Literary Stamp Collecting

Happy Birthday to Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869-1968), a Spanish philologist and historian who specialized in the history of the Spanish language and Spanish folklore and folk poetry. One of Menéndez Pidal's main interests was the history and legend of The Cid. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the philologist, printed by photogravure, and issued by Spain on April 20, 1971, Scott No. 1674, plus a photograph of Ramón Menéndez Pidal.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Mariano Ponce (1863-1918), a Filipino physician, translator and writer whose literary works included daily editorials on history, politics, sociology and travel in the influential journal La Solidaridad. Ponce is a national hero for his many contributions during the the Philippine Revolution. Here is an image of an engraved stamp featuring a portrait of Mariano Ponce, and issued by Philippines on December 30, 1970, Scott No. 1082.

- nethryk

No Jules Verne ???? so many stamps about him

area66 - You're right! Although there are some Jules Verne stamps scattered about within the SCF "Topical Stamp Collecting" forum (I've posted a few myself), there are plenty more that could be shown to advantage in this thread. Also, please consider describing and posting magnified images of each of your stamps individually so that we can appreciate them fully, as we could if we were holding a magnifying glass over them. Thanks!

Here are images of the eight stamps in a set illustrating scenes from some of Jules Verne's novels, designed and engraved by Pierre Forget (1923-2005), and issued by Monaco on May 2, 1978 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Jules Verne's birth, Scott Nos. 1099-1106.

- nethyrk

Escape by balloon (The Mysterious Island, 1872)


The Nautilus and the pirate ship (The Mysterious Island)


Captain Nemo and the secret of the island (The Mysterious Island)


Robur the Conqueror (1886)


Master Zacharius, or the clockmaker who lost his soul (short story, 1854)


The Carpathian Castle (1893)


The Children of Captain Grant, aka In Search of the Castaways (1867–1868)


Portrait of Jules Verne and vignettes from From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar (1876), and perhaps his most famous novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

Happy Birthday to Marietta Sergeevna Shaginyan (also transliterated as Shaginian, 1888-1982) a prolific Russian Soviet novelist, writer and activist of Armenian descent. In 1972 Shaginyan was awarded the Lenin Prize for her novels about Vladimir Lenin's life. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Shaginyan and depicting her award, designed by Igor Sergeevich Krylkov, printed by lithography, and issued by Russia (USSR) on April 2, 1988 to commemorate the author's birth centenary, Scott No. 5651, Zagorski No. 5864, plus a photograph of Marietta Shaginyan.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967), an American magazine magnate who has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America of his day." Among the popular magazines Luce founded, edited and published were Time, Life, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. Here are images of a first day cover and a stamp featuring a portrait of Luce, designed by Richard D. Sheaff, engraved and printed by Banknote Corporation of America, and issued by the USA on April 3, 1998 as one of the "Great Americans" definitive series, Scott No. 2935, plus an image of the photograph of Henry R. Luce by German-born American photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) which was the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to French novelist, poet, and journalist Anatole France (born François-Anatole Thibault, 1844-1924). Anatole France was a member of the Académie française, and in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament." Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the novelist, designed by Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn, and issued by Sweden on November 24, 1981, Scott No. 1388, Facit No. 1932, plus an image of a postcard photograph of Anatole France.

- nethryk

This GB stamp shows part of a poem by Scottish poet Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895 -1915). Very jingoistic in nature but deemed appropriate for this stamp issue. Sorley did seem to have changed after seeing at first hand the carnage of war as in 1915, before being killed (aged 20) by a sniper, he wrote...
(part of his poem entitled "When you see millions of the mouthless dead")
Say not soft things as other men have said,
Give them not praise...
Nor tears...
Nor honour...
Say only this, 'They are dead.' Then add thereto,
'Yet many a better one has died before.'

Happy Birthday to Jean de Joinville (1224-1317), a chronicler of medieval France who is most famous for writing Life of Saint Louis, a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade. Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp featuring a portrait of Joinville, designed by French artist Maurice George-Élie Lalau (1881-1961), engraved by Robert Cami, and issued by France on June 16=5, 1957, Scott No. B312, Y&T No. 1108, plus an image of a painting of Jean de Joinville by French artist Merry-Joseph Blondel (1781-1853).

- nethryk

alan - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed reading some of my posts.

Happy Birthday to Spanish realist novelist Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920), a prolific writer and the leading literary figure in 19th century Spain. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Galdós, printed by photogravure, and issued by Spain on May 20, 1971, Scott No. 1673, plus an image of a portrait (1894) of Benito Pérez Galdós by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) which was surely the model for this stamp's design. Bonus: Moustache.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Pavel Josef Šafárik (1795-1861), a Slovak philologist, poet, scientist, historian and ethnographer. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Šafárik, designed by Max Švabinský, engraved by Jindra Schmidt, and issued by Czechoslovakia on July 2, 1955, Scott No. 705, plus an image of a painted portrait of Pavel Josef Šafárik.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to András Fáy (1786-1864), a Hungarian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright, politician and businessman who was a founder of both the Pest Savings Bank and of the Hungarian National Theatre. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Fáy, plus a se-tenant label depicting the old Hungarian savings bank building and the bank's bee emblem, designed and combined engraved by György Lengyel and lithography, and issued by Hungary on May 29, 1986 to commemorate the bicentenary of Fáy's birth, Scott No. 2989, plus an image of a sketched portrait of András Fáy in 1855 which may have been a model (in mirror-image) for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Jakub Arbes (1840-1914), an influential Czech intellectual, writer and revolutionary, best known as the creator of the literary genre called romanetto (akin to modern science fiction novellas). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Arbes, designed by Czech artist Václav Sivko (1923-1974), engraved by Bedrich Housa, and issued by Czechoslovakia on July 2, 1955, Scott No. 699, plus a photograph of Jakub Arbes which may have been a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to José Protasio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda (1861-1896), a Filipino novelist, poet, ophthalmologist, journalist, nationalist and revolutionary hero. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the writer, engraved and printed by Bradbnury, Wilkinson & Co., Ltd., and issued by Philippines on June 19, 1964, Scott No. 857A, plus an image of an autographed photograph of José Rizal.

- nethryk