London 2015 court of honor

The court of honor at the London 2015 Europhilex stamp exhibition will bring together outstanding items representing significant highlights of postal communications over the years, from the royal charter of 1635 that opened Great Britain’s Royal Mail to the public, to one of the 214 covers carried on the first manned moon landing in 1969.

The London 2015 Europhilex stamp show will take place May 13-16 at the Business Design Centre, Islington, in London.

The show will mark the 175th anniversary of the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black of 1840. On display in the court of honor will be the original sketch by Rowland Hill that became the basis for the design of the Penny Black and the Two-penny Blue stamps.

Great Britain introduced postal stationery at the same time as the Penny Black. These letter sheets and envelopes are named for their designer, William Mulready.

The court of honor will include a Mulready letter sheet used on the May 6, 1840, first day of issue, and a Mulready envelope bearing three Penny Blacks and two Two-penny Blue stamps that was the first mail bearing stamps to be sent across the Atlantic.

In addition to the aforementioned Apollo 11 cover, the court of honor will include a letter carried by Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown on their successful crossing of the Atlantic by air in June 1919.

Hollowed out pieces of driftwood used as mailboats by John Sands in 1876 to send messages when he was marooned on St. Kilda also will be on display.

A preview of some of the court of honor items can be seen on the web page www.London2015.net/specialexhibition.