Information costs and commercial integration. The impact of the 1692 Swedish postage tariff

Abstract

The concept of ‘information costs’ has attracted attention as a means of understanding economic dynamics. In the early modern trade economy, the costs of maintaining business correspondence were an important part of information costs. In this article, the Swedish general postage tariff (used in 1693–1747) is analysed in order to reveal the geographic pattern of information costs, measured as postage. It is shown that central parts of Sweden benefited, including the iron-producing regions and its export harbours, while important trade ports in the eastern parts of the empire faced high costs even though Sweden claimed control over large parts of the Baltic Sea area up to 1721. Swedish correspondence with western and southern Europe carried lower costs than correspondence with eastern Europe. This was an effect of a tariff constructed on postage-per-distance and of letting profitable lines subsidise a dense, territorial postal network. Sea post became particularly expensive as the volume of letters was too small for effective use of the post ships' carriage capacity; this challenges the view that early modern commercial networks were connected by sea since transport on sea was superior to land-bound transport. Transfer of information was often better provided on land.

Keywords:

• Sweden
• economic integration
• trade
• Baltic sea
• seventeenth century
• postal system

Acknowledgements

The article is one of the results of the research project The Seventeenth Century Media Revolution in the Baltic Area: Postal Service, News Service, News Consumers and the Postmasters, funded by Östersjöstiftelsen (The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies). I am especially indebted to Heiko Droste, David Gaunt, Mary Hilson, Pernilla Jonsson, Leos Müller and Silke Neunsinger for their helpful comments on the text.

Notes

¹Simonson, ‘Swedish Empire’ (2011), 82–87.

²Pred, Urban Growth (1973), 19. Veluwenkamp, ‘International’ (2006), 121–34.

³Lesger, Rise (2006), 214, 259–63. Pred, Urban Growth (1973), 1–2, 200–202, 209–15.

⁴McCusker, ‘Demise’ (2005), 308.

⁵Veluwenkamp, ‘International’ (2006), 121–134.

⁶Müller/Ojala, ‘Information flows’ (2007), 19–20.

⁷Carlos/Hejeebu, ‘Information’ (2007), 148–51.

⁸North, ‘Institutions’ (1991), 24.

⁹van Tielhof, Mother (2002) 7–8.

¹⁰‘Underrättelse om postgången uti Kongl. Residencen Stockholm, med hosfogad Breftaxa’, and ‘Utdrag af Kongl. Maj:ts underskrefne Post-taxor och andra förordningar […]’, in Schmedeman, Förordningar (1707), 77–181. About the deviations, see Swartling, ‘posttaxor’ (1967), 27–28.

¹¹Carlin, Brevet (1975), 79–89.

¹²Müller/Ojala, ‘Information flows’ (2007), 15.

¹³Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 416.

¹⁴Bladh, Posten (1999), 47–48. Droste, ‘Information’ (2007), 224. Forssell, Postverkets (1936), 31.

¹⁵Faulstich, Geschichte (1998), 57.

¹⁶Losman, Wrangel (1980), 232–234.

¹⁷Karlsson, Enväldets (1997), 609–612.

¹⁸Olsson [Linnarsson], ‘Kampen’ (2007), 75–76.

¹⁹Holm, Postväsen (1912), 122–123.

²⁰Forssell, Postverkets (1936), 109–112, 117–118. Linnarsson, Postgång (2010), 151–159.

²¹Kalmus, Weltgeschichte (1937), 341, 345. Küng, ‘Lange's Inspection’ (2011), 99–122.

²²Heurgren, Diligenstrafik (1964), 18–21.

²³Kalmus, Weltgeschichte (1937), 360–363, 384.

²⁴Swartling, ‘Posttaxor’ (1967), 30.

²⁵Forssell, Postverkets (1936), 74–84.

²⁶Riksarkivet, Stockholm – Marieberg (RA): Kanslikollegiet, Skrivelser till Kungl. Maj:t, vol 1, 1656–1695, [Nya taxor för brevporto till städerna] 13 December 1692.

²⁷Swartling, ‘Moderation’ (1961), 6.

