The Penny Post: 1680-1918 - Tapa blanda

To some (such as Elihu Burritt who campaigned so vigorously for Ocean Penny Post to and from the United States, and Henniker Heaton, who by his efforts brought about Imperial Penny Post in 1898) the need to provide a cheap means of communication between peoples at home and abroad was not only obvious but was fought for with missionary zeal. However, governments were slow to react to these demands and the story Frank Staff describes provides a fascinating sidelight of social as well as postal history. While we are familiar with the name of Rowland Hill, who in 1840 established Uniform Penny Post in this country, less well-known is the pioneering work of William Dockwra, who created an efficient Penny Post in London as early as 1680 with four or five hundred Receiving Houses to take in letters, seven Sorting Offices and very frequent deliveries. Other pioneers include Ralph Allen of Bath, who developed Bye-way and Cross Roads Post throughout England and Wales in 1720, Peter Williamson, who organised a Penny Post in Edinburgh in 1773-4, and John Palmer, who devised the first mail-coach service in 1784 from Bristol to London. The study of postal history opens up wide possibilities and is a fascinating subject of interest to the social historian as well as the philatelist. The Penny Post not only gives the historical background of a reform, but indicates the range of items that may still be obtained by the keen collector - early date-stamped envelopes, broadsheets and pamphlets, letter scales and stamp boxes, personal correspondence and newspaper cartoons - and the book itself is illustrated with a remarkable collection of photographs and line drawings.

This book presents an insight into the social as well as the postal history of the Penny Post. In this account we read of men who campaigned vigourously against often slow, backward, thinking governments to bring down to us today an efficient postal system. Names such as Rowland Hill who established uniform Penny Post in this country we are familiar with, others such as William Dockwra, who created an efficient postal system in London as early as 1680 and Ralph Allen of Bath, who developed Byeway and Cross Roads post throughout England and Wales in 1720, are less familiar to us, but it is these men as well as many others who recognised the need to provide cheap means of communication between peoples here and abroad, and fought with missionary zeal to do so. Accompanied by a collection of line drawings and photographs this study is not only of interest to the philatelist but also to the social historian, for the account traces the historical background to the reform that has finally resulted in the Postal System we know today. Also indicated is the range of items obtainable by the keen collector - early date envelopes, broadsheets and pamphlets, letter scales and stamp boxes, personal correspondence and newspaper cartoons. Frank Staff is a well known postal historian. He has written two books on the history of postcards, "The Picture Postcard and Its Origins" and "Picture Postcards and Travel", both published by The Lutterworth Press. He is also the author of "The Valentine and Its Origins".