Italy - Document - 2 documenti AQ Veneziano - 1608
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Two AQ documents from the Venetian Republic bearing the winged lion attributed to Marco Loredan, numbered 9007 and 8994, dated 1608 and 1723, Italian language, 29.5 x 20.5 cm, in good condition as shown.
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Description from the seller
Republic of Venice
2 AQ documents with the winged lion (Marco Loredan) nos. 9007 and 8994, dated 1608 and 1723.
Brief handwritten notes on the back.
Measurements: 29.5 cm x 20.5 cm
Good condition as shown in the photo.
Centuries before Rowland Hill's postal reform, the Serenissima Republic of Venice was already taxing outgoing correspondence, that of its public offices.
The AQ can be considered the progenitor of the stamp and the entire postal system, 230 years before the Penny Black and the Mulready.
I anticipated a revolutionary idea: the payment of the amount due at the expense of the sender.
The name derives from the indication AQe, a truncation of the Latin word aquae; the document was indeed issued upon the request of the Savi Esecutori alle Acque.
It was a taxed 'letter', or rather a pre-taxed one: 'dacio of four soldi per letter', on which—the message to be communicated—had to be inserted either on or inside the letter.
It was provided to all the chancelleries of the state magistracies, which, with some exceptions, were required to use it for their postal correspondence, paying four soldi, in addition to postage and duty.
What might seem like an anomaly – the state taxing itself – was actually due to the fact that the public administration in Venice was managed by private individuals who received the position – almost always involving the collection of taxes – after winning a public tender in which they participated by paying out of their own pockets. They could then recover their expenses by collecting the duties they had won in the tender.
The AQ were therefore an additional surcharge on top of the port and duty, for the collection of which a collector, a customs officer, was responsible.
The amount of four coins per letter was used to finance the work of cleaning and clearing the beds of the Brenta, Muson, and Bottenigo rivers.
The AQ were pierced in the center, corresponding to the pin through which they were impaled and stacked, a rather widespread practice in Venice.
Shipping via tracked and insured courier.
Republic of Venice
2 AQ documents with the winged lion (Marco Loredan) nos. 9007 and 8994, dated 1608 and 1723.
Brief handwritten notes on the back.
Measurements: 29.5 cm x 20.5 cm
Good condition as shown in the photo.
Centuries before Rowland Hill's postal reform, the Serenissima Republic of Venice was already taxing outgoing correspondence, that of its public offices.
The AQ can be considered the progenitor of the stamp and the entire postal system, 230 years before the Penny Black and the Mulready.
I anticipated a revolutionary idea: the payment of the amount due at the expense of the sender.
The name derives from the indication AQe, a truncation of the Latin word aquae; the document was indeed issued upon the request of the Savi Esecutori alle Acque.
It was a taxed 'letter', or rather a pre-taxed one: 'dacio of four soldi per letter', on which—the message to be communicated—had to be inserted either on or inside the letter.
It was provided to all the chancelleries of the state magistracies, which, with some exceptions, were required to use it for their postal correspondence, paying four soldi, in addition to postage and duty.
What might seem like an anomaly – the state taxing itself – was actually due to the fact that the public administration in Venice was managed by private individuals who received the position – almost always involving the collection of taxes – after winning a public tender in which they participated by paying out of their own pockets. They could then recover their expenses by collecting the duties they had won in the tender.
The AQ were therefore an additional surcharge on top of the port and duty, for the collection of which a collector, a customs officer, was responsible.
The amount of four coins per letter was used to finance the work of cleaning and clearing the beds of the Brenta, Muson, and Bottenigo rivers.
The AQ were pierced in the center, corresponding to the pin through which they were impaled and stacked, a rather widespread practice in Venice.
Shipping via tracked and insured courier.
Details
Era
1400-1900
Number of Books
2
Author/ Illustrator
Marco Loredan
Title
2 documenti AQ Veneziano
Condition
Very good
Year
1608
Language
Italian
Original language
Yes
Country of Origin
Italy
Military Context
No
