Daniel Webster's 1840 "Congressional Mulready," being, in a sense, the first US Government printing of a stamp image; lot contains two items:rn1) Page 547 from the Resolutions of the 26th Congress 1st Session (June 10, 1840) where Sen. Webster proposes to reduce domestic postage rates, followed by "Extract from a newspaper published in the city of London." (April 28, 1840) concerning "The Penny-Postage Stamps." which explains how the new postage rates and using stamps will operate;rn2) A copperplate engraving created by William J. Stone of Washington, DC of the Mulready A34 letter sheet showing an unfinished "Penny Black," inconsequential corner bend at lower left, Very Fine document and one of just 3-4 known to have survived, one being in the Queen's collection.rnBy commissioning production of this "facsimile", Webster obviously believed in his proposal for reduced postal rates and was worth serious consideration by The Senate. Similarly to the British Post Office, the US Post Office, at that time, ran unsustainable deficits because of the complex rate system and the practice of accepting unpaid letters for delivery. If the recipient refused to pay the fee, the letter was returned to Washington DC as undeliverable, all at Post Office expense. Webster was specific right from the start "Resolved, that the rates of postage charged on letters transmitted by the mails of the United States ought to be reduced." Unfortunately, the resolution died without further action as it was feared that lowering rates would compound the deficit. Tyler left the Senate in 1841 to become Secretary of State but the Postal Act of 1845 simplified and reduced rates. (Image)

CV. 5,000