The Penny Black stamp press was one of several used to print the 1d black and 2d blue, the first postage stamps, issued in 1840. The stamp office of the Inland Revenue created them for the printers Perkins, Bacon and Petch, for the British Post Office. The press, known as a Perkins D cylinder, was developed for intaglio recess or line-engraved printing by Jacob Perkins and patented in 1819. This press was presented to the British Library by Perkins Bacon Limited in 1963. Image taken from Photographs of the British Library building at St.Pancras. Originally published in 2005.