POST OFFICE. RARE EARLY P.O. NOTICE - BRIDGNORTH (SHROPSHIRE) - REF. P.O. BOX BLOCKED BY NEWSPAPERS; Very fine small 5 Nov. 1825 Notice (no creases; small closed hole in centre hardly noticeable; 21x17 cms) from Bridgnorth P.O. headed "CAUTION/Respecting Old Papers" regarding the need to wrap up old papers as flat as possible so as to avoid the "stopping up of the Receiving Box against the Reception of Letters", endorsed "Nov. 7 1825" and "50." at foot suggesting that this was the Proof copy (of 50 that were printed) kept by the PO Surveyor "B. CHURCHILL" whose name appears at the foot. The only recorded example; very few pre-1840 PO Notices have survived. [Ex Steph Stobbs; Cavendish 17 June 1989, ex lot 464]. [Illustrated in BPPP, p.92.] (Image)

POST OFFICE. VERY RARE P.O. "CHARGED FOR ERROR" COVER CLAIMING UNDER-CHARGED POSTAGE ON LETTER TO JAMAICA; Exceptional 23 Dec. 1833 EL from "F. FREELING" at the "GENERAL POST OFFICE" (London) with specially printed heading "Charged for Error" and partly printed address:- "The Postmaster of [Sleaford]" demanding the "1/4" underpayment for a recent letter sent from Sleaford to "Mr. John Hare, Port au Prince, St. Domingo or Kingston Jamaica"; endorsed by the Postmaster on the back as to his having paid the 1s-4d resulting from him charging only 11d instead of the correct 2s-3d rate! [See Rex Clark's Rates for Reform, pp.242-243.] Believed to be the only recorded example of this pre-1840 internal PO system for reclaiming underpayments from the Postmasters themselves. [Ex Rex Clark; Cavendish June 2015, lot 342; realised £350+BP.] [Illustrated in BPPP, p.572.] Cross Reference: POSTAGE DUE MARKS, LINCOLNSHIRE, JAMAICA, HAITI (Image)

POST OFFICE. RARE FREE FRANKED "ARMED DAILY HORSE POST" FULLY COMPLETED TADCASTER/SETTLE TIME-BILL; Remarkable Aug. 1836 EL (minor toning and a couple of reinforced places in the folds) sent free from "TADCASTER" (v. fine UDC on flap) to "J.A. Fletcher Esq., G.P.O. Surveyor &c., York, Forward." - rare example of the GPO Surveyors' franking of all mail addressed to them. The contents are a very rare survival from the pre-1840 period; a 2-sided printed "TIME BILL" sheet for the "Tadcaster and Settle... ARMED DAILY HORSE POST". While a very small number of similar pre-1840 P.O. Time-bills for mail coaches have survived, we do not recall having seen one like this relating to a horse-post before. Both sides have been fully completed for both outward and return journeys by each Postmaster along the route (5 in all). Wonderful Exhibition Item. [Ex John Forbes-Nixon, Cavendish Mar. 2021; lot 1368, realised £480+BP.]Cross Reference: EXPRESS MAIL, YORKSHIRE (Image)

POST OFFICE. LONDON "DEAD LETTER OFFICE" RETURNED MAIL & MONEY LETTER ADVICES; 1838-55 group of covers all with types of PO "Returned Letter/Dead Letter-Office" imprints (5), two (ex Minchinhampton/Leicester) with their original returned letters (1838/1855 pair; both with 9 or 6 sets of initials on the reverse to emphasise that the addressees were "Not found/known" - the 1854/5 pair with "ROWLAND HILL" imprints under the flaps; plus 1844/7 pair of red printing PO "MONEY ORDERS" ELs with Edinr. or London Official PAID" cds to Postmasters of Bonaw/Canterbury. [The 1838/39/52/55 items illust. in BPPP; pp.573/4/7/9.] Cross Reference: RETURNED MAIL, POSTAL ORDERS (Image)

POST OFFICE. IMPORTANT 1840 POST OFFICE NOTICE REF. THE START OF THE G.B. REGISTERED MAIL SYSTEM; Fine example of the very rare "December, 1840" Post Office Notice (215x342 mm; a few light filing folds with a couple of small reinforced places) headed "Registration of Letters" in the name of "W.L. MABERLY" announcing that "ON and after the 6th January next a System of Registration will be adopted to all descriptions of Letters without distinction, whether they contain Coin or Articles of Value or not. The Fee for Registration will be One Shilling...". Previously there had been no system for registering internal G.B. mail. There is a contemporary pencil endorsement on the reverse; "Post Office Regulations about Money". Only a handful of this Important P.O. Notice have survived. [This example is in far better condition than the one in the Holyoake Collection (Spink, 6 Oct. 2021, lot 1) which realised £800+BP.]Cross Reference: POST OFFICE ACTS/NOTICES, REGISTERED MAIL, 1840 1d BLACKS, POSTAL REFORMS (Image)

