Books Pictured On Stamps

To commemorate the International Book Year, the Kingdom of Laos issued a set shows Lao traditional class with students learning to read. The 70K stamp shows scribe writing religious Buddhist text on palm leaves, a method that is used by Buddhists in Laos for hundreds of years.

Designed by Anoulom Souvandoane, engraved by Jean Miermont, Roger Fenneteaux and Claude Jumelet, respectively. Issued on January 30, 1972:



Used FDC with commemorative postmark shows the International Book Year emblem designed by Michel Olyff:

USA SC#1093 1957 3c

USA SC#1014 1952 3c

USA SC#777 1936 3c

Estonia
First Book Published in Estonian Language
January 30, 2025
The stamp marks the 500th anniversary of the first known book published in the Estonian language.

HONDURAS
1983

100th Anniversary of the Library and National Archives

450th anniversary of the first printed book in Slovenia

Primoz Trubar, the leader of the Protestant movement in Slovenia, went down in history as the author of the first two printed books written in the Slovene language. In 1550, he published the Catechismus and the Slovene language learning manual Abecedarium (on stamp). With his pioneering work, Trubar laid the foundations for Slovene literature and established the language norms for written Slovene, ranking Slovenes among the European nations that printed their books at a very early stage.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison wrote a powerful body of work that spans novels, essays, children's books, and more.
Here's a list of her seven major novels (books on postmark?):
The Bluest Eye (1970)
Sula (1973)
Song of Solomon (1977)
Tar Baby (1981)
Beloved (1987)
Jazz (1992)
Paradise (1997)

Stefan Zeromski

(On the FDC there is a bookshelf full of his works.)
A Polish novelist and playwright, born in 1864 in Strawczyn, who played a key role in the Young Poland movement. His works often explore social injustice, national identity, and the inner struggles of individuals, as seen in novels like Homeless People and Spring to Come. Due to poverty in his youth, he had to interrupt his education, which deeply influenced his writing and social engagement. He was also active in educational and patriotic initiatives, especially in the Naleczow spa town, where he founded an orphanage and a school. Zeromski died in 1925 in Warsaw, leaving behind a rich literary legacy that remains a cornerstone of modern Polish literature.

The Ostromir Gospel: A Landmark of East Slavic Literacy

(on stamp: Evangelist Luke)
The Ostromir Gospel is the oldest surviving manuscript book written in the East Slavic language. It was commissioned in 1056 by Ostromir, the governor of Novgorod, as a gift for Prince Iziaslav of Kiev, son of Yaroslav the Wise. The text was copied by a scribe and deacon named Grigorii, who recorded that he worked on the manuscript from October 21, 1056, to May 12, 1057. An inscription on the first page states that Ostromir donated the completed Gospel to the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod. Today, this invaluable manuscript is preserved in the National Library of St. Petersburg, where it remains a key source for the study of medieval Slavic language, script, and ecclesiastical history.

The Codex Purpureus Rossanensis

is a 6th-century illuminated Greek manuscript containing the Gospels of Matthew and Mark and part of a letter by Eusebius to Copian. Its pages are colored purple and the text is written in silver and gold ink, giving it exceptional visual value. The manuscript contains 14 artistically elaborate miniatures depicting scenes from the life and teaching of Christ. 188 leaves of the original approximately 400 have survived, and the text is written in Greek uncial script without punctuation or spaces. The codex is kept in the Diocesan Museum in Rossano, Italy, and is considered one of the oldest surviving Gospel manuscripts in the world.

Armenia
350th Anniversary of the Printing of the First Book in Modern Armenia
December 25, 2025
The minisheet depicts The Art of Arithmetic printed in 1675.