DISTINCTIVE MALTESE CROSSES OF IRELAND : 1841 1d red JL with part distinctive MX of Cork. 31 Aug. 1842 E from Dublin to Stourbridge bearing a 1d plate 25 PA with central cancellation, Also examples of Dublin MX types 1 (4, inc. one on cover), type 11 (2) and III. Good examples. (10 items) (Image)

DISTINCTIVE MALTESE CROSS OF BELFAST: c.1842 front to Letterkenny bearing a four margined 1d plate 42 SF with a v. fine strike of the distinctive Belfast MX, and a similar front from the same correspondence bearing 1d red plate 34 AK with central English type MX. Fine. Also 25 May 1844 EL from Cork to London bearing a three margined 1842 1d with a lightly cancelled MX. (3 item) Cross Reference: IRELAND PRE-1922 - POSTAL HISTORY (Image)

DISTINCTIVE MALTESE CROSS OF BELFAST: 6 Aug. 1844 E to London with a four margined 1d red plate 40 HD with a complete Belfast MX cancellation with blue "CHICHESTER STREET/R S" hs alongside. Also 1841 1d plate 35 OA and 1d plate 34 RK on pieces with similar cancellations. FIne. (3 items) Cross Reference: IRELAND PRE-1922 - POSTAL HISTORY (Image)

EXPERIMENTAL BLACK MALTESE CROSS: 11 Nov. 1840 E used within London bearing a close to good margined 1840 1d plate 5 RH tied by a fine experimental black MX. with a lightly struck "T. P/Moorgate St." at left. (Image)

BLUE NUMERAL OF WILTON: 14 Oct. 1852 printed "Agenda Paper/For The/Wilts Michaelmas Quarter Sessions" used from Wilton to Salisbury bearing a four margined 1841 1d plate 139 RI-RJ pair with two strikes in blue of the Wilton "685" numeral. Fine. (Image)

SIDEWAYS DUPLEX CANCELLATIONS ON COVERS: 1854-69 interesting collection of covers, mostly bearing LC14 1d reds inc., some transitional shade 2d blues (3) and 1d pink envs. (5) with an exceptional range of sideways duplex cancellations. Includes examples of Abingdon, Bangor, Bedford, Birkenhead, Brighton (19, various types) Bristol (2), Canterbury (2), Chatham, Colchester, Devizes, Dorking, Manchester (5), Newport, Nottingham, Poole, Ramsgate, Sheffield, Wakefield, and York. A good lot. (100 covers) (Image)

UNRECORDED "1d." HS EX CARDIGAN: Fine Dec. 1840 EL to Aberystwyth endorsed "prepaid" & red "1" ms with an unrecorded black "1d." hs adjacent. This could be an unrecorded Post Office charge mark or an accounting mark. Fine Cardigan ds on front and fine red MX across flap. An attractive mystery. [Ex Chadwick]Cross Reference: CARDIGANSHIRE (Image)

RARE ENCIRCLED "FREE/P/[laurel leaves]" MARK (EARLIEST RECORDED DATE OF USE) IN BROWN-BLACK INK: 14/16 Dec. 1789 E Franked by the 20-year-old “[Lord] Hay” (William Hay, 1772-1819, 7 Earl of Errol from 1798) with “DONCASTER” straight-line mark on the flap and a fine rare brown-black strike of John Palmer’s encircled “FREE/P/[laurel leaves]” mark (Galland LF4P, EKD of only 10 recorded in this colour) nicely placed on the front. The filing note reveals that it was sent by the Curate of the small village of “Marr”! Lord Hay saved the impecunious curate of Marr 1s-0d (2 sheets of paper at 6d). [Ex Eric Gough; Cavendish Sept. 2018, lot 1473; realised £320 + BP.] Exhibition Quality. Cross Reference: LONDON POSTAL HISTORY, YORKSHIRE (Image)