POST OFFICE. POST OFFICE NOTICES - REF. FREE PETITIONS (1844), BOOK POST (1854) & EXPRESS MAIL (1902); Apr. 1844 very large "Instructions No.14" 2-sheet printed "LIST OF PEERS Entitled to Receive Petitions Free by Privilege of Parliament..." (with some contemporary pencil annotations; some filing creases); May 1854 "Instructions No.28" large single-sheet Notice (staining; rebacked professionally) ref. "INLAND BOOK POST" requiring full prepayment in stamps (or being liable to letter rate) with v. fine green boxed "LERWICK" (Shetland Is.) ds; and rare very fine folded Nov. 1902 "POST OFFICE EXPRESS DELIVERY SERVICE NOTICE..." spelling out the principal regulations ref. Railway, Sunday, Christmas & Telephone service, etc. (3 items) Cross Reference: FREE MAIL, SHETLAND ISLES & FAIR ISLE, EXPRESS MAIL (Image)

POST OFFICE. NEWSPAPER MAIL DELIVERY PROBLEMS - P.O. CIRCULAR & HAND-WRITTEN LETTER; Small 8/9 Sept. 1847 printed Post Office apology slip with pair of different London cds's ref. the possible muddles of certain newspapers sent via the post due to their having "escaped from their covers in the Newspaper Office..."; plus 5 May 1849 EL from the London GPO to Aylesbury ref. newspapers that had been sent to "Port Philip" (Australia) with red crowned "PAID" cds endorsed "G.P.O." and "O.H.M.S." on the front. Rare pair. (2 covers) [The 1847 slip illust. in BPPP, p.131.] Cross Reference: NEWSPAPER MAIL, OFFICIAL MAIL, VICTORIA (Image)

POST OFFICE. LONDON - UNIQUE(?) ORIGINAL PAIR OF "The Party to whom..." DS COVER WITH "Returned Letter" ACTS OF PARLIAMENT WRAPPER; 18 Dec. 1847 unpaid local London EL charged with hs "2[d]" beside "T.P/Gt. Marylebone St" but endorsed "Not Known as Directed" on the flap and so with partly fine rare large red crowned boxed "LONDON/The Party to whom this letter/is Addressed cannot be FOUND" ds on the front. Together with its original PO "Returned Letter/Dead Letter Office" wrapper with the rare "Under the 3rd & 4th Vict. Cap.96...the party to whom this Cover is addressed...is liable to the Postage charged below" with hs "2[d]" postage due mark. Intriguingly this wrapper has also been endorsed on the flap; "Refused to pay the Postage. R. Prior.". So was the addressee eventually persuaded that the law meant that he had to pay the 2d? These Acts and the boxed explanatory returned mail marks were introduced to prevent the junk mail of people like Joseph Ady. We cannot recall having seen any other cover with this large dated type of explanatory mark together with its Returned Mail wrapper like this. (2 covers) [The pair ex Grosvenor, Jan 2007 auction, lot 238; realised £950+BP.] [Both illustrated in BPPP, pp.575/576.] Cross Reference: LONDON POSTAL HISTORY, OFFICIAL MAIL, RETURNED MAIL, POSTAGE DUE MARKS (Image)

POST OFFICE. EDINBURGH "Dead Letter Office" RETURNED PAID/UNPAID LETTER PAIR OF ENVELOPES WITH "FRANCIS ABBOTT" IMPRINTS; Remarkable pair of May 1854 PO returned mail "Dead Letter Office Edinburgh" envelopes delivered to the same Glasgow address on the very same day; one with "Returned Letter" imprint and ms "2" charge but also having the very rare lengthy explanatory text above the address quoting the Acts of Parliament that authorised the PO to collect "the Postage charged below" in full from senders of unpaid letters. The other with "Returned Paid Letter" imprint and no text. Both have the lengthy printed explanation and "CAUTION" text under their flaps. Possibly unique matched pair. (2 covers) [The pair ex Grosvenor, Jan 2007 auction, lot 243; realised £780+BP.] [Both illustrated in BPPP, p.578.] Cross Reference: SCOTLAND, RETURNED MAIL, OFFICIAL MAIL (Image)

