Literary Stamp Collecting

Happy Birthday to Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), an English writer and poet whose best known novel is Jane Eyre (1847). Here is an image of a stamp depicting Brontë and a scene from her famous novel, printed by photogravure, and issued by Great Britain on July 9, 1980 as a Europa stamp, Scott No. 915, plus an image of a portrait of Charlotte Brontë which was surely a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Menippus of Gadara (fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist whose works, which are all lost, were an important influence on Varro and Lucian. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. Here is an image of a stamp designed after a detail from a painting (1639-1641) of Menippus by Spanish artist Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660), printed by photogravure, and issued by Spain on March 24 as one of a set of ten stamps honoring Velázquez, Scott No. 902, plus an image of the relevant detail from the original work of art.

- nethryk

Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483-1546) was a Spanish Renaissance Roman Catholic philosopher, theologian and jurist noted especially for his contributions to the theory of international law. Here is an image of a stamp designed after a portrait of Vitoria by Spanish painter Aurelio Vera-Fajardo Picatoste (1884-1946), engraved by Julián González de la Lastra (1954- ), and issued by Spain on February 11, 1987 to commemorate the 5th centenary of the philosopher's birth, Scott No. 2508, Edifil No. 2883, plus an image of a statue of Francisco de Vitoria, in Salamanca.

- nethryk

Dmitry Gulia (1874-1960) was an Abkhazian poet, novelist, journalist, historian, ethnographer, translator and the creator of the Abkhazian alphabet who is considered the founder of Abkhaz literature. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Gulia, designed by Lidia Peshkova, combined engraved by Ivan Sapronov and photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on March 15, 1964 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the writer's birth, Scott No. 2894, Zagorski No. 2945, plus an image of a photograph of Dmitry Gulia.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (1905-1984), a Soviet/Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. Sholokhov is best known for his four-volume epic novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1925-1940) about the lives of Don Cossacks during the Russian revolution, the civil war and the period of collectivization. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the author, and depicting a Cossack couple, characters from his novel, designed by A. Zharov, printed by lithography, and issued by Russia (USSR) on October 22, 1990, Scott No. 5940, Zagorski No. 6193, plus an image of a photographic portrait of Mikhail Sholokhov, and a YouTube link to the trailer for a film adaptation of And Quiet flows the Don, directed by Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk (1920-1994), and released in 2006.

- nethryk

Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723) was twice Prince of Moldavia, and also a philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer. Cantemir was known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Cantemir, designed by Ion Dumitrana (1923-1976) after a detail from a portrait of the writer from the first edition of his Latin work Descriptio Moldaviae (1716), printed by photogravure, and issued by Romania on June 25, 1973 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the literary prince's birth, Scott No. 2426, plus an image of the original portrait of Dimitrie Cantemir by an unknown artist.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (aka Koizumi Yakumo, 1850-1904), an international writer best known for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, notably including Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (published in 1904, shortly before his death). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Hearn, combined engraved and lithography, and issued by Japan on November 4, 2004 to commemorate the centenary of the writer's death, and of the publication of Kwaidan, Scott No. 2907, plus an image of the photograph of Lafcadio Hearn which was a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Alexandre Dumas, père (1802-1870), a French writer best known for his historical adventure novels. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Dumas and depicting a scene from his serialized novel The Three Musketeers (1844), designed and engraved by French artist Pierre Forget (1923-2005), and issued by Monaco on December 15, 1970 to commemorate the centenary of the author's death, Scott No. 778, plus an image of a print portrait of Alexandre Dumas.

- nethryk

Hjalmar Söderberg (1869-1941) was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist whose works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters living in contemporary Stockholm. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Söderberg, designed by Swedish caricaturist and illustrator Martin Lamm (1929-1983), engraved by Arne Wallhorn (1921-1994), printed on buff paper, and issued by Sweden on October 13, 1969 to commemorate the writer's birth centenary, Scott No. 831, Facit No. 672, plus an image of a photograph of Hjalmar Söderberg.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of József baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (1813-1871), a Hungarian writer and statesman best known for his progressive novels concerning social problems and political aspirations, designed by Sándor Légrády (1906-1987), and issued by Hungary on September 3, 1963 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the author's birth, Scott No. 1502, plus an image of a painted portrait of József Eötvös by Hungarian artist Miklós Barabás (1810-1898).

- nethryk

Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (1769-1844) was a Russian writer best known for his (often satirical) talking animal fables. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Krylov, designed by Valeri Pimenov (1920- ) after a painting by Russian artist Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852), printed by lithography, and issued by Russia (USSR) on February 13, 1969 to commemorate the bicentenary of the fabulist's birth, Scott No. 3573, Zagorski No. 3649, plus an image of the relevant detail from Bryullov's original portrait of Ivan Krylov, plus a YouTube link to a Russian/English presentation of Krylov's fable "The Dragonfly and the Ant" (1808).

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Spanish historian and economist Ramón Carande y Thovar (1887-1986), engraved by Pablo Sampedro Molero (1935- ), and issued by Spain on May 29, 1987 to commemorate the historian's birth centenary, Scott No. 2521, Edifil No. 2882, plus an image of a photograph of Ramón Carande.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Syrian author, philosopher and Pan-Islamic Arab solidarity supporter Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (c. 1855–1902), printed by lithography, and issued by Syria (UAR) on January 11, 1960 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the writer's death (mistakenly indicated on the stamp as occurring in 1909?), Scott No. 37, plus an image of a photograph of Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi which may have been a model (in mirror image) for this stamp's design. Bonus: Books.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Spanish novelist, essayist and literary critic José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruiz, better known by his pseudonym Azorín (1873-1967), engraved by Enrique Paniagua Martínez (1940- ), and issued by Spain on July 16, 1985, Scott No. 2484, Edifil No. 2855, plus an image of a photograph of Azorín, who is perhaps best known for his impressionistic descriptions of Castilian towns and landscape.

- nethryk

Here are images of the two stamps in a set commemorating the centenary of the death of Ukrainian-Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809-1852), depicting, respectively, Gogol and a scene from his novel Taras Bulba; and a portrait of the author, printed by photogravure, and issued by Romania on April 1, 1952, Scott Nos. 879 & 880. Bonuses: Books, horses.

- nethryk