Great Britain 1840 1d Mulready Envelope Forme 1, Stereo A133, SGME2.
A very fine used example sent from Frome to Halstead, neatly cancelled by a red Maltese Cross with a black boxed "No. 2" handstamp alongside and a diamond magenta Free Trade propaganda wafer at lower left endorsed "Thanks for Cheap postage. May we soon get cheap bread. Free communication with all parts of the Empire is good: but free trade with all parts of the World will be still better."
Backstamped by a Frome dispatch circular date stamp for "AU.21.1840." and a London transit circular date stamp for the following day.
A very rare Mulready bearing a Free Trade propaganda wafer on the front of the envelope as they were generally used as seals on the reverse.
A fascinating contemporary connection between two of the great reform movements of Victorian Britain: Uniform Penny Postage and the campaign for repeal of the Corn Laws and free trade.
Provenance: Ex "Mayflower" Grand Prix Gold Medal Collection.
Accompanied with a 2010 British Philatelic Association (BPA) Certificate of Authenticity.
