£220 - £300
LONDON - UNIQUE(?) ORIGINAL PAIR OF "The Party to whom..." DS COVER WITH "Returned Letter" ACTS OF PARLIAMENT WRAPPER; 18 Dec. 1847 unpaid local London EL charged with hs "2[d]" beside "T.P/Gt. Marylebone St" but endorsed "Not Known as Directed" on the flap and so with partly fine rare large red crowned boxed "LONDON/The Party to whom this letter/is Addressed cannot be FOUND" ds on the front. Together with its original PO "Returned Letter/Dead Letter Office" wrapper with the rare "Under the 3rd & 4th Vict. Cap.96...the party to whom this Cover is addressed...is liable to the Postage charged below" with hs "2[d]" postage due mark. Intriguingly this wrapper has also been endorsed on the flap; "Refused to pay the Postage. R. Prior.". So was the addressee eventually persuaded that the law meant that he had to pay the 2d? These Acts and the boxed explanatory returned mail marks were introduced to prevent the junk mail of people like Joseph Ady. We cannot recall having seen any other cover with this large dated type of explanatory mark together with its Returned Mail wrapper like this. (2 covers) [The pair ex Grosvenor, Jan 2007 auction, lot 238; realised £950+BP.] [Both illustrated in BPPP, pp.575/576.] Cross Reference: LONDON POSTAL HISTORY, OFFICIAL MAIL, RETURNED MAIL, POSTAGE DUE MARKS
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