ORIGIN OF LONDON's "0"-CODE CROWN-ON-TOP "FREE" DS - THE GENUINE UNCODED/"+"-CODES SHOWING FRAME BREAKS: 10 Oct. to 4 Nov. 1839 strikes (all uncoded except for four "+"-code 29 Oct.-4 Nov. examples) of this late-usage crown-on-top "FREE" ds, that was subsequently (posthumously, probably in 1852) used outside the P.O. to enhance free front collections with a special non-postal "0" code. This remarkable group shows the outer-frame damage that links this mark to the "0"-codes; 10 Oct. 1839 pair of fronts with the complete outer-rim, 19 Oct. 1839 pair of fronts showing only the 2 o'clock rim break, plus 22-29 Oct. 1839 fronts (5) with the 2 & 10 o'clock breaks, and 31 Oct. - 4 Nov. 1839 fronts (3) + rare env. all showing the "+"-code type which have the final 3-rim-breaks (as per all the "0"-code - 'posthumous' - usages). Remarkable story covering less than a month; see the John Colton section in the Galland book. (1 cover + 12 fronts) Cross Reference: LONDON POSTAL HISTORY (Image)

PETERLOO MASSACRE & CHARLES BABBAGE - IN FUTURE P.M. "GREY" ABUSE OF FRANKING LETTER: 20 Aug. 1819 EL ex "Glasgow" to London to a journalist of the Radical newspaper the "British Statesman"; sent under cover (to avoid postage) via the future Radical Prime Minister, Earl "Grey" for him to forward (illegally) as a franked letter! Earl Grey was in Malvern and a week later he obliged and franked it; so it has the Malvern boxed RH "No.1" & “WORCESTER/Penny Post” on the front (ms "1") and a red boxed London "TO PAY 1d ONLY" (it would have cost 2s-1½d more if not franked!). The interesting contents refer to the Peterloo Massacre of 16th Aug.; "The fatal occurrences at Manchester will I hope keep down the bad spirit which pervades the lower classes almost universally…a Mr. Babbage from one of the English Universities will obtain the Mathematical chair [in Edinburgh]…". However, Babbage (1791-1871) - the "father of the computer" - did not get the post on that occasion. The writer was clearly not keen on the 'lower classes' rebelling but was happy for them to be killed by the military in Manchester while unarmed. [One wonders if Earl Grey, who franked this letter, would perhaps not have approved of its contents…]. Doubly fascinating and important historical letter. [Ex Cavendish 3 Mar. 2022; lot 1621 realised £280 + BP.] Cross Reference: FREE MAIL, LONDON POSTAL HISTORY, WORCESTERSHIRE, PARLIAMENTARY MAIL (Image)

NUMBER 1, 2 & 9: Inc. No. "1" cancelling a close margined 1841 1d RG on 16 June 1843 John Shaw printed account to Usk. Another example cancelling 1841 1d plate 34 EK on env. to Limerick with "T.P/Great Marylebone St" hs nearby. A very fine No. "2" cancelling a good 1d red FI. No. "9" cancelling 1d LD on 13 Jan. 1844 env. to Wakefield. Fine. Also an unused printed EL with printed address to Westminster with an unused 1d NL. (5 items) (Image)

NUMBERS 1 & 4: 1841 2d blue plates 3 LI & MB cancelled with large part numbers "1" and "4" in MX cancellations. Fine. SG Spec. E1 vb & vd. £1,400. (Image)

AUSTRIA - MUCH TRAVELLED UNDERPAID COVER: 6 Sep. 1860 neat env. from London to Austria bearing 2d plate 8 RG and Large Garter 4d rose. with struck below a red "PD" in oval cancelled with a matching red "50" in oval of bars and "INSUFFICIENTLY /PREPAID" hs. The cover was redirected and returned to London. Very attractive. (Image)

AUSTRALIA: 15 Jan. 1862 neat mourning env. from Tiverton "via Marseilles" to Melbourne bearing a fine 1862 9d bistre plate 2 LL tied by a Tiverton duplex. Well centred and fine. SG 86 £1,200. (Image)

FRANCE - RARE FRANKING: 1853 E from London to Boulogne bearing 1841 1d red AG and 1841 2d blue plate 4 strip of six, AG-AL and a single DF. All tied by London "29" numerals of the Inland Office. The stamps are cut into in paces and crossed by filing folds. On the front in a v. fine oval framed "PD" in red and "BOULOGNE" cds. The adhesives pay the ½oz rate via direct packet. A rare franking. (Image)

