“British Printed Papers by Post tells the story of how the GPO services developed when handling mail separated
from letters, postcards and parcels. This might include newspapers, books, parliamentary papers, voting papers,
patterns and samples, prices current and market reports, election papers, ecclesiastical papers, and others.
Members of the armed services also needed special arrangements. This story goes back to the mid 17th century to
give readers the context in which very many changes to Britain’s postal arrangements were made during the period
1836 to 1876. The origins of the various postal services are described along with problems encountered by the
Post Office and the steps taken to resolve those. The narrative includes extracts from official records and statutes
and these are augmented by Tables of the rates of postage within Britain and from Britain to places overseas.”

A huge work. Well illustrated in colour.