print;
envelope
- Museum number
- 1848,0705.3
- Description
-
Letter sheet, with Britannia seated at centre, with a lion at her feet, despatching angels to different parts of the World; in foreground at left, a woman reading a letter to another woman, lying in bed; at right, a woman reading a letter to her two daughters. 1840
Wood-engraving
- Production date
- 1840
- Dimensions
-
Height: 85 millimetres (image)
-
Width: 133 millimetres (image)
- Curator's comments
- Letter sheet, folded for posting a letter inside. Pasted on backing sheet with letterpress description of the plate which reads: "Designed for Rowlands Hill's Penny Postage in 1840. Only 150 copies taken in this state. [...] the engraving was a work of four months' incessant labour. Excepting a French bank note, this design is unique as a relief engraving on brass". Also on the same backing sheet pasted with a letter by Henry Cole on the design, dated 1848.
According to an article by Alan Holyoake from 1 March 2008, 'Great Britain; Development and Use of the First Issues', Royal Philatelic Society, www.rpsl.org.uk/first_issues/index.html, the design was printed from a brass die, produced from a mould made from the original woodcut.
See Curatorial Comment for 1868,0808.11967
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1848
- Acquisition notes
- The register states that this was presented by R.Cole Esq, but may be a mistake or a relative of Henry Cole.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1848,0705.3
