The Adhesive Postage Stamp

The author presents documentary evidence and argument that James Chalmers originated the adhesive postage stamp, recounting his earlier postal reforms and correspondence, a Dundee testimonial, and papers left by Sir Henry Cole; the work situates Chalmers's proposal within the wider movement for postal reform, reviews parliamentary inquiries and reports preceding the 1837–40 reforms, and challenges the claim that Rowland Hill alone conceived the penny postage plan by tracing shared sources and adopted ideas, while assembling letters, reports, and commentary to support Chalmers's priority and clarify the stamp's role in implementing a reformed postage system.