A set of four stamps marking the bicentenary of the birth of the Danish writer of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen, is being issued by the Philatelic Bureau of Maltapost plc tomorrow. What is particularly interesting about this set of stamps is that they bear a common design with another set of stamps being issued simultaneously by the Danish postal administration, thus making this set a joint issue.
The four values are seven cents, 22c, 60c and 75c. The stamps have been designed by Mette & Eric Mourier del and have been offset printed by Printex Ltd on watermarked paper with Maltese Crosses. The size of the seven cents stamp is 40.0mm X 38.0mm and the size of the other stamps is 20.0mm X 38.0mm. The perforation is 13.6 X 14.0 (comb).
The seven cents stamp carries Andersen’s portrait while the other stamps recount aspects of his life. The 22c stamp depicts his hobby of paper-cutting, the 60c stamp commemorates Anderson as a writer with a design of one of his most famous characters, the Ugly Duckling, while the 75c stamp shows a pair of boots against a scenic background, to recall that he was a dedicated traveller.
Andersen, who was born on 2 April 1805, was the son of a shoemaker from Odense, Denmark who conquered the world with his magical fairy tales. The author made his first and only visit to Malta on 17 March 1841, arriving on board the French steamer Leonidas.
During his one day in Malta, the author and his companion Christoforoff hired a calesse and visited St John’s Co-cathedral, the Grandmaster’s Palace, Rabat and Mdina. The author was apparently impressed by the lack of vegetation in the countryside, although it was only mid-March. On his way back to Valletta, Andersen visited the Msida Bastion Cemetery and saw the Lazzaretto hospital opposite the bastions.
With his arrival in Malta, Andersen felt he was entering those Eastern countries which he had dreamt of when he was a child, inspired by his father’s reading aloud to him from Arabian Nights.
This set will be available from all branch post offices in Malta and Gozo and from the Maltapost Mobile Unit in First Day Cover format, mint or cancelled, as a Souvenir Folder and Presentation Pack. Further details may be obtained from the Philatelic Bureau on telephone 2123 9153 or by e-mail [email protected].