²⁸One öre in silver coins was roughly equivalent to 1 English penny or 1 French Sous tournois or ½ Lübeck Shilling; 1 Hamburg Reichstahler≈67 (Swedish) öre, 1 Swedish daler = 32 öre silver coins, Edvinsson, Valutakurser (2008). McCusker, Money (1978).

²⁹Lilja, Tjuvehål (2000), 406, 415 (Tables 2 and 4).

³⁰RA: Skrivelser [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692. Carlin, Brevet (1975), 8. Also analysed in: Swartling, ‘Moderation’ (1961) and in Swartling, ‘posttaxor’ (1967).

³¹ Postjakt, from the Dutch Jacht: fast vessels, originally used for interception of ships along the Dutch coast.

³²The price for a new yacht was estimated to be 33,500–40,200 öre, and 1,600–1,700 öre were needed monthly for its maintenance, extra costs for repairs of the yacht excluded, Rudbeck, Postverkets (1933), 71. Simonson, ‘Swedish Empire’ (2011), 89.

³³Referred to in Winiwarter/Knoll, Umweltgeschichte (2007), 220.

³⁴Forssell, Postverkets (1936), 289.

³⁵Paulinyi/Troitzsch, Technikgeschichte (1997/1990), 115, 129–130.

³⁶Møller, Galeoth (1981), 44, 51–53, 57.

³⁷Nylander, ‘Prickebok’ (1928), 26.

³⁸This was also the case with railway wagons in the nineteenth century, Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 4, note 1.

³⁹Rudbeck, Postverkets (1933), 247.

⁴⁰Rudbeck, Postverkets (1933), 58–59.

⁴¹The economy of sea-mail is further elaborated in Simonson, ‘Swedish Empire’ (2011), 89–93.

⁴²Simonson, ‘Swedish Empire’ (2011), 92. See also Linnarsson, Postgång (2010), 171–178.

⁴³Simonson, ‘Posten’ (2008), 255–256.

⁴⁴Volckart, ‘Influence’ (2007), 60–61.

⁴⁵Volckart, ‘Influence’ (2007), 36, 58–59.

⁴⁶Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 284–295.

⁴⁷Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 26, 31.

⁴⁸RA: Skrivelser [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692.

⁴⁹RA: Kanslikollegium, Kontrollören J. Langes visitationsberättelser, vol. G 2 F:1, ‘Deduction […] Est- och Liflandh’, 15 March 1688, J. Lange. On Lange's mission, see Küng, ‘Lange's Inspection’ (2011), 99–122.

⁵⁰RA: Kanslikollegium, Kontrollören J. Langes visitationsberättelser, vol. G 2 F:2, Fasc. 1: ‘Langes relation angående postvisitation i Pommern och Wismar, 1694’, fol. 10 pp.

⁵¹Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 418–419.

⁵²Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 9, 13, 60–61, 79–80.

⁵³An Amsterdam correspondent using the Post Office of the United Provinces paid 3–5 Stuyver (4–6 öre), Overvoorde, Geschiedenis (1902), Appendix 3 (1612) and Appendix 4 (1735). The French tariff from 1676 rated 2 sous (2 öre) postage on distances less than 25 leagues (ca. 100 km) up to 5 sous on distances over 80 leagues; at the London post office after 1660, the postage for a single letter was 2 d (2 öre) within 80 miles (ca. 128 km) and 3 d above 80 miles; postage to Ireland was 6 d, see: Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 80–81. Appendix A, 336–337.

⁵⁴Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 406–411.

⁵⁵Hasselberg, Ekonomin (1998), 98–99, 288–290. Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 410–412.

⁵⁶Evans/Rydén, ‘Iron’ (2007), 194, 198. Florén/Rydén, Arbete (1992), 92–95, 102.

⁵⁷Several Swedish economic historians have studied the role of social networks in economic performance in recent years, see Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 392–395.

⁵⁸Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 396, 402, 404 (Figure 1).

⁵⁹RA: Skrivelser till Kungl. Maj:t [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692.

⁶⁰Carlin, Brevet (1975), 79–87; compare the list on the revenue 1703–1720 in: RA: Tidöarkivet, Manuskriptsamlingen, vol. 504, Acta No 58, ‘Inkomster wid Påstawäsendet så och Betalte som fribref belöpe för underskrefne åhr, neml. […]’.

⁶¹Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 15–16, 71.

