Silver Jubilee

The second booklets to contain commemorative stamps were issued for the Silver Jubilee in May 1935, marking 25 years of the reign of King George V (the first commemorative booklets were for the Postal Union Congress in May 1929).

There were seven editions of the 2s booklet and four editions of the 3s booklet, each taking sequential edition numbers from the then current series of photogravure booklets. It had been intended to have eight editions of the 2s booklet and three editions of the 3s booklet but, due to unexpected demand for the 3s booklet (presumably as souvenirs), one edition was changed from 2s to 3s.

Cover essay reconstruction.

The cover was designed by Barnett Freedman. He suggested printing his design in blue and red on a pale background, stitched with thread in the same colour as the printing, and using “Postage Stamps” instead of the usual “Book of Stamps”. This essay from February 1935 shows consideration of panes of three stamps (contents 18-6-6 compared to the issued 12-4-4 and 20-4-4) but is otherwise very similar to the issued booklets. Proofs were taken in shades of blue and red, and with small changes to the lettering.

Booklets Sold

2s	3,503,089
3s	2,001,790

2s Booklet Series 4: BB16

To see more BB16 booklets click here.

Edition 298: the edition number is in a smaller type.
Editions 298-304: have an air mail pane after the front cover.
Editions 298, 304: exist without the air mail pane.
Edition 300: has a Ford’s Blotter between the front cover and the air mail pane.
Edition 302: one booklet is known Cancelled Type 33 (unpunched).

* These editions are known bound with staples.

A missewn booklet, given new covers and stapled so that stitch holes are present in the contents but not in the covers, and an Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 12 Jun 1935, cancelled Type 33P.

3s Booklet Series 3: BB28

To see more BB28 booklets click here.

Editions 294-297: have an air mail pane after the first stamp pane.
Edition 296: exists with the first interleaf from BB16 edition 302.

* These editions are known bound with staples.

A missewn booklet, given new covers and stapled so that stitch holes are present in the contents but not in the covers, and an Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 7 May 1935, cancelled Type 33P.

Multipositives

Different multipositives were used for the Silver Jubilee booklet stamps:

Type I: sheet stamps, “FPE” solid colour.
Type II: booklet inverted, “FPE” solid at top, lighter at bottom.
Type III: booklet upright, as Type II but with bottom frame lines thinner.

Type I: sheet stamps, wide shading between “NN”.
Type II: booklet inverted, narrow shading between “NN”.
Type III: booklet upright, wide shading between “NN”.

Type I: sheet stamps, top frame lines thick.
Type II: booklet inverted, top frame lines thin.
Type III: booklet upright, top frame line thick above “JU”.

Booklet Panes

Booklet panes of four were printed in photogravure using double cylinders (no-dot and dot sheets), the no-dot sheet having 120 stamps arranged as 20 upright booklet panes and 10 inverted, the dot sheet having 10 upright and 20 inverted. Cancellations are equally likely to be found on upright or inverted panes, unless otherwise noted.

Sheets were perforated using a horizontal machine, adapted for the Silver Jubilee, giving perforation Type B1(E).

Full sheet reconstructions are shown under Sheets & Perforations.

Watermark Block Cypher.

NComB5/a: Booklets BB16, BB28; Perfs E; Cancels 28, 28P, 33P; Cyls* 33, 35

NComB6/a: Booklets BB16, BB28; Perfs E; Cancels 28, 28P, 33P; Cyls* 26, 37
Variety NComB7b: Repair below I of SILVER (Cyl 37, R2/2)

NComB7/a: Booklets BB16, BB28; Perfs E; Cancels 28, 28P, 33P; Cyls* 30, 41, 58, 59, 66
Variety NComB7b: White dot after E (R1/1)

* only no-dot cylinder numbers appear in the finished booklets.

Adverts & Interleaves

The larger size of the Silver Jubilee booklets required larger interleaves, and the adverts and postal notices grew to fill the space. There were 60 different adverts on the interleaves and covers, including two postal notices and a sample of Ford’s blotting paper. The four Dubarry adverts are shown below.

A sample of Ford’s blotting paper was proposed for both the 2s and 3s booklets. However, the 3s booklet would have been too thick for the sewing machines, so the blotter was only included in edition 300 of the 2s booklet. It was inserted between the front cover and the air mail pane. The air mail pane was also extended by adding and extra label and is the only air mail pane with three labels.

Interleaf Page Numbering

Numbers are found in the margins of some interleaves. These were to ensure the correct order of assembly. On the front of each interleaf is the booklet value, the edition number, and the interleaf number. Only the advert and postage rate interleaves were numbered, air mail panes and the sample of Ford’s blotting paper in 2s booklet 300 were not.

Click the image to enlarge.

Interleaf numbers were initially in manuscript (2s booklets 298-300 and 3s booklets 294-295), with the writing spread across two rows on the uncut sheet of interleaves, with value+edition on the row above, and interleaf number on the row immediately below. The relative position is known as sometimes there is a small overlap of part of the inscription onto the next interleaf. Finished booklets have all interleaves with value+edition, or all interleaves with interleaf number; never a mixture of the two.

In later editions the numbers were typeset (2s booklets 301-304 and 3s booklets 296-297), with a more compact format fitting onto a single row.

On the reverse, the interleaf number has a letter “A” suffix.

The 60 Adverts

A full description of Silver Jubilee booklet adverts was first given by Alastair Hacket in his book The 1935 Silver Jubilee Issue of Great Britain, published by the Edinburgh Stamp Shop in 1982. Hacket assigned numbers 1 to 60 to the adverts, with Post Office notices first, then back covers, then other adverts in alphabetical order (more or less). He summarised the adverts used in each booklet edition in a table on his page 46.

Comparing this table to existing booklets has revealed some errors. Corrected adverts are highlighted in the table below. These corrected numbers have been checked not only with existing booklets, but also with Lt-Col. J.B.M. Stanton’s card index, and most importantly with adverts having printed interleaf numbers in the selvedge which give a definitive position.

The errors may have been typographical (likely for Edition 303) or may have come from examining exploded booklets with interleaves in the wrong order, or from re-made booklets which have been assembled in the wrong order. Unfortunately, there are many re-made Silver Jubilee booklets as the components needed to stitch together a complete booklet are readily available.

	3s				2s
Booklet Edition	294	295	296	297	298	299	300	301	302	303	304
Front Cover Inside	31	31	31	30	31	31	31	31	31	30	32
Order of stamps and interleaves from front to back	SC	SC	SC	SC			60
	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM	AM
	54	16	54	50	47	54	54	53	54	54	54
	57	48	57	21	57	15	57	55	36	49	9
	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC
	19	10	35	55	55	22	13	10	28	42	24
	33	55	20	25	10	17	27	26	23	59	12
	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC
	17	27	44	42	40	34	40	42	40	23	25
	43	14	45	26	41	18	41	38	41	39	23
	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC	SC
	15	23	23	23	24	2	2	2	39	58	55
	23	18	11	27	23	39	23	23	52	55	42
	SC	SC	SC	SC	SB	SB	SB	SB	SB	SB	SB
	2	2	12	39	2	1	1	1	2	2	2
	46	51	46	28	1	23	39	46	1	1	1
	SB	SB	SB	SB	SA	SA	SA	SA	SA	SA	SA
	1	1	2	2
	13	46	1	1
	SA	SA	SA	SA
Back Cover Inside	56	56	27	56	39	55	37	56	56	28	46
Back Cover Outside	8	4	56	5	56	3	56	8	29	7	6

AM: air mail

SA: ½d pane

SB: 1d pane

SC: 1½d pane

Click the images to enlarge.

Corrected Editions

Booklets with corrected interleaf ordering are illustrated below, using examples with printed interleaf numbers, leaving little doubt about the correct order.

Edition 296 adverts (typeset interleaf numbers): 54, 35, 44, 23, 12, 2, 27

Edition 297 adverts (typeset interleaf numbers): 50, 55, 42, 23, 39, 2, 56

Edition 298 adverts (manuscript interleaf numbers): 47, 55, 40, 24, 2, 39

Error of Makeup

One error of makeup is known. A number of copies of 3s booklet 296 were made up with the first interleaf from 2s booklet 302 instead of the correct advert for the edition. An exploded booklet clearly shows the error with “302 2/-” on the first interleaf instead of “296 3/-“.

A skeleton booklet shows the result of the incorrect interleaf with an advert for a Corona Typewriter facing an advert for a Smith Premier Typewriter. These would be separated by a pane of 1½d stamps in a complete booklet. The correct advert for the back of the first interleaf should have been Muller Labs “No Nerve Power”. The fronts of both the correct and incorrect interleaves have identical General Acoustics ‘DEAF’ advertisements, which perhaps explains the error.

The number of booklets assembled with the incorrect interleaf is not known, but at least two complete examples have survived, together with the exploded and skeleton booklets.