Bibliophilately

A Siberian Library Postcard.

Ben — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:27:18 +0000

Currently I experience a slight shift in my field of interest putting a stronger emphasis on the so called deltiological phenomena: postcards. I still like and enjoy all the stamps and nobody would seriously outdo philatelic to deltiologic items. Both types carry a special incomparable value: Stamps are much smaller and therefore graphical condensed and officially controlled expressions of how a society wishes to be represented on a piece of paper used for a highly limited function.
Postcards however serve a broader field of possible utilizations. There is certainly a much larger variety of postcards than of stamps.

Personally I prefer postcards to display not much more than an ordinary photography. Those cards still embed a certain way of representation, but there is a higher rate of arbitrariness, which relates those objects much closer with the ordinary cultural framework they are used in.

Today’s example shows the building of the Государственная публичная научно-техническая библиотека – the State Public Scientific Technical Library of the Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences located right in the centre of Novosibirsk. The postcard was issued by the probably leading soviet postcard publisher Планета (Planeta) in 1971 – ten years after the construction of the building began and five years after the official opening. I can’t tell much about the library and its 10 reading rooms except that it still plays an important role for Russian science being connected with a number of other scientific libraries all over the world. And it is said to be the largest library in Asia with more than 14 million items. More information can be found on the corresponding website.

For this post I just want to preserve the object itself displaying a good exemple of the up-to-date heavy weight library architecture of the early 1960s, with an quite interesting entrance stairway, a tiled façade with huge windows, its slightly overgrown forecourt, and a darkblue, probably 1968 built Moskvitch 412 with the license plate number 25-75 нсн passing by. Some people walk around in summer dresses when photographer Б. Подгорного (B. Podgornogo) captured the scenery from a south-western angle probably around midday.

Nowosibirsk - Library

Bibliophilately at Bibliophemera

Ben — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:07:18 +0000

While my bibliophilatelic collection largely remains untouched wrapped in the protective leather coating of its album and therefore I obviously neglect my self-imposed duty on posting stuff in a frequency appropriate enough to call a weblog vital, there is a nice piece on bibliophilately to be found in the wonderful weblog of Bibliophemera titled Bibliophilately lately and I advise anyone dropping in to go over there and read along this particular post as well as the rest of the weblog. It’s worth it.

Unfortunately I’m on the road and don’t carry any fresh bibliophilatelic material with me so I have to refer to some envelope I found in some book(!) and it is however more or less closely related at least to a university and taking this detour to a world famous writer. The postage was metered by the Faculty of Medicine of the Karl-Marx-Universität in Leipzig on october 3rd 1984, exactly six years before the 3rd of october became the national day because of the reunification. In the Orwell-year 1984 it still was a regular workday in Germany and therefore the letter is a rather ordinary one. The university dropped the patron Karl Marx in 1991 and operates since then using Alma mater lipsiensis.

An envelope from Copenhagen

Ben — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:23:49 +0000

It looks like the frequency of adding bibliophilatelic content slowed down even more during this year. But of course the small engine of bibliophilatelic passion is still running and nearly by chance while thumbing through a stack of postcards I came accross the following envelope, that commemorates the 500th anniversary of Copenhagen university library.

Universitetsbiblioteket København 1482-1982

It was send by the Universitetsbiblioteket itself to the small Zealandian municipality Farum on june 11th 1982 but as it is emptied I will probably never know why. Maybe some overdue notice… However, it is quite nicely stamped and delivered about five months before the official commemorative stamp was issued (november, 4th 1982). Therefore, it is obviously a piece worthy to be part of this virtual collection.

Definitive Canada: A FDC from 1971.

Ben — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:46:06 +0000

I wrote a short text on a Canadian issue dating dec. 31 1971 – the “eve” of the bibliophilatelic very famous “International Year of the Book” 1972 – in the ib.weblog and at least I want to include the image of the FDC here as well:

One may easily guess: The definitive stamp pictures Elizabeth II and the Canadian Library of Parliament. The FDC adds a view into the reading room.

two mexican stamps, blogged in the ib.weblog

Ben — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:51:13 +0000

I wrote a short text on the following two mexican stamps in the ib.weblog (this time german-only, sorry for that):

Biblioteca José Vasconcelos
issued: may 16th 2006

Mexico Turistico / Central Public Library
issued: september 11th 1987

Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu, on stamp

Ben — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:09:36 +0000

While being in Croatia I came across another piece of bibliophilately which was issued last year and honors the 400th anniversary of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

I blogged a short text about it right here.

Some Brunei Stamp – not really bibliophilatelic

Ben — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:41:51 +0000

Right. I haven’t posted anything for quite a long time but promise to increase the frequency a little during the next weeks. This time a just want to state that my bibliophilatelic passion and the blog are still alive and therefore as a sign of life I post a link leadingt to a weblog called The Daily Brunei Resources – helping to foster a better informed Brunei society which introduces Brunei’s most expensive stamps.
Of course there is not much bibliophilatelic in the shown – and in this case overprinted – scene on the Brunei river issued in 1906 resp. refering to the shown example with the red Japanese overprint from the 1940s. But it is interesting to see someone getting back to stamp issues following the aim of fostering a better informed society.
I very think of the real value in stamps regarding being some document of a society’s resp. nation’s history outnumbers the sometimes pursued possibly cash-value of any stamp or stamp collection several times. And to see it that way makes collecting and enjoying this little cultural invention, at least for myself, even more exciting and – at the same time – much more relaxing. (By the way: As far as I see there are no bibliophilatelic issues getting close to some namable cash-value, fortunately…)

Stamps as an information source, in Turkey

Ben — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:35:58 +0000

While doing some online search this article crossed my way and shall be kept here for the record: Stamps as an information source in the National Library of Turkey by Hakan Anameriç. (published in: Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services Volume 30, Issues 1-2, March-June 2006, Pages 117-127)

Abstract:

Stamps, like any other non-book material such as banknotes, coins, posters, and maps, serve as recording media and source for information that illustrates the social, commercial, political, cultural, historical, and artistic aspects of a society in their own unique style. Using short and abstract text, color graphics and symbols on a limited surface area to communicate its contents is the key attribute that differentiates stamp from other non-book material. For this unique attribute, the stamp can be deemed both as a communication tool and a work of art. Conversely, stamp and other philatelic material in Turkey are largely regarded as collection materials rather than being a source for information. This study aims at performing a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the stamp collection at the National Library of Turkey as well as providing information on cataloging and maintaining of stamps and offering them to the attention of the public to stress the importance of stamps as a source for
information rather than just a collection material.

The humanistic library of Sélestat, on stamp

Ben — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:41:27 +0000

I haven’t been posting here for quite a while for several reasons but at least for today I’m really delighted to add some update. This features a rather new stamp issued this years february 12th by the french La Poste. It is a somehow “classical” bibliophