Wednesday 17 August 2011

Bath Uniform 1d Post - Mulready

The first cover I have from Bath after the introduction of the Uniform 1d Post in 1840 is a Mulready letter Sheet used on 21st October 1840.

Mulreadys and their caricatures are another of my interests.  Here is an unused caricature by an unknown artist ("WE Jr") with a possible Bath connection.
This caricature, which is rare, exists in two conditions, one where the letter on the back of the boy on the left is addressed to "A Bachelor Esq., Family Hotel, Bath", and a second, as above, where the address is "A Bachelor Esq., Family Hotel, London".  The impression of the second type is much harder leading to speculation that the first type ("Bath") was a proof, and that perhaps the envelope, and the other eleven in the series, were printed in the West Country, in particular in Bath.

The example of the above known used (in the Royal Collection) was posted from London to Cheltenham on 18th November 1847 - my search of the Pigot's Directory for Bath from 1844 looking for Printers with the initials "WE" has unfortunately drawn a blank.

No comments:

Post a Comment