POST OFFICE. RARE RED & BLACK NOTICE REF. COMPULSORY REGISTRATION OF "LETTERS marked REGISTERED"; Large Oct. 1856 Notice unusually printed partly in red and partly in black (some folds and light reinforcing; 11½x17½ ins.) headed "LETTERS marked REGISTERED Not to be Deposited in Letter Boxes. CAUTION AGAINST SENDING VALUABLE LETTERS BY THE POST" stating that letters marked Registered but not posted over the counter would - from 1 Nov. 1856 - be charged the full 1/- fee on delivery if only prepaid the postage. We cannot recall having seen this Important Notice before. Very rare and attractive.Cross Reference: POST OFFICE ACTS/NOTICES, REGISTERED MAIL (Image)

POST OFFICE. RARE "POSTAL DISTRICT ENVELOPE" WITH "SW" EMBOSSED FLAP USED FROM WEYMOUTH TO LONDON; 25 May 1857 early usage of "T.R.P. & Co's POSTAL DISTRICT ENVELOPE" (some creasing etc.; opened out for display) with printed list inside of London "Principal Places" and their new Postal District initials, franked by 1d Stars (rubbed & heavy crease) tied by Weymouth s/ways duplex and addressed to Knightsbridge; there is an embossed pink oval "POSTAL DISTRICT/SW" device on the top flap. We have only recorded 3 other examples of this District initials envelope - advertising the very first attempt at postcodes - but this is the only pre-1858 example that we have seen. [Another example sold as lot 857 in Cavendish's 11 Apr. 2003 auction for £408 inc. BP.] Plus a trimmed 17 Jan. 1857 page from the ILN with an album-page sized "MAP OF THE LONDON POSTAL DISTRICT WITH ITS SUBDIVISIONS". (2 items) Cross Reference: LONDON POSTAL HISTORY, DORSET (Image)

POST OFFICE. ORDER FOR "50 SHEETS" OF 1d REDS SENT FROM BASINGSTOKE BY POST; 21 Nov. 1861 EL with printed "OHMS" above address and POSTAGE LABELS" at foot of address, sent from Basingstoke to the "Stamp Office, [Winchester]" with 1d Red 'Stars' tied by a "52" numeral; the contents are a printed form headed "POSTAGE STAMPS/REQUISITION" from the "Distributor [of stamps] for Basingstoke" listing available sheets of 1d, 2d, 4d, 6d, 10d or 1/- "Labels" but only ordering "50 Sheets" (240 each) of "1d. Labels". Rare example of an order for stamps posted with one of the very same stamps! Exhibition Item. Plus 1 Dec. 1880 EL with 1d Venetian Red tied by Forfar duplex advising that a parcel of stamps (£69-19s-5d total value) has been sent by "rail" and addressed to Brechin. Fine pair. (2 covers)Cross Reference: 1854-65 1d REDS, HAMPSHIRE, OFFICIAL MAIL, SCOTLAND (Image)

POST OFFICE. O.H.M.S. MAIL EX THE P.O. (ONE REGISTERED), GROUP OF "OF THE NATURE OF A LETTER" MARKS, ETC.; 1868-88 covers inc. 1868 EL ref. lost letter, 1873 "OHMS/Money Order Office" blue env. with unusual red "REGISTERED." imprint on the front and red oval M.O.O./REGISTERED ds, and 1873/88 quartet each with ½d rose-red (3) or ½d brown wrapper but found not to be printed matter and so all charged 1d Postage Due with all-different very fine London (3) or Newport Mon. "OF THE NATURE OF A LETTER" (3) or "CONTRARY TO REGULATIONS" boxed marks. Plus Mar./Apr. 1871 printed Parliamentary Return ref. proposed new inland rates (all kinds of mail). (7 items) Cross Reference: OFFICIAL MAIL, POSTAGE DUE MARKS, REGISTERED MAIL (Image)

POST OFFICE. KGVI PERIOD MULREADY CARICATURE BY "J.K. SIDEBOTTOM" - ORIGINAL HAND-DRAWN ARTWORK + USED & UNSUED EXAMPLES; Remarkable and most attractive large ink-drawn 1946 artwork on think art paper (tiny stain does not detract) for a 2½d "AFTER W. MULREADY R.A. 1840" design incorporating a number of designs taken from issued postage stamps, but all echoing the original design (elephants, soldiers, Britannia on throne with lion at her feet, etc.). Plus unused and used examples of the printed letter-sheet (on thick card but folded and with faked coloured 'silks!); the latter with KGVI 2½d tied by "HORSFORTH/LEEDS" 2-ring cds and addressed locally to "Lieut. Thomas Waghorn" (at the artist's house?!). Sidebottom was a noted pioneer Postal Historian and the author of "The Overland Mail" in 1948 which dealt with Waghorn's mail system and its markings in detail. We cannot recall having seen this design before. Unique lot! (3 items)Cross Reference: MULREADY STATIONERY & PROPAGANDA COVERS, MULREADY CARICATURES ETC, KGVI ISSUES, YORKSHIRE (Image)