Postal stationery : Great Britain : Queen Victoria : 1837-1901

Abstract

Postal stationery is that branch of postal history dealing with postal matter which bears a printed or embossed stamp indicating that postage has been prepaid. This stationery was issued by the British Post Office either as standardised official postal stationery, on which stamps were printed, half embossed or fully embossed in various denominations, or as stationery supplied by different clients to be franchised by the Post Office (or Somerset House), known as 'printed to private order' (PTPO) stationery. Whereas official postal stationery was rigidly standardised, as far as size, paper quality, printed content, and format were concerned, the PTPO stationery comes in all forms, colours and sizes, albeit within the parameters of what was acceptable to the British Postal Authorities. [excerpt]