Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 144 - August Philatelic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 24

1711 Queen Anne (1665-1714) broadside proclamation with Royal Coat of Arms at top, the notification of an act of the British Parliament for the establishment of a foreign section of the British Post Office, printed by the Assigns of and , Printers to the Queens most Excellent Majesty. 1711.(405 x 475 mm)It is the only example in private hands.

The relevance of the act, and the important document stating it, was that it revolutionized communications not just in Great Britain but also farther afield, between the United Kingdom and British dominions and territories. This new post office act was highly important as it introduced standard rates for the calculation of postage in the British Isles, as well as setting out the rates to be charged in the colonies. With only minor changes, the principal structure of these rates remained unchanged until the great postal reforms of 1837.

The proclamation states, A full transcription accompanies.

This act also stated that the post office had to pay £700 each week into the Exchequer to "carry on and finish the present war." These payments continued for many decades after the death of Queen Anne. The War of Spanish Succession lasted for virtually all of Queen Anne's reign, explaining the demand for additional funds from the post office. The document is of huge historical importance, not just purely philatelic history but of British history. The document is in a very fine state of preservation, gem museum quality and should be an important acquisition for a postal museum on either side of the Atlantic ocean.

Sold for
$16,600