As an instance of how little Mr. Bourne had regarded the proofs taken of his work at various stages, a very fine proof in the set obtained by me was the Queensland head die proved upon a large sheet of thick porous paper, the whole of which proof had been used as a convenient blotting-pad!
Proofs of the Mulready are not very difficult to obtain, even on India paper. There was in the Peacock papers a proof on India paper to which Rowland Hill had affixed his signature, the latter being added on a separate piece of writing-paper pasted over the India paper, which does not take writing.
There must be many engravers of stamp dies who have accumulated a stock of proof specimens of their work, and these are well worth looking out for. A particularly choice item—said to be one of three copies originally taken—is the engraver's proof of the first adhesive postage, head only, without "POSTAGE," and undenominated. Mrs. Haywood, a grand-daughter of Henry Corbould and daughter of Edward Henry, and who is still further associated with the stamp as the niece of Frederick Heath, the engraver, has one of the three, which is in itself a unique item, for it bears in the handwriting of Edward Henry Corbould the note:
"Engraver's Proof by Fredk. Heath after drawing by Henry Corbould, F.S.A."
To this undoubtedly important piece of evidence I give special prominence, as it should establish the association of Frederick Heath, rather than his father Charles, with the engraving of this stamp. To Charles it was popularly attributed at the time of the issue of the stamp, as the father's name had been generally associated with much of the work done under his supervision, but not necessarily by his own hand, by his many pupils and assistants.[12] Mrs. Haywood tells me that there has never been any doubt among the older members of the family—the Heaths and Corboulds having intermarried—that Frederick was the engraver and not Charles, and Edward Henry Corbould was himself a collaborator with Frederick Heath on the coin-shaped Five Shillings stamp of New South Wales, of which Mrs. Haywood treasures also an engraver's proof.
In the plate stage proofs are more common than die-proofs, but still in many cases they are scarce compared with the stamps; yet, by a strange inversion of scarcity value, one can obtain a magnificent proof of the famous "twelve pence" black stamp of Canada for fewer shillings than the stamp itself costs in pounds. The old-fashioned collector used to say he only wanted "stamps," and turned up his nose at a "proof," but the modern advanced school is changing all that. The old idea is the more ridiculous when one considers that the Connell essay of New Brunswick (it was never issued for postal use), if perforated and gummed, though still not an issued stamp, fetches £30, while an imperforate proof costs 20s. More absurd still is it where philatelists, in the desire to establish rariora, are inconsistent enough to deem an undoubted "proof" of Cape Colony, the celebrated 1d. red-brown triangular stamp on paper watermarked Crown over CC, as an issued stamp, and to pay a fabulous sum for the privilege of possessing it. The price—if its rarity be the token by which price may be gauged—was cheap enough; there are about ten copies known to collectors, all the specimens being unused, but by that same token we know that it was never used in the post nor issued to any post-office.
AN EXCEPTIONAL BLOCK OF TWENTY UNUSED ONE PENNY BLACK STAMPS, LETTERED "V.R." IN THE UPPER CORNERS FOR OFFICIAL USE.
(From the collection of the late Sir William Avery, Bart.)