⁶²The postage from Copenhagen to the nearby Roskilde was 4 shilling, and it was 12 shilling to Hamburg, Madsen, Postværk (1991) 267, 313.

⁶³RA: Skrivelser till Kung. Maj:t [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692, pp. 102–104.

⁶⁴Tilander, ‘Åkerhielms’ (1965), 24–27.

⁶⁵Rudbeck, Postverkets (1933), 297–299.

⁶⁶RA: Skrivelser till Kungl. Maj:t [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692.

⁶⁷Swartling, ‘Moderation’ (1961), 5.

⁶⁸Swartling, ‘Moderation’ (1961), 5

⁶⁹RA: Skrivelser till Kungl. Maj:t [Nya taxor …] 13 December 1692.

⁷⁰McCusker, ‘Demise’ (2005), 298–300, 303–305.

⁷¹Innis, Empire (2007/1950), 164–197. McLuhan, Gutenberg (1962). See also, McCusker, who puts ‘better, faster, cheaper’ in a chronological sequence, where ‘faster and cheaper’ only developed in the nineteenth and twentieth century, McCusker, ‘Demise’ (2005), 298, 318–319.

⁷²Behringer, Zeichen (2007), 20. Droste, ‘Information’ (2007), 227. Simonson, ‘Posten’ (2008), 253–257.

⁷³There are a number of surviving post journals (postprotokoll) scattered in Post Office's archives, where departing post where recorded with weight of letter, destination, fee and the name of the sender. I have used them to reveal the geographic pattern of aggregate correspondence networks for some towns (Avesta, Reval, Stralsund), but not for a sociological study of senders. Simonson, ‘Virtual Communities’ (2009), 408–409.

⁷⁴Pred, Urban Growth (1973), 1–2, 200–202, 209–215.

⁷⁵Laakso, Oceans (2007), 25. Pourchasse, ‘Information Problem’ (2007), 237–238, 249–250.

⁷⁶Winseck/Pike, Communication (2007), 144–150.

⁷⁷Bladh, Posten (1999), 50–51.

⁷⁸Müller, Merchant Houses (1998), 230–231.

⁷⁹Droste, ‘Letter’ (2006), 146–147.

⁸⁰Droste, ‘Information’ (2007), 217.

⁸¹On the first international agreements on tariffs in 1874, see Smith, Rates of Postage (1917), 263–274.

⁸²RA: Kanslikollegium, G 2 F:2, ‘relation angående postvisitation i Pommern och Wismar, 1694’, fol. 6, 9.

⁸³RA: Kanslikollegium, G 2 F:2, ‘Nachricht, An welche Oerter aus der Churfürstl. Brandenburg. Residens Berlin, Briefe bestellen werden können, und was dafür an Brief-porto gegeben werden muß […]’, Friedrich/Eberhard von Danckelmann, sine anno, in Allegata N:o 69, fol. 187.

⁸⁴Bogucka, ‘Aspects’ (2003/1980), 108, 110–111.

⁸⁵v. Stephan/Sautter, Geschichte (1928), 94.

⁸⁶Notification huru porto upbäras skal för dhe til och ifrån uthrikes orter gångande och kommande bref, 9 January 1703, published in Schmedeman, Förordningar (1707), 32.

⁸⁷RA: Kanslikollegium, G 2 F:1, ‘Deduction […] Est- och Liflandh’, 15 March 1688, J. Lange. fol. 5r.

⁸⁸RA: Kanslikollegium, G 2 F:2, ‘Nachricht, […]’, Friedrich/Eberhard von Danckelmann, sine anno, fol 187; v. Stephan/Sautter, Geschichte (1928), 127.

⁸⁹Kong. May:tz nådige Resolution och förordning angående Postfriheten och portobetalningen för de Bref som komma at gå genom främmande herrskapers länder, gfiwen Lägret wid Thorn den 17/27 Juni 1703, in: Schmedeman, Förordningar (1707), 37–39.

⁹⁰Müller, Consuls (2004), 73–74.

⁹¹Simonson, ‘Posten’ (2008), 260–262.

⁹²RA: Kanslikollegium, G 2 F:1, ‘Deduction […] Est- och Liflandh’, 15 March 1688, J. Lange, § 5.

⁹³van Tielhof, Mother (2002), 161.