FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 23372, 15 September 1939, Page 3

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[By Philatelist.] UNITED STATES. A special ,3-cent commemorative stamp will be issued by the United States Government in honour of the three hundredth anniversary of the_ introduction of printing into the United States. The new stamp will be printed in purple ink and the first day sale is tentatively set for September 25, 1939. On a press imported from England, Stephen Daye, in 1639, produced ‘ The Freeman’s Oath ’ in a house of the first president of Harvard College. This first piece of printing produced in this country was largely in the interest of moral independence in voting and other civio duties. No copy of this first printing is known to exist to-day. The printing press is now in the Museum of Harvard University. The famous American series has now been selected by the United States Government through the co-operation of various polls that have been conducted among 'philatelic societies, educational, business, and patriotic groups. The series will consist of 35 separate stamps, five selections for each of seven different groups, authors, poets, artists, educators, inventors, composers, scientists.

SOUTHERN RHODESIA’S JUBILEE. The special issue of eight postage stamps to commemorate Southern Rhodesia’s jubilee next year has now been approved by the Government of the colony and will be issued on June 1 next year. The id stamp will show the coat of arms of the British South Africa Company, which administered both the Rhodesias until responsible government in Southern Rhodesia was established in 1923. Flanking the coat of arms on the left is a Matabele warrior, and on the right an Askari bugler of today. ... The Id stamp depicts the hoisting of the Union Jack by members of the Pioneer Column at Fort Salisbury on September 12, 1890, . taken from a contemporary newspaper illustration. The lid stamp will hear the likeness of Cecil Rhodes, the inspirer and founder of Rhodesia.

The 2d stamp is a composite picture, adapted from two half-tone illustrations of a mail coach drawn by mules in front of the tower of the original Fort Victoria, the first fort established by the pioneers of the Mashonaland plateau. The 3d stamp, printed in blue, depicts Cecil Rhodes at a peace indaba in the Matapo Hills, after the Matabele rebellion. On the 4d stamp is a view of the railway bridge over the Zambesi just below tlie Victoria Falls, which, opened in 1905, provided the first link' between Southern and Northern Rhodesia. The fid stamp shows the Rhodesian Courts of Justice with, in the foreground, the statue unveiled at Bulawayo in 1927 to the memory of Sir Charles Coghlan, first Premier of Southern Rhodesia after the grant of responsible government. The Is stamp has portraits of King George VI. and of Queen Victoria, who was on the throne when Mashonaland was occupied in 1890. Beneath the twin vignettes are shown views of Lohengula’s Kraal in 1887-88, and of Government House as it appears today. BARBADOS.

Barbados, the farthest east of the islands of the West Indies, has issued a series of five stamps to_ commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of its General Assembly. The stamps are the Jp. green. Ip. carmine, lip. deep orange, 2Jp. ultramarine, and 3p. yellow brown. All stamps bear the same design—a view of the Assembly Chamber, and on each side portraits of King Charles I. and King George VI. The mace, symbol of authority, is at the bottom.

Barbados was first mentioned during the early sixteenth century. The island became English by settlement, after the first settlers from England landed there in 1625 to 1627. A special stamp to commemorate the tercentenary of the settlement of the colony was issued in 1927. The portraits of King Charles 1. and King George V. are shown in the design of that stamp, King Charles having ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland in 1625. The General Assembly met first in 1639. George Washington’s- only journey abroad was to the island of Barbados. The house in Bay street, Bridgetown, at which he and his brother Lawrence stayed in November-December, 1751, is still shown to visitors. Bridgetown is the capital and the principal port of the island. t OF MANY LANDS. Algeria has issued a set of seven airmail stamps. The three lower values show an aeroplane in flight over the coast; the other four values show an aeroplane over the African coast. Algeria has also issued fire stamps' to commemorate the Algerian part in the New York World’s Fair. Belgium has issued the Rubens tercentenary commemoratives as semipostals, the surtax realised in their sale being used for a fund to restore the old Rubens house into a permanent museum. On the 10c plus 5c value is shown s view of the Rubens houses the 40c plus 6c, a portrait of the sons, Albert and Nicholas; the 720 plus 6c, Hercules Pavilion; the I.OOf plus 25c, Rubens’s second wife and her children;) the 1.50 f plus 25c, Rubens and his first wife; the 7.75 f plus 25c, a portrait of Rubens; the 2.50 f plus 2.50 f, th» Velvet Hat; the 5.00 f plus 5.00 f, ‘ Descent from the Cross.’

Cameroon has released the new pictorial set of 29 postage and 10 postage due stamps. The postage stamps are of four designs; the low values show the head of a native, the next higher group shows a waterfall in the Sanyo district, the second higher values show a group of three African elephants, and the highest group pictures a native poling his canoe. The postage dues all show the same design, a figure holding a tablet which bears the value of the stamp. Ecuador, in addition to the special sets of postage and airmail stamps in honour of the San Francisco International Exposition, has issued a set in honour of the New York World’s Fair. France has issued several new stamps for various events. A special stamp overprint has been placed on the 900 ultramarine “ Peace ’’-type stamp for use of refugees from the Loyalist faction of Spain now in France. The overprint is a black letter “ F,” and refugees in the concentration camps are permitted to write two letters per month. A second special stamp, 700 reddish-brown, shows the Strasbourg Cathedral as it now stands, with its one restored spire. This cathedral waa built in the fifteenth century and completed in 1439, 500 years ago. A third stamp, 90c blue green, commemorate* “ The Oath of the Tennis Court ” on June 28, 1780, an historic event prior to the revolution. The design of the stamp is taken from David’s painting of the event. A fourth stamp, 900 dark brown, commemorates the twentythird anniversary of the battle of Verdun. The design shows one of the ancient gateways to the city, with the bridge leading to it. A fifth stamp, 40c plus 60c in three colours, red brown, dark brown, and purple,_ is * semi-postal, the surtax from which i* turned over to the Postal Museum fund. The design is a reproduction of ‘ The Letter,’ a famous painting by Fragonard. French Colonies postal sets have been issued to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the French Revolution. All show a reproduction of the Bastille from a painting hy Ouvre. Five different values have been issued for each colony.