Stamp artwork from the reign of Edward VIII online for the first time

Press

2 September 2009

The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is pleased to announce the digitisation of all stamp artwork and proposed stamps from the reign of Edward VIII. From Friday 28 August 2009, it has been possible to view the whole collection via the BPMA’s online catalogue (http://postoffice.alectritton.co.uk/page3087/catalogue)

The death of King George V on 20 January 1936 and the consequent accession of Edward VIII resulted in ambitious plans from the Post Office. It was decided that there would be three possible stamp issues. The first, with values to 1s, would be a temporary “Accession” issue to be produced as soon as possible. This would be replaced by a special “Coronation” issue. On the withdrawal of these commemoratives the first denominations of a “Permanent” issue would be released.

The accession stamps were very simple in format, quite different from any previous stamps, which reflected the new King’s desire for simplicity. They were based on a design submitted by a 17-year-old schoolboy Hubert Brown, though the Post Office did not acknowledge this.

The work of progressing designs for the Coronation stamps was entrusted to the stamp printers Harrison & Sons. A lot of the portrait work was by Eric Gill, and essays were also produced featuring royal castles and famous buildings. The essay of Windsor Castle would have been the first truly pictorial stamp.

The King’s abdication on 11 December 1936 brought the whole progress to an abrupt end.

Although only four postage stamps were issued during the 10-month reign of King Edward VIII there is still a wealth of material in the BPMA collections, including all the work which went into creating the four Accession definitives – photographs, artwork, essays and issued stamps. The BPMA also holds all artwork and essays for the Coronation stamp, produced right up to the week of the abdication.

Douglas Muir, Curator of Philately at the BPMA commented:

“This is part of an exciting project to make out unique collection of GB philatelic material available to everybody. More stamps, artwork and registration sheets will be added to our catalogue in the coming year. Look out for announcements on our website”.

The BPMA will be releasing further catalogues through the course of 2009 and 2010, taking the cataloguing of stamp artwork into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

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