VERY RARE JUNE 1840 P.O. NOTICE TO POSTMASTERS ETC. REF. DISTRIBUTION OF STAMPS & MULREADYS; "Edinburgh, June 1840" Notice (folds and edge waer, mostly affecting the LH edge, with only a couple of words affected) "To All Postmasters, Sub-Postmasters, and Letter Receivers" advising that "the sale of Postage Label Stamps and Stamped Covers... shall commence as soon as they [Postmasters etc.] can be furnished with the proper License from the Stamp Office....[the necessary license etc.] will be transmitted as early as possible..." and giving the prices at which stamps of each kind should be sold. It also makes it clear that Mulready letter-sheets would be available from P.O.s, but not the Mulready envelopes! This Edinburgh version of the Notice is not recorded by SG(the text is the same as the SGPN7 London Notice, cat. £10,000), and it is unique in having a very fine strike of the boxed Shetland Islands "LERWICK" ds at bottom left. This Notice comes from the P.O. archive discovered in a ruined Shetlands P.O. in the 1970s. Well worthy of careful restoration. RPSL Cert. (2021). Cross Reference: SHETLAND ISLES & FAIR ISLE, 1840 1d BLACKS, MULREADY STATIONERY & PROPAGANDA COVERS, P.O. NOTICES (Image)

RARE [c.1 Feb.] 1841 FOLDING DOUBLE-SHEET P.O. NOTICE WITH 1841 1d & 2d + "SPECIMEN" 1d PINKS (2 SIZES) ATTACHED; c.1 Feb. 1841 large folded double-sheet P.O. Notice (usual horiz. folds and edge-wear and minor fold-splits; stamps & envs. fine) from "G.P.O., Edinburgh" "TO ALL POSTMASTERS" etc. Along the top blank sections of each of the two sheets are gummed an 1841 2d Blue with No Corner Letters (4m; top marginal; ex the 15 Jan. 1841 Trial Sheet; SGDP43), a fine 4m 1841 1d Red (LF) and two different size 1d Pink envs. with the same large red hs "SPECIMEN" marking. It states that "An immediate Alteration is about to be made in the Adhesive Postage Label Stamps, and a new description of Stamped Envelopes, both Penny and Two-Penny... [both] intended to replace those in current use...". It notes that the 1d Pinks (2 sizes) will only be on sale in London initially. The second half of the Notice states that "I enclose you Specimens of the new Labels... [and] Specimens of each of the new Penny Envelopes... When the Two-Penny Envelope is ready, you will receive a Specimen of that also... It is intended, hereafter, to obliterate the Postage Stamps with Black Composition, a supply of which will be forwarded to you as soon as possible, but until you receive this supply you will continue to obliterate the Postage Stamp with Red Composition, as heretofore." Important Notice marking the imminent withdrawal of the 1d Black, the Mulready and the red Maltese Cross. SG Spec. PN8 £7,000. Cross Reference: POSTAL STATIONERY, QV, 1841 1d REDS, 1841 2d BLUES, SCOTLAND (Image)

RARE APR. 1841 FOLDING SINGLE-SHEET P.O. NOTICE WITH "SPECIMEN" EMBOSSED 2d ENVELOPE; [c.1] Apr. 1841 large folded P.O. Notice (usual horiz. folds and edge-wear and minor fold-splits; env. fine) from "G.P.O., Edinburgh" "TO ALL POSTMASTERS" with the original Embossed 2d Blue env. with large red "SPECIMEN" hs (slight toning) that had been tipped in beneath the "E.S. LEES, Secretary" printed signature (the tip of the top flap is still affixed to the Notice and exactly fits the small fault at the end of the top flap of the 2d env.). It states that "I now enclose you Specimens of the New Two-Penny Envelopes[only one was sent], which you will permit to pass [through the Post] at the rate of Postage marked upon them." Again it notes that both 1d & 2d embossed envs. will initially only be on sale in London. Attractive matching pair to the Notice in the previous lot. [SG PN10; cat. £2,250.] Cross Reference: SCOTLAND, POSTAL STATIONERY, QV, SPECIMENS (Image)

1841 SINGLE-SHEET P.O. NOTICE WITH 1841 1d & 2d (NO CORNER LETTERS) + "SPECIMEN" 1d PINKS (2 SIZES): c.1 Feb. 1841 large right-hand half (only; 205mm x 247mm) of the double-sheet P.O. Notice (usual horiz. folds and neatly rebacked) from Edinburgh G.P.O. "TO ALL POSTMASTERS". Along the top blank section are gummed an 1841 2d Blue with No Corner Letters (2m; LH marginal, mounted on card and glued on - presumably cut from the absent LH page of this Notice - ex the 15 Jan. 1841 Trial Sheet; SGDP43), a near 4-margin 1841 1d Red (RG) and the larger size 1d Pink env. (minor scuffs) with the large red hs "SPECIMEN" marking. The second smaller matching 1d Pink from the LH page (part of the Notice's paper still present on the scuffed flap) had been badly hinged on top of the larger env. but is now separate. The Notice states that there is to be "...an Alteration in the Adhesive Postage Label Stamps and Stamped Envelopes; I enclose you Specimens of the new Labels... [and] Specimens of each of the new Penny Envelopes... When the Two-Penny Envelope is ready, you will receive a Specimen of that also... It is intended, hereafter, to obliterate the Postage Stamps with Black Composition, a supply of which will be forwarded to you as soon as possible, but until you receive this supply you will continue to obliterate the Postage Stamp with Red Composition, as heretofore." The Most important half of this Important Notice marking the imminent withdrawal of the 1d Black, the Mulready and the red Maltese Cross. SG Spec. PN8 £7,000 for complete double-sheet. (2 items) Cross Reference: POSTAL STATIONERY, QV, 1841 1d REDS, 1841 2d BLUES, SCOTLAND (Image)

RARE APR. 1841 FOLDING SINGLE-SHEET P.O. NOTICE WITH "SPECIMEN" EMBOSSED 2d ENVELOPE; [c.1] Apr. 1841 large folded P.O. Notice (usual horiz. folds and edge-wear and minor fold-splits, but also some peripheral toning) from "G.P.O., Edinburgh" "TO ALL POSTMASTERS" with the original Embossed 2d Blue env. with large red "SPECIMEN" hs; light toning at foot) that had been tipped in beneath the "E.S. LEES, Secretary" printed signature. It states that "I now enclose you Specimens of the New Two-Penny Envelopes[only one was sent], which you will permit to pass [through the Post] at the rate of Postage marked upon them." Again it notes that both 1d & 2d embossed envs. will initially only be on sale in London. [SG PN10; cat. £2,250.] Plus unrelated unused 19 Nov. 1857 (date plugs) small 1d Pink env. with black "SPECIMEN" overprint (fine address side, light toning on reverse). (2 items) Cross Reference: SCOTLAND, POSTAL STATIONERY, QV, P.O. NOTICES, SPECIMENS (Image)

POSTAL NOTICES: 16 Nov. 1855 small notice (143 x 95 mm) with embossed 4d Die 1, 6d Die 2 & 1/- Die 3 overprinted "SPECIMEN". Also another dated May 1859 with a single 3d embossed overprinted "SPECIMEN". Fine. (2 notices) (Image)

1886 ADVERTISING RING;: 1 Apr. 1886 1d pink env. with matching "W & T AVERY/BIRMINGHAM" advertising ring used from Birmingham to Kidderminster with a superb "BIRMINGHAM" squared circle cancellation. Fine. (Image)

1841-83 1d & 2d ENVS. inc. 1d pink unused on various papers plus shades (7) and 2d blue (4, inc one on Dickinson's silk thread paper). Used 1d pink envs. (8, inc. four with MX cancellations) and an 1844 1d pink letter sheet. Mostly fine. (22 items) (Image)

1894 COLOUR STANDARDS: A large env. (260 x 140 mm) with embossed impressions of dies in current use with date plugs replaced by florets comprising values from ½d to 1/-. Env. flap a little soiled but impressions fine. (Image)

1868 ADVERTISING RING: 17 Oct. 1d pink env. from London to Tunbridge with an off centre pink "GEORGE FORMILOE & SONS/LONDON E C" advertising ring with 7 Jan. 1868 date plugs. Cancelled with a very fine "71" London duplex. Fine. (Image)