Stamp honors Edgar Allan Poe
Poet and master of terror Edgar Allen Poe is being honored on a new commemorative postage stamp by US Postal Service. It's ironic that Poe was loved by so many so long after his death when he faced loneliness, poverty and despair throughout much of his life.
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; his parents died when he was young. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. After spending a short period at the University of Virginia and briefly attempting a military career, Poe parted ways with the Allans. Poe's publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems(1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".
Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus, though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown.
Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.
Robert Burns
Robert Burns, one of the world's greatest poets, and Scotland's national bard, was born 250 years ago into a farming family at Alloway in Ayrshire in 1759Despite his early death aged 37,
Burns had already secured a place in history and to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth, Royal Mail has issued two new Special Stamps on 22 January 2009 in a Miniature Sheet to coincide with the annual Burn's Night celebrations that mark his genius, held not just in Scotland, but globally from South Africa to Canada.
Worldwide Stamps issued with Braille Inscriptions
compiled by Abhai Mishra, Dehradun
1992 Finland. Red Cross stamps with braille: Finnish Vocational Training Centre for the Blind
1993 Great Britain. Definitive 10 Pound-note, with the denomination "10" printed in Braille
1998 South Korea
30 January is being observed as ‘Martyr’s Day’.
Chandigarh Philatelic Club is organising an Exhibition of Stamps and Philatelic items on this theme, to pay homage to Martyrs.
Venue: Philatelic Bureau, GPO (2nd Floor) Sector 17, Chandigarh.
Dates: 30 and 31 January 2009.
Time: 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM On both days.
Our member Col Suresh Bagga will be displaying his collection ‘BRAVE-HEARTS’ – Indian Armed Forces in the exhibition.