A RARE illustrated envelope sent to a Worcester address in 1842 is expected to fetch up to £4,000 at auction this week.

The envelope, described by experts as "fine, extremely rare and attractive" was sent to Worcester in the summer of 1842, just two years after the introduction of Britain's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, on May 6, 1840.

It is addressed to Mrs Millman, at either Ross Hill or Cross Hill, Worcester, and was posted in Scotland, stamped "paid" and featuring the words Inverness and Edinburgh and drawings depicting "50 miles round Ben Nevis".

It is due to go under the hammer tomorrow, at auctioneers Spink, in London.

"This valuable Worcester envelope does not feature a stamp but it does have a circular date stamp featuring the word "paid" and the date, August 1, 1842," said a spokesman for Spink.

"When this envelope was delivered to Worcester in 1842, Queen Victoria had recently celebrated her 23rd birthday, in May 1842, and Charles Dickens had recently published his classic novel, Oliver Twist."

The envelope is among 260 19th Century illustrated and caricature envelopes expected to fetch more than £350,000 at the Spink sale.

They belong to American collector Louis Grunin, who, in 1998, sold his collection of Mulready penny and two-penny postage envelopes - named after the designer William Mulready - for more than £500,000.