^mmw^m¥'^ii- ^'CALIFO*^ Xf-BSIT)-, -5 - I III mil .i I j^T^^. I- ''^iTjsa?''^ HN^Jl % f ,^ H 5 s I .'SSiiZl'/ J^.^ '^f*;>CAu.o<v^ '-UiiH"3>- % 5» 1 ^! 1> \K^ 11 % 'i. q 9 > 3 A % irwrr 2^^^^- '•^ • LNlVt^"-'' _ , califo*'c^V^ 3 1822 01052 1821 or /> .^N^" <^mxu,M 'f.^<^ '«fe • UHVii^fc^^ r^;^"f!'^,%.^ IK0*~ JSsaaN^^'' 4l ''O, jrtiOJnvo —•5 c .00310 lA'f'. ^^^.oa*^ffl,:?>.r'^^ aA--'' '-ijjsal''^^''' ^<i--ri «Mi.^...^^ii^^ '>'// "OV ijli:. V* fcj^ 1*1. / U/saa'*' •Ul'silAN^^'^ "califo*"' vm fo ffj. '•5-. '$• _,-x<^3^lTy " i'/EGO ^/y;i,|J^ ^^-ioii-no^ l/NlVE-l '^oi^o-'>-* .-^^ fNiveii^ .. .003fr, •i^ ^ .003/(7,. •?>, ^X.,vo.:^\^'S''^ •ujiiaa-^'' Uiiai> I /v'.t:si7\ C'.' .VVl I I .,<:i« -Ujyyi .^^*oJnvo, i:m\^^S<^-< •sb. ' ^iiiGU- ,-e!.'''''-'i'NIV6«^^ THE LINE-ENGRAVED POSTAGE STAMPS OF GREAT BRITAIN PRINTED BY PERKINS, BACON &z Co. WITH HIS GRACIOUS PERMISSION THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V. THE HONOURED PATRON OF THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDON. THE^ LINE-ENGRAVED POSTAGE STAMPS OF GREAT BRITAIN PRINTED BY PERKINS, BACON & CO. BY EDWARD DENNY BACON, M.V.O. (Pkesiuext of the Royal Philatelic Society, London). A HISTORY OF THEIR PRODUCTION DURING THE FORTY YEARS- 1840 TO 1880—MAINLY COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE FIRM, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF MR. JAMES DUNBAR HEATH, MANAGING DIRECTOR. With Fifteen Plates of Collotype and other Illustr.\tions. IN TWO volu:mes. VOL. I Published by CHAS. NISSEN & CO., LIMITED. 63 HuiH HoLBORN. London, W.C.i. {All Rights Reserved) 1920 Us FOREWORD. V. I By J. D. HEATH. For some time past I have felt that it was my duty as Managing Director to arrange, while the opportunity offered, jor the publication of an authentic, or. as I may call it, an official account of the production of the British postage stamps produced by the firm now known as Perkins, Bacon & Co., Limited. For the benefit of philatelists, both present- day and more particularly of the future, it seemed fitting and, indeed necessary, that the information contained in our records, dating Jrom before 1S40, and now fortunately available for reference, should be given to the public, so that the many questions as to which philatelists are still divided in opinion should be settled, so far as possible, once and for all. With this object in view, I had arranged with my friend, Mr. E. D. Bacon, to whom the records of Perkins, Bacon & Co. were already as an open book, that I should colla- borate with him in producing the book ; but the daily round of a someivhat exacting business, rendered the more exacting by the strenuous time that our country has just passed through, allowed me no time for performing my share of the work. Mr. Bacon, by under- taking single-handed the whole of the research and literary work required, has not only relieved me of my difficulty, but earned the thanks of all philatelists interested in the history " of the Mother of Postage Stamps." for without his unselfish devotion, the history in its present coinplelcform could never have been written. It has been to him. I know, a labour of love ; nevertheless, his untiring industry, extending over a period of more than ten years, merits suitable recognition jrom those who will reap the benefit of his labours. So far as the records oj the firm were concerned, no stone was lejt unturned, no letter or document that could be found in any way bearing on the subject left unexamined, and no jacl recorded or statement made that could not be supported by evidence con- sources was sidered satisfactory, and in many cases information derived from other oj our experts obtained in corroboration, and, on difficult technical questions, the opinions 'were always considered. hesitation as I think, thercjore. that this historical account can be put jorth without stamps, written by Perkins, Bacon & Co.'s official record oj their Great Britain postage — ft FOREWORD. Mr. Bacon bv their express icisli, and icilli their full authority, ami ichile glad that my debt in this mailer lo philatelisls is paid, I express my deep gratilude to him who has enabled me to pay il. The publication of the history in celebration of the Jubilee of the Rcyal Philatelic Societv. London, -which occurred in .April 1919, is very opportune : for it seems equally appropriate thai Perkins Bacon & Co. should in the same icay mark their centenary year—1919 by assisling the President of that .Society in giving to the Philatelic World a record, as faithful as il is possible to make il. of what may be considered the firm's greatest achievement, one which, 'while creating the very foundation upon which the Science of Philatelv has been built up. will I believe remain in the memory of mankind so long as the present Postal Services of the World remain. I feel therefore, most thankful that we have been able, in the face of many difficulties to complete the work at this time and I acknowledge with loyal gratitude the appreciation of our labours by His Majesty Ike King, shown bv his gracious permission to dedicate the history to him. With this brief foreword. I 'will commend our 'work to the Philatelic World, merely slating that while responsible for -what is -written any omissions there may be are beyond our power lo rectify, as they are due to the absence of the necessary records. PREFACE. The reader who consults this book will doubtless expect to find some definition of its scope and aim. The two standard volumes on the stamps of Great Britain, ' to which frequent reference will be found in our pages, deal with the whole of the values and varieties of the postage stamps issued in the country. The present work is designed to give the history of the production of the first adhesive postage stamps ever issued, with an account of the other British line-engraved stamps printed by the house of Perkins Bacon throughout the period of forty years from 1840 to 1880, during which the firm held contracts for the supply of Postage stamps to the Govern- ment. The account is written on different lines to those of the two works we have men- tioned, inasmuch as it is compiled from a comparison of the records of the printers with other sources of information, and a study of the Essaj-s, Proofs and Specimens of the issued stamps that are known to collectors. Our story opens with the passing of the Act for estabhsliing a Reduced and Uniform rate of Postage, which received the Royal .\ssent on August 17th, 1839, and particulars are given of the competition and prizes offered by the Treasury in the following month for suggestions and designs for the stamps. We record the negotiations that took place between Rowland Hill and Henry Cole and Perkins, Bacon & Pctch, which resulted in the firm obtaining the Contract for the supply of the adhesive postage stamps and we add a short biography of the firm from its foundation in 1819 to the present day, followed by an account oi the " Perkins " process of printing from line-engraved plates. \\"c then givQ in chronological sequence, as far as possible, a detailed narrative of the production of the stamps during the years 1840-80, including a description of all the known Essays and Proofs of the dies and plates, and the various water- marked papers, gumming and perforations used for the stamps. An account of the experiments made in 1878-79 for lighter and more fugitive colours for the stamps follows, with a description of the Essays for surface-printed stamps which were submitted by the firm to the Board of Inland Revenue in 1879-80. At the end we have added a " Reference List with the dates of issue of the different varieties of the stamps" in order to help those collectors who may desire to make use of it in the arrangement of their specimens of Great Britain stamps. The scope of the work has not permitted the treatment in any extended form of the varieties found in the corner lettering of the stamps, nor of the subjects of what are known to collectors as "re-entries," "retouches," et hoc genus omne ; and the sa.me remark applies to the making up of sheets of stamps from the first eleven and subse- quent plates of the One Penny and those of the other values. There is ample material on these points alone for a separate treatise, and we only draw attention to a few of the more salient varieties, as examples of the classes to which they belong. But > " The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great Britain." By Frederick A. Philbrick and " Wilham A. S. Westoby. London. 1S81. A History of the Adhesive Stamps of the British Isles." By Hastings E. Wright and A. B. Creeke, Junr. London. 1899. VIII PREFACE a description is although it was necessary to restrict our notes on these subjects, included of the way the varieties occurred, and the technical means adopted by the printers in their treatment of them. Comparatively few commercial houses have retained their correspondence and accomit books for so long a period as eighty years as Perkins, Bacon cS: Co. fortunately have done. Owing, however, to the removal of the Company's business from C(). Fleet Street to Southwark Bridge Buildings in 1904, it is not surprising that their old records have got a good deal out of order. The extracts given in the Appendices and other researches connected with the printing and pro- duction of the stamps have not, therefore, been found in the chronological order in wliich they are arranged, but have been collected piece by piece irrespective of the date.