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It isn\u2019t difficult to demonstrate that issuing a public Notice won\u2019t guarantee any level of acceptable compliance. In fact, in some cases it\u2019s easier to illustrate that the opposite tends to occur. Just flick through the news and it\u2019s littered with folk who have ignored a COVID related notice and got into bother, whether it\u2019s Britons facing jail in Singapore for breaking quarantine rules, or groups getting fined for flouting lockdown notices. But if you think about it, any Notice is doomed to fail because by the very nature of a Notice it is only produced because humans are bound to do things they shouldn\u2019t, or as is often the situation, a Notice is produced when it is apparent that people are already acting contrary to a set procedure. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|23px|auto||” custom_padding=”||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||”]<\/p>\n And in the world of philately it is no different because there are regulations and thus there are Notices presenting the rules, which people are apt to comply with, ignore or be ignorant of, and thus we have another fascinating area of study. Take this important and very rare GB Queen Victoria postal notice dated 7th May 1840, available for sale by Private Treaty<\/a>,<\/strong> and is one of only a few known examples, which is thought to be Rowland Hills\u2019 personal archive copy, having an additional manuscript marking in the hand of Hill\u2019s secretary – John Ledingham – on the reverse, instructing the public on where to affix the adhesive stamps – in the upper right of the letter. It\u2019s important because postal adhesives had only been a thing for a day, officially, and already Rowland Hill and his merry team of Postal Officials recognise that clarification was required to ensure compliance with the Regulations. And it is equally important because this setting of the stamp in that upper right corner is something we all take for granted today, but which here is manifested at the pleasure of the GB General Post Office, and it was all because of the predominantly \u2018right handedness of the mail handlers<\/em>\u2019. It\u2019s now a universal standard which sorting machines are configured to take absolute Notice of, and most people are only too eager to submit to it these days. Mr Hill would be overjoyed at the level of \u2018rightness\u2019 nowadays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Postal-Notice-1.jpg” alt=”Postal Notice 1840″ title_text=”Postal Notice 1″ url=”https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/2020\/04\/new-major-gb-rarities-available-by-private-treaty\/” url_new_window=”on” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px||3px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n However, as alluded to at the outset, it is curious just how postal history provides contradictions. Take the first cover featured sent 7th May 1840, the very day of our Notice, from Witham (Essex) to Halesworth (Suffolk) franked with a very fine penny black pl.1a and positioned in the correct location top right. Aha! These Notices are a useful phenomenon. Well done great and good Postal Officials, absolutely no confusion whatsoever.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_5,3_5,1_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”16px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/7th-May-cover.jpg” alt=”7th May cover Lot 50031 in David Feldman December auction 2019 ” title_text=”7th May cover” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||on||||||” text_text_color=”#0a0a0a” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”-15px|||||”]<\/p>\n Lot 50031<\/a> in David Feldman’s December 2019 auction, sold for \u00a33\u2019000, a May 7th cover showing the Penny Black stamp positioned in the correct location at top right<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”1px||2px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n But hang on a minute, what do we have here as our second example? A cover sent on the 8th May 1840, the very next day after our Notice, from Reading (Berkshire) to Croydon (Surrey) franked with a pl. 2 penny black and fixed, shock horror, Contrary to Regulation – that\u2019s the technical speak for erroneous placement of adhesive in such circumstances. Not a full day has gone by and already the public are riding roughshod over the Notice. Perhaps understandable given the freshness of such instructions. However, do you see the irony on display here in this second cover?<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_5,3_5,1_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/8th-May-Cover.jpg” alt=”7th May cover Lot 50031 in David Feldman December auction 2019″ title_text=”8th May Cover” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||on||||||” text_text_color=”#0a0a0a” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”-15px|||||”]<\/p>\n