Committee on Post Office Establishments: Minutes of Evidence, Indices, Summaries and Appendices (1895–1896). Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1896.
A substantial official Parliamentary publication recording the evidence presented before the Committee on Post Office Establishments during one of the most significant periods in the development of Britain's postal service. The volume contains witness testimony, committee summaries, statistical appendices and reports relating to staffing, working conditions, administration, salaries and the operation of Post Offices throughout Britain and Ireland.
These reports provide a remarkable insight into the workings of the Victorian Post Office and the daily lives of postal workers during the late nineteenth century. An invaluable reference for collectors of postal history, social history, genealogy and Victorian government publications.
Bound in a later library-style buckram binding with gilt page edges and retaining the original spine title label.
Key Details
- Title: Committee on Post Office Establishments – Minutes of Evidence
- Subject: Parliamentary Papers / Post Office Commission Report
- Date: 1896
- Period Covered: 1895–1896
- Publisher: Her Majesty's Stationery Office
- Printer: Eyre & Spottiswoode
- Place of Publication: London
- Binding: Later library buckram binding
- Language: English
- Contents: Minutes of Evidence, witness index, summaries and appendices concerning the Post Office Establishments Committee.
Condition Report
- Later library binding remains sound and structurally solid.
- Original spine title label present with age-related wear.
- Boards marked and rubbed from handling.
- Small bumps and wear to board corners.
- Internally generally clean with occasional handling marks and minor tears to a few preliminary pages.
- Text block tight and complete.
- An excellent research copy.
Provenance / Story
This volume records evidence given before the Committee on Post Office Establishments, convened during the reign of Queen Victoria. At nearly 1,200 pages, it documents testimony from postal officials, clerks, postmen and administrators, providing an unusually detailed picture of Britain's postal network at the height of the Empire.
Bound examples such as this were commonly retained by government departments, public libraries and legal institutions rather than private owners, making them considerably less common than loose Parliamentary papers.