When was the first stamp books issued?
STAMP BOOKS were first issued by the Luxembourg Post Office in 1895. Books containing 24 x 1 d stamps in panels of six were issued by the GPO at a price of 2s 04 d on 16 March 1904. They were printed by Thos de la Rue & Co. Ltd, who had pioneered the idea of stamp books nearly 20 years earlier when they produced a dummy specimen with a pink cover in exactly the same format as the one still used by the Royal Mail today. The legend on the front read: `2/- Post Office of Africa 2/-. This book contains 12 Penny Stamps and 24 Halfpenny Stamps.’ The stamps inside carried the standard Queen Victoria profile in green ink surrounded by the name of the Company.
