The MaltaPost Philatelic Bureau announced the issue of the Europa 2008 stamp issue, Lettera. The stamps, with face values of e0.37 (Lm0.16), e1.19 (Lm0.51) are 48mm x 39.5mm in size, with a perforation of 14 x 14 (comb). The stamps are offset printed on Maltese Crosses watermarked paper by Printex Limited of Qormi, and are available in sheets of 10.

The introduction of electronic mail has brought about a revolution in means of communication, reducing the normal delivery time to literally seconds. Fast as it may be, however, electronic mail does tend to do away with the personal element, in that the world has seen a decline in handwritten missives.

Philatelic journalist Otto Hornung writes in his Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Stamp Collecting that the earliest form of communication was the spoken, whispered, shouted word. However, the human voice had its limits. A call will carry far, even across a river, but it cannot carry across a mountain. And so the messenger was born. The rest, as they say, is history.

How letter-writing developed from the very early days to its present sophisticated form makes fascinating reading. PostEurop have chosen Letters as a very apt subject for their Europa 2008 issue. The two stamps issued by the Philatelic Bureau of MaltaPost plc carry identical images, in monochrome and sepia respectively, depicting a postman from days gone by, with the old Mail Room in the background. The older generation will no doubt recall this period in Malta’s not-so-distant past with nostalgia.

This Europa 2008 set is available as first day covers, in mint or cancelled format, and as souvenir folders and presentation packs. Stamp booklets of five e0.37 (Lm0.16) stamps are also available. The stamps will be on sale from today at all MaltaPost postal branches in Malta and Gozo, the MaltaPost Mobile Unit, and the Philatelic Bureau (tel. 2596-1740; email philately@

maltapost.com).

Additional information on this and other issues is available on the MaltaPost website: www.maltapost.com.