£1,900
CALCUTTA LETTER IN TRANSIT TO G.B. WHEN THE INDIA LETTER ACT & REGULATIONS WERE INTRODUCED; Remarkable 13 July 1815 EL from "Calcutta" to London "P. [Ship] Aurora" written only two days after the India Letter Act had passed into law in G.B. (news of which did not reach India for a few more months) with mainly fine large oval-framed Calcutta "Bengal/G.P.O./POST PAID" (HG SD4) on the flap (partly overstruck by red 12 Dec. London arrival cds, with filing fold). There is also a mainly very fine boxed step-type "PORTSMOUTH/SHIP LETTER" on the front and a "2/8" charge (double the 8d+8d Ship+Inland rate). However, the addressee was a Director of the East India Co. ("G.A. Robinson") and so the letter is endorsed "Please to allow" and the "2/8" has been crossed through in red, because the P.O. agreed that the new 1815 Act allowed East India Co. Directors to send/receive their letters entirely Free to/from India as of 11 July 1815. Unique? Cross Reference: FREE MAIL, SHIP LETTERS, POSTAGE DUE MARKS, HAMPSHIRE
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Free Registration
24% inc VAT*
