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Introduction

International postal relations have generally been handled by means of specific treaties between nation states (and/or their colonies). Before the formation of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) these were almost always bilateral agreements between two states, although these could contain provisions for mail to additional destinations that one party had an agreement with and the other did not. Not all countries had postal agreements with Great Britain before the formation of the UPU.

The aim of these pages is to supply the texts of as many as possible of the postal treaties signed by Great Britain, as these form the legal basis for postal matters such as rates, routes and services and are therefore key primary sources. There were often additional protocols giving the detailed regulations for implementing the treaties.

The initial listing consists of the texts of the UPU treaties – the intention is to expand this to the earlier bilateral treaties as well.

If you spot anything that looks wrong, please .