£190 - £260
RARE SCOTTISH "POSTAGE RETURN" SENT FREE WITH PRINTED LISTS OF POSTAL RATE ALTERATIONS; 10th Dec. 1838 partly printed EL sent Free on 1 Jan. 1839 with totally printed "Postage Return./C.F. REEVES, Esq. GLASGOW" address with "CARNWATH" mark on the back flap. The contents list all the destinations in Scotland from which the postal rates from "Carnwath" had recently changed, thanks to pressure from Postal Reformers; letters were no longer to be charged by the distance travelled, but by the shortest available suitable routes!! As the printed heading puts it:- "Postage on letters shall in future be calculated according to the distance by the nearest [= shortest] travelled Carriage Road, I have to desire you will carefully examine your Scotch Postage List, and by return of Post inform me what Postages have already been altered under this Order, and what Postages ought to be altered..." Seven destinations are listed as having had their postages reduced. Rare evidence of one of the few pre-1840 Postal Reforms that were undertaken (albeit under pressure from Robert Wallace and friends) by the PO themselves. One of only four such "Postage Returns" that we have seen, and a rare internal PO Free item. [Ex RL PH auction, 28 May 1942, lot 208, which had 7 such Returns including this one; one of the others was sold for £300 in Cavendish's July 2003 auction, lot 277. This example is ex Cavendish Dec. 2018; lot 1140, realised £280+BP.] Plus 1835 EL sent by carrier from "Crieff" to Edinburgh endorsed "With a Kit [barrel] of Butter" charged "3/8" in red (presumably for the letter and the barrel). (2 covers) Cross Reference: SCOTLAND, POSTAGE DUE MARKS, POSTAL REFORMS
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