of its internal rates for prepaid mail (P.D.) nor could the recipient country collect the total rate for getting to its borders for mail sent unpaid.  Thus, the mail had to be prepaid to the transfer point.  The accountants never did figure this out without a  postal agreement between the countries in question.  This sort of accounting mightmare ultimately led to the formation of the UPU.

*Boy, is my face RED!
David Benson has pointed out my error in identifying the source of these stamps.
"Take title from column A and text from Column B."

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