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The Louis Grunin Collection of Caricatures and Illustrated Envelopes - London 6 May 2004

Louis Grunin has been an avid collector of the Mulready and its caricatures for over a quarter of a century, and his name has become synonymous with the subject during this time. Having sold his Mulready collection through Spink in 1998, Lou has now instructed Spink to put his magnificent caricature collection under the hammer.

The auction, to be held on May 6, represents a unique opportunity for collectors and historians to gain an insight into social and political issues of the time, illustrated by the stunning variety of rare and seldom seen lots offered in the auction.

With the advent of Penny Postage in 1840, pre-paid envelopes and wrappers of 1d and 2d denominations were put on sale to the public alongside the issued postage stamps. These envelopes and wrappers were designed by William Mulready, the main design depicting Britannia despatching messengers to various parts of the world. The design was not greeted well by the public and quickly became the subject of much derision with private publishers producing a wide array of caricatures. These caricatures take the form of both comical and serious political comment and were at the time widely used, on occasion bearing stamps to pay the postage. Sadly by comparison relatively few survived, and the sale on 6 May comprises the largest single auction offering ever made of these fascinating items.

With over 250 lots, the auction includes examples from most if not all the known publishers, the more prolific being Ackermann, Bell, Fores, Hume, Mason, Southgate, and Spooner. The sale also includes examples from the more obscure publishers. Many of these are rare usages bearing stamps to pay postage and some are to overseas destinations. The auction also includes a selection of decorative ladies envelopes, propaganda envelopes, pictorial envelopes, advertising envelopes and later printed illustrated envelopes.

With so many exquisite and charming pieces on offer it is difficult to single out any one item for specific mention. Suffice to say that this auction presents an unsurpassed offering for existing collectors of the subject and a major opportunity for new collectors.

The catalogue will without doubt quickly become one of the definitive works on the subject and collectors are recommended to apply for a copy without delay.

N.B. Further enquiries for this sale should be made to Richard Watkins.