Description
SIR ROWLAND HILL Autograph Letter Signed.
British (English) postal reformer. The introducer of "the Penny Post" and credited with the invention of the postage stamp.
ALS. 2pp plus integral blank leaf. Post Office. 26th November 1856. To "My Dear Matthew" [Matthew Davenport Hill].
"I return the M.S. together with a fair copy, not so promptly as I would have desired, but as quickly as I could. To save your time I have made my alterations in the original M.S. in red ink and, where necessary, I have added in pencil the reason for the change. In the fair copy I have suggested for your consideration some further alterations but I have put them in pencil in order that you may have no difficulty in omitting them if you think right to do so. Love to all. In haste, yours affectionately, Rowland Hill. As Edwin is so much better, I fear you will not come to Town. Should you come we can find you a bed."
8vo. Approx 7 x 4.5 inches. Some creasing. Small filing spike hole at head. Mounting residue to verso of integral blank leaf. All else very good.
Sir Rowland Hill was an educational reformer and a campaigner for better conditions for the poor, but he will always be remembered as the man who revolutionised the postal service and introduced the postage stamp.
Matthew Davenport Hill (1792-1872) was the elder brother of Sir Rowland Hill. He was a lawyer and penologist who wrote extensively on prison reform. The M.S. referred to in Sir Rowland's letter is possibly Matthew Hill's 'Suggestions for the Repression of Crime' which was published in 1857.
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