THE WORLD’S FIRST POSTAGE STAMP: THE EARLIEST
KNOWN EXAMPLE OF THE 1840 PENNY BLACK
Rediscovered nearly three decades ago but not fully
recognized until much more recently, the lot offered here
includes the earliest securely dated example of the very
first postage stamp, one of the most significant inventions
in human history, the precursor of mass and global
communication as well as the keystone and lynchpin of the
world’s most popular collecting discipline.
In 1635 the first internal service was set up by Charles I to deliver
m ail between the major cities of England, Scotland, Wales and
Ire land.
Later named the General Post Office by Oliver Cromwell
in 1657, the government still retained the right to open any letters
in defence of “plots against the government”.
This continued until
17 11 when only an order from the Secretary of State could allow
ta mpering with the mail.
With a provenance of great distinction and accompanied by
a second postal artefact of similar importance, this small and
simple-looking Penny Black- a pristine impression, unused
and from plate 1a and lettered A-I- represents the apotheos
s of the Victorian Age and the birth of a device that would
e central to the “birth” of mass communications across t
e globe for more than a century and a half and one which has sti
l has not been completely supplanted by newer technologie
Th e word mail actually derives from several old European
wo rds all meaning a bag of some sort.
During the seventeenth
an d eighteenth centuries the mail was carried by relay up
an d down the country by teams of carriers on foot and horse
fro m one point, or post, to another.
These ten-to-twenty mile
str etches became the post roads and, eventually, these two
wo rds became synonymous with the letters they carried.
Like all great objects, the World’s First Postage Stamp has a
great origin story, one that began long before Robert Wallace,
Member of Parliament and a leading postal reformer, was
presented with the stamp and stuck it onto a sheet of card
stock in his personal scrap-album together with a proof of
an 1840 Mulready postal stationery form similarly given to
him.
The resulting dated and self-authenticating display of
the two complementary inventions became known as “The
Wallace Document,” which today (following its exhibition at
the Smithsonian) is regarded as the one of the most important
documents in philately.
At first, letters were only transported between post offices.
Up on arrival they were collected and paid for by the
re cipient, the cost depending on the Treasury who regulated
th e postage rates and changed them regularly.
The first
Br itish dated postmarks appeared on a local post set up in
Lo ndon by Postmaster General Henry Bishop in 1661/62.
Th ree years later the Duke of York, the King’s brother, was
aw arded the profits from the General Post Office.
This had
th e effect of preventing any further improvement in the
se rvice and was an enormous drain on a once profitable
bu siness.
William Dockwra introduced his London pre-paid
Pe nny Post service in 1680 and it proved a fast, efficient
an d profitable service, only to be closed down in 1682 by
th e Government following complaints by the Duke of an
inf ringement on his monopoly.
Within weeks of its closure,
it was opened again as the Government Penny Post.
In 1696
Wi lliam Dockwra became its Comptroller.
THE BRITISH POST OFFICE
Prior to the establishment of the mails, the only systems
for delivering letters resided with messengers in the employ
of either the King, the Church, or the Universities.
All other
correspondence was carried by travelers who carried
messages between towns.
The first Master of the Posts was
created by Henry VIII around 1512: Brian Tuke oversaw the
King’s messengers and was responsible for the transportation
of all official mail in and out of the country.
Although it was
expressly forbidden, these messengers began to carry private
letters and, by the end of the century, the growing merchant
class had created their own private service.
To counter this
Queen Elizabeth I proclaimed all mail had to pass through
official channels- in essence this meant that all letters could b
opened and read
Un til the dawn of the Victorian era the General Post Office
wo uld remain a staid yet profitable bastion of the Treasury.
Th e service had extended throughout the country and, with the
int roduction of mail coaches in 1784, its speed had increased
dr amatically.
The problem was inefficiency and cost.
The
Po st Office was such a good source of revenue that whenever
th e government needed money the public was made to pay
th rough higher postage rates.
By 1812 the rate for a letter
tra veling up to 15 miles was 4d..From London to Glasgow in
Sc otland, a distance of over 400 miles, the cost was 1s.
2d..
1840 One Penny Black, from plate 1a, lettered A-I, unused, above the Proof of
the accepted Master Die for the Penny Black
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