The Wallace Document. The World’s First Postage Stamp: The Earliest Known Example of the 1840 Penny Black
Auction Closed
December 7, 11:28 AM GMT
Estimate
4,000,000 - 6,000,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Th𒈔e Wallace Document. The World’s First Post🦄age Stamp: The Earliest Known Example of the 1840 Penny Black
1840 Onౠe Penny꧟ Black, from plate 1a, lettered A-I, unused
pristine impression in deep intense black, mounted on thin🌃 cream scrap-album card, with pencil manuscript below in the 🎀hand of Robert Wallace, M.P.:
“Universal Penny Postage Fly, or Lo🐭ose Stamp, presented to me𓂃 Mr Wallace as above.”
“These come (came) into public use on the 6th of May 1840.” together with the 1840 Mulready, progressive proof without valu🔴e from the original brass plate in black on India paper. Dimensions 15.5cm high by 20.1cm wide. Mounted on thin cream scrap-album card, with pencil manuscript above in the hand of Robert Wallace, M.P.:
“1st Proof of Penny Postage Stamp Cover, presented to Mr Wallace by Mr The Right Honble The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Francis Thornhill Baring – April 10th 1840”,
mounted together by Robert Wallace on thin cream scrap-album card stock, (dimensions 23.5cm high by 🌼28cm wide with at top right an addit﷽ional “ear” 1.9cm high by 5.5cm wide) with pencil annotations as above
Estate of 💝Rob✤ert Wallace, M.P. to the Caldwell family, 1855;
Thence by descent, until; Cavendish P༺hilat﷽elic Auctions, 1991;
[24th February 1992, opin♑ion by James L. Grimwood-Taylor that the handwriting is Robert Wallace’s — letter provided to purchaser of The Wallace Documeꦉnt]
Propertꦑy of a European Collector David Feldman Auction,
24th September 2013, lot 40078 (did not sell);
Private Sale to the present owner🐽, 8th October 2013.
Exhibited:
New York, Javits Center, World Stamp Show, 2016, 2꧑8th May to 4th June, 2016
Washington DC, Smithsonian National Po🔯stal Museum, “From Royal Mail to Public Post”, 28th October 2016 to 16th January 2017, “Court of Ho🎃nour”