The Postage Stamp

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Dundee printer and bookseller James Chalmers (1782–1853) is traditionally credited with the early development of the adhesive postage stamp. His February 1838 proposal to the Post Office featured gummed adhesive 'slips' and — uniquely — a dated cancellation mark, an idea now used on every stamp in the world. Modern scholarship recognises Rowland Hill's earlier 1837 adhesive-stamp concept, but Chalmers' practical designs and postal reform campaigns remain a genuine and lasting contribution to postal history.