The study of transatlantic mail between Portugal and the United States, mediated by the British postal system between 1853 and 1875 (when the General Postal Union was established), reveals a complex web of international relations. While the North Atlantic routes and conventions of this era have been masterfully documented by legendary scholars, most notably Richard Winter, the specific intersection of Portuguese domestic legislation with these international treaties continues to offer a rich field for new discovery. My primary motivation for this work arose when I first began studying these covers and realised that no one could provide the in-depth explanations they deserved. I found it nearly impossible to find a consolidated resource that clearly defined the rate periods or the specific conventions applicable to each case. This study was born from the need to bridge that gap between official decrees and surviving physical evidence, creating a definitive reference for a period defined by shifting treaties and evolving rates, routes and means.
My good old friend Acácio Luz once told me that the only way to truly understand these covers is to follow a strict “Chain of Logic.” To explain a single letter, one must master Portuguese legislation to understand the domestic requirements, the Portugal–United Kingdom conventions to understand the transit through the British hub, and finally the United Kingdom–United States conventions to account for the leg across the Atlantic. As Acácio wisely told me, without the original texts of these conventions, the additional articles, regulations and the specific shipping timetables, “there is no chance of getting the job done.” This study is the result of years spent gathering these primary sources, including contemporary newspapers, official gazettes, post office notices, and internal postal documentation, to ensure that every rate and route described is backed by official fact.
By combining these records with a comprehensive census of 104 surviving covers compiled from more than 1100 auction catalogues, many collections and private holdings over a large number of years, I have attempted to verify theoretical regulations against empirical postal practice. This datadriven approach allows us to see how the broad conventions were applied specifically to the mail departing from Portuguese ports. Beyond the technical analysis, these letters are valuable witnesses to 19th-century life. The names of senders and recipients, as well as the internal annotations serve as a vital complementary record. These elements help situate each letter historically and commercially, offering a complete interpretation even when official postmarks are faint or absent.
This study is intended for the specialised collector of Portugal’s “Classic” issues, the student of transatlantic history, and the postal historian. It is my hope that this work provides collectors with the tools to “read” their own pieces. Through this study, corroborated by primary sources, it is my intention to contribute to a deeper understanding of the postal history of this period, enabling collectors to further explore this subject and fully appreciate every element present in the covers in their own collection.
Note for readers
The accountancy calculations shown for prepaid letters presented in this work represent the debit owed by Portugal to the other postal authorities (USA and/or UK). The total amount that was prepaid differs from the accounting total as it includes an element that was retained by Portugal to cover its own domestic handling and in some cases the transit fee due to Spain. Note that depending if the letter was sent to the UK by ship, packet or via Spain/France the values retained are different.