Bleute paper

The output of Perkins, Bacon from 1840 to 1880.
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Seahorse
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:00 pm

Bleute paper

Post by Seahorse »

Just what is it ?

Stanley Gibbons (Q Vic Specialised Catalogue) list each of the first 8 plates as having a variety "on bleute paper" but omit to describe it. The erudite Seymour (Postage Stamps of Gt Britain Vol I) does not mention it as such - but refers to "blued paper", and even going back to the horse's mouth (Bacon's "British Line Engraved Stamps") only yielded a vague reference to a "bluish hand-made paper" used for essays and colour trials.

Modern technology was equally unhelpful a Google search for "bleute paper" produced 1001 chancers trying to sell me reams of printing paper, whereas the word "bleute" on its own produced the same chancers trying to sell me a French-English dictionary.

So, what is this variety of the 1d black ? Does it really exist ? If so, why is it not offered for sale as such by the usual reputable QV dealers? (its only cataloged at about 1.5 to 2 times the ordinary "used" variety so it can;t be that rare) and most importantly, how does one recognise it?

...and yes , I know the acute accent on each "bleute" is missing !
Last edited by Seahorse on Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Winston W
Posts: 113
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:00 pm
Location: East Anglia

Re: Bleute paper

Post by Winston W »

If you have a keen interest in the more detailed aspects of QV, especially LE, I suggest you consider joining the Mulready group
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mulready/info.

There was a good recent discussion of bleuté in that group (from 30 August 2018) with over 50 posts that covers your questions (bar your "why is it not offered for sale as such by the usual QV dealers?" - some do).
Seahorse
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: Bleute paper

Post by Seahorse »

Thank you Winston, I have taken your advice, and found many are thinking as I was, that, particularly on Ebay, there is a strong element of "the emperor's new clothes" (blue-dyed in this case) in many "bleute " blacks offered for sale

As regards REAL bleute paper

"The bluing sometimes found on the One Penny black is entirely due to slight impurities in the paper. Satisfactory examples may be found on stamps from plates 1 to 6, but the existence of genuine blued examples from later plates is doubtful.

Collectors are warned against artificially blued stamps..."
J.B.Seymour

Although Gibbons list the bleute variety from 1a to 8

Just out of interest, I wandered on to another philatelic site, and came across a discussion on bleute that had confused it with the prussiate of potash story associated with the 1d reds. Lots of disinformation ensued. To be fair , it was a non-specialist site

I am looking for a bleute example from a reputable dealer, and I think the choice of a certificated specimen would be prudent.
AB1961
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 1:09 pm

Re: Bleute paper

Post by AB1961 »

Hi Seahorse , i understand that it is very easy to fake blued paper , also it is easy to remove the bluing. Some specialists believe that the term blued paper should be removed from the Stanley Gibbons Specialised Catalogue. I am referring to higher face
value Surface Printed issues.
As regarding the Line Engraved Id Red perforated, it is now known that the bluing is reversible, whether the earlier issues are i dont know.
Maybe it is difficult to identify faked bluing from original bluing, the bluing could have been faked many years ago.
These difficulties could be the reason for dealers not listing this variety.
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