Tuesday, 29 September 2020 04:28
South Africa 1962, Remembering the 1820 English Settlers arriving on the Chapman
Grahamstown is a town of about 70,000 in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The stamp honours the laying of a monument to the 1820 British settlers that came to Grahamstown replenishing it after 300 British defenders held out against 10,000 Xhosa warriors under Makhanda. Interesting but perhaps a…
Monday, 28 September 2020 04:49
THE SWISS PERFORATED SITTING HELVETIA SERIES
After the imperforated Sitting Helvetia Series (nicknamed ‘Strubel’, reference to a popular children’s book character, due to Helvetia’s laurels crown looking like messy hair), the Swiss Post office first launched its perforated version in 1862. These are specifically rich collection series, due to the richness of variation to be encountered:…
Sunday, 27 September 2020 05:00
Postal Historians: Francisco Carreas Candi (1862-1937)
Francesco Carreas Candi was one of the greatest Spanish postal historians. He was born in Barcelona on July 4, 1852. His many works on philately include ‘Las Tarjetas postales enEspaña’ (0n Spanish postcards), published in 1902, and ‘Emisiones Fiscales de los Barcelone’ (Fiscal Stamps of the Legal College of Barcelona)…
Saturday, 26 September 2020 05:38
Austria 1976, Remembering Rilke and his thing poems translating Rodin
A recurring theme that keeps coming up in what we learn here through postage stamps is what a productive period there was in the arts in the first decade of the 20th century. Here we have a Bohemian poet who was so taken by how sculptor Auguste Rodin studied a…
