"The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job." - N Hill
June 3, 2009 5:57 AM Subscribe
Incunabula are usually defined as books printed before the beginning of the sixteenth century. However, in this section, I will use the term to refer to printed books of whatever age which were designed to imitate the illuminated manuscript.
Then you and me are going to have to rumble.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:41 AM on June 3, 2009 [3 favorites]
Then you and me are going to have to rumble.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:41 AM on June 3, 2009 [3 favorites]
Diebold Schilling page: Pope Callixtus III excommunicated the comet as an instrument of the devil.
Apparently that's a myth, but this stamp page isn't the only place that repeats the story. New Scientist, for example: "in 1456, Pope Callixtus III is said to have excommunicated it."
posted by pracowity at 6:56 AM on June 3, 2009
Apparently that's a myth, but this stamp page isn't the only place that repeats the story. New Scientist, for example: "in 1456, Pope Callixtus III is said to have excommunicated it."
posted by pracowity at 6:56 AM on June 3, 2009
Why does Sierra Leone have a stamp depicting the Bayeux Tapestry? Can someone please explain?
posted by mattoxic at 7:08 AM on June 3, 2009
posted by mattoxic at 7:08 AM on June 3, 2009
The stamp commemorates the flyover of Halley's Comet (1985)...as does that section of the tapestry.
There are many 1985 commemorative stamps for Halley's Comet that year. For example, check out the Marshall Islands Halley's Comet commemorative stamp (1985).
posted by ericb at 7:41 AM on June 3, 2009
There are many 1985 commemorative stamps for Halley's Comet that year. For example, check out the Marshall Islands Halley's Comet commemorative stamp (1985).
posted by ericb at 7:41 AM on June 3, 2009
I can tell my grandkids that I once spent twenty minutes of my life, on the web, looking at a collection of South Dakota stamps, few of which had anything remotely to do with South Dakota. They'll ask me why I did this and I'll say "I don't really know."
posted by Xurando at 7:49 AM on June 3, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Xurando at 7:49 AM on June 3, 2009 [1 favorite]
philately, i have had the strangest feeling with this unique site on my mind.
posted by the aloha at 8:01 AM on June 3, 2009
posted by the aloha at 8:01 AM on June 3, 2009
This post reminded me of the great graphic design on stamps.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 8:44 AM on June 3, 2009
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 8:44 AM on June 3, 2009
Ah, stamps. Long before computers, when I was a kid, growing up in the frozen north, where civilization was only a rumor ... I collected them.
The earliest were just outlines of famous people, more like charcoal outlines of shadows. But slowly they began to tell of heroic feats, heroic peoples.
Stamps were my Google Earth. I didn't know any better, so it wasn't sad at the time. They were narcissistic as hell, and so ... full of insights.
If tourist aliens came to find out about us, and were looking for something to take home that would help convince their kind to believe their amazing stories ...
posted by Twang at 11:09 PM on June 3, 2009
The earliest were just outlines of famous people, more like charcoal outlines of shadows. But slowly they began to tell of heroic feats, heroic peoples.
Stamps were my Google Earth. I didn't know any better, so it wasn't sad at the time. They were narcissistic as hell, and so ... full of insights.
If tourist aliens came to find out about us, and were looking for something to take home that would help convince their kind to believe their amazing stories ...
posted by Twang at 11:09 PM on June 3, 2009
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posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 6:00 AM on June 3, 2009