Auction Highlight
From Worldwide & Great Britain - Cavendish Philatelic Auctions Ltd. - March 3-5, 2026
Lot 1466 -
THE MOST FAMOUS & IMPORTANT ITEM OF ALL THE POSTAL REFORM PROPAGANDA - THE 1838 GIANT "SINGLE" & MINI "DOUBLE" LETTER-SHEETS; Very fine June 1838 matched pair of the 1st-edition Giant & Miniature Mercantile Committee on Postage (M.C.P.) propaganda letter-sheets (the large one folded neatly to fit on an album page) designed by Henry Cole. A similar pair was displayed to very good effect in the House of Commons by Robert Wallace and they were arguably the most influential 'Mercantile Papers' production of the M.C.P. which eventually won the campaign for Cheap Postage in 1839. The giant letter-sheet has a partly printed address-panel:- "SINGLE LETTER,/UNDER ONE OUNCE IN WEIGHT./LONDON./To be kept dry, or the Single Postage will be raised to Fourfold Postage" (because the sheet weighed just under an ounce and the crazy rates were single for one sheet up to an ounce but 4 rates for a sheet weighing above the ounce). The text inside is equally significant; "POSTAGE CHARGES IN 1838. This Sheet, 35 inches by 23 inches, weighing One Ounce, is charged as a SINGLE letter, whilst the accompanying Letter, weighing 7 grains, or under the 60th part of One Ounce, is charged as a DOUBLE Letter...". Together with the original matching tiny double letter headed "DOUBLE LETTER,/SEVEN GRAINS IN WEIGHT." above a "LONDON" address, with the enclosure having a similar printed explanation about it being only 4 x 2½ inches but costing double the postage of the giant sheet!! It is recorded that only 500 pairs of this fabulous Postal Reformers propaganda were printed in 1838, and only 3 or 4 now survive in private hands. Six or seven of the similar 1839 versions have been recorded in private hands, some of which are postally used. [This example has a red wax seal and the pencil inscription "Editor of Hull Saturday Journal" (which was very pro-Postal Reform in 1838) indicating that it was actually sent out in 1838 to Hull (by private means) and was probably intended to be posted back to the M.C.P. in London. Only 4 examples of this 1838 type have been recorded in private hands; one used (sold recently at auction for £5,526 inc. BP) and three unused (inc. this one and the one sold in Cavendish's Nov. 2009 auction; lot 511, realised £3,400+BP). Highly Important Postal Reforms Exhibition gem. (3 items) Cross Reference: YORKSHIRE, POSTAGE DUE MARKS, FREE MAIL....
Currently GBP 2,400
Cavendish Philatelic Auctions Ltd. A long-established auction house with an international reputation for serving collectors since 1952. We specialise in line-engraved and early GB stamps and our auctions always include a wide variety of British Empire & Commonwealth stamps, all world postal history, and postcards.
