Communications Collection

Poster, Night Mail, quoting part of the poem by W H Auden written for and narrated in the documentary film of the same name (1936). circa 1930s

Police Public Call Box in the snow, London
A Police Public Call Box, on a London street on a snowy day. The Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes throughout the London area between 1928 and 1937

Bookbinding Tools 1875
Various tools used in bookbinding, including a pair of compasses, a mallet, presses, a knife, a set square, needle and thread, and a gouge

Flags of Royal Navy
Some of the signal flags of Royal Navy including the Royal Standard, White Ensign, Union Jack

Codex Troano - 1
Part of a Calendar used by Maya priests, depicting gods and symbolic creatures Plate xx

Bookbinding Workshop
A bookbinders workshop, with the finished products in a domestic scene over on the right

Ms - Lindisfarne Gospel
Illumination from the Lindisfarne Gospels or Gospels of Saint Cuthbert (page facing the Gospel of Saint John)

British Army messager pigeon service
Taking birds out: to the trenches by despatch-riders to let the pigeons fly for training. Regular going and coming supply service of birds between the pigeon homing lofts at Divisional

Postman on Pennyfarthing
A postman on a penny farthing delivers a parcel to a woman dressed in a long coat with fur trim

Writing / Shorthand Pitman
Shorthand writing: an example of Pitmans system, boasting that Fortune magazine has gained over 100, 000 subscribers in five short years

Alexandria Library
Scholars examine the scrolls of the library of Alexandria, the greatest collection of the ancient world, burnt in 47 and finally destroyed by Moslem general Amrou 22 December 640

Ancient Arabic Alphabet
Different types of ancient Arabic alphabets Date: Circa 1760

Jewish Scroll Ms
A carved Esther scroll case depicting the story of Purim. This is a Jewish manuscript from Eastern Europe

Daily Telegraph - printing room 1900
Daily Telegraph, printing room in Fleet Street, London. Date: 1900

Alphabet & Typography
The Ancient Japanese alphabet Date: Circa 1760

First airmail letter delivered, Windsor Castle
The first airmail letter ever to be delivered is handed to the Postmaster of Windsor, to whom it is addressed, on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle

A postman in the Scottish Highlands
A postman delivers a letter on foot in the Scottish Highlands

FRANKLIN'S WRITING
Document transcribed by Sir John Franklin stating that H.M.S Erebus & Terror wintered in the ice at Beechey Island. Informs of his death & signed by Capt.s Crozier & Fitzjames. Date: 28 May 1847

Yost Light Running Typewriter No. 15
A Yost Light Running Typewriter No.15. Date: 1910

Brunels SS Great Eastern, Milford Haven, South Wales
Brunels iron sailing steamship, the SS Great Eastern, berthed at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, during the 1870s. The ship is so large that it runs the length of Hamilton Terrace

Page from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
A page from a version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, narrating events of the years 772 to 794. It was written in Old English in the 9th century by a Wessex scribe

Postman in the Snow
This stalwart postman does his duty and delivers the post rain or shine, or in this case, thick winter snow. No chance of exceeding the 30 mile per hour speed limit!

Dresden Codex
Part of the Mayan manuscript known as the Dresden Codex : the illustrations appear to show gods and demons

Swan Fountain Pens 1932
A selection of Swan pens for you to give your friends at Christmas, knowing that the pleasing hues give added charm to fine craftsmanship

Ataturk Reforms Language
Turkey : dictator Kemal Ataturk introduces westernisation of the Turkish language

AFS despatch rider and messenger, WW2
An AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) despatch rider and messenger on a motorbike at an LFS sub-station during the Second World War

Royal Engineer with messenger dog, France, WW1
A Royal Engineer reading a message brought by a messenger dog by swimming a canal, near Nieppe Wood, northern France, during the First World War. Date: 1914-1918

Whipps Cross Hospital, Essex
Entrance to Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone, Essex. Several patients can be see in beds on the open balconies. The hospital was opened in 1903 by the West Ham Union for the sick poor in the area

Carrier Pigeon poster
Poster warning people of the dangers of shooting carrier pigeons who may be carrying life or death messages. Carrier pigeons, we are told, are a vital part of RAF

Girl on Library Ladder
The girl on the library ladder

St Anne Teaches Mary
Saint Anne teaches Mary, the future mother of Jesus, to read from a book of a type which will not come into use until the 2nd century AD

Yost Typewriter
Yost typewriter

Ancient Egyptian Writing
1. Cat cuts off serpent head 2. Ani and his wife, Tutu, adoring the scarab-headed god Khepera on the Solar Bark 3. The god Atum in Solar Bark 4. Couchant lion on pedestal

Illuminated Wenzelbibel manuscript
A page from the illuminated manuscript known as the Wenzelbibel (or Wenzelsbibel), named after King Wenzel (Wenceslaus) IV of Bohemia

British Museum - reading room
The great domed reading room at the British Museum, forerunner of the British Library 1952

Records of first UK aerial mail service
Thepostmasters official handwrittenrecordsrelatingto thefirst UKaerialmail service from London to Windsor andWindsor to LondoninSeptember1911. 1911

Woman reading a book
A beautiful young woman with blonde hair and red lipsticked lips, wears a lilac gown with sky blue fur trim. She reclines in her favourite chair to read her book. 1937

Advert for Underwood portable typewriters 1931
Underwood creates the new portable typewriter. With a quiet carriage that never interrupts the train of thought, a quieter key action and shift key

Releasing carrier pigeon from tank, France, WW1
A human hand releasing a carrier pigeon through the porthole of a tank, near Albert, Somme, northern France, during the First World War. Date: 9 August 1918

Policeman at a police call box
A policeman on the phone at a police public call box on a London street

Metropolitan Police walkie talkie radio
A Metropolitan Police walkie talkie radio

Police Public Call Box, London
A police officer using a Police Public Call Box on a London street. The Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes throughout the London area between 1928 and 1937

Telephone Switchboard
New Scotland Yard switchboard

Hand and Quill Pen
Writing with a quill pen

Monks Copying Manuscript
Monastic copyists replicating manuscripts in the scriptorium of their monastery

Switchboard Girls / 1930S
Girls working on a telephone switchboard, watched over by a stern-looking supervisor

Dewey Decimal System
Card index showing use of the Dewey Decimal Classification system, the most widely used library classification system, devised by Melvil Dewey in the 1870s

Tatler First Issue 1709
THE TATLER Founded by Richard Steele, Joseph Addison was a major contributor. The Tatler was succeeded by The Spectator in 1711

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