Stamp_&_Coin_Mart_2016_01_

56 JANUARY 2016

http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk

Imperial Penny Post

envelopes promoting the cause.

You can read Burritt’s pamphlet at

the British Postal Museum & Archive,

in London, just a stone’s throw from

King’s Cross. The three extracts

selected here show how Victorian letter

writers dodged the consequences of

overpricing. Burritt included them as

part of his argument that cheating on

paying the full rate would wither away

if costs came down:

It is known that large numbers of letters

are carried in the pockets of passengers

crossing the Atlantic. Any number is

allowed to a passenger, provided they

are not sealed. To meet this condition

they are frequently enclosed in self-

addressed envelopes which are only

closed by the bearer on reaching

Liverpool or New York.

Another method is far more detrimental

to the GPO. A full half-ounce is

allowed to a single letter charged at

1s. Lightweight paper called ‘foreign

post’ is manufactured for the express

purpose, with envelopes to match. Ten

communications of the ordinary business

length are frequently enclosed in one

envelope; all conveyed, for example, from

Leeds to St. Louis for a total of 1s.

The postage of letters weighing half an ounce

from Dover to Calais is an exorbitant 1s

3d; while the whole charge on a letter

of the same weight from Dover to San

Francisco is 1s 2d. Therefore a vast number

of letters are conveyed across the Channel

weekly in the pockets of passengers.

The reduction of the transit service to

a penny would almost certainly bring

into the British mail bags all the letters

clandestinely conveyed by passengers.

Examples of the illustrated envelopes

produced in support of the campaign

which eventually succeeded in vastly

reducing the costs of letter writing

worldwide, are illustrated here.

The first six illustrations were lots in

recent Grosvenor Philatelic Auctions sales.

Visit their web pages to see more. The

images below show examples recently sold

in the USA and on eBay.

Myer’s & Co. envelope

sent 14 June 1862

from Manchester to

Coggeshall with 1d. star,

realised £480

Wonderful examples

such as these

occasionally come up

on eBay or in online

auctions in the USA

p54 Ocean.indd 56 24/11/2015 11:48