Auction 309-320 - Great Britain 1840–1841 Europe & Overseas - Day 5

1849, 1 d. red, plate 89, two unused blocks, no gum, one of thrity (5 x 6), letterd CD-HH, including variety to DG, the other an irregular block of fifteen (1 & 2 x 7), from the top right corner of the sheet with plate number and selvedge with inscription, lettered AL (missing imprimatur position) and BK-HL, margins all round, heavily soiled and stained, with creasing and imperfections, despite appearance rare unused multiples, the largets known surving unused blocks from this plate.rnRemark: According to the Karl Louis Card Index, there is one larger unused block recorded of sixty FA-JL, ex. Seymour (Robson Lowe, 11 April 1951, lot 681), although this has subsequently been split into various smaller blocks during 1949 and 1980, including a block of twenty four IA-JL (Robson Lowe, 26 September 1951, lot 307), block of nine FD-HF (Robson Lowe, 8-9 July 1975, lot 261), another block of nine FG-HI (Ex. Dr Barer Collection, Robson Lowe, 27 January 1954, lot 194), and a block of four GK-HL (Ex. Minimus Collection, Robson Lowe, 5 June 1980, lot 1309). There is also an unused block of sixteen recorded AA-BH, (Stanley Gibbons, 15-17 September 1976, lot 525 and Phillips, 9 October 1989, lot 298), which has been reduced, with two blocks of four known to have been cut from this block of sixteen; AD-BE (Spink, 8 March 2007, lot 2393) and AG-BH (Phillips, 11 July 1991, lot 290). rnProvenance: Ex. Bertram McGowan Collection, Robson Lowe, 26 January 1949, lot 221; Eric Paul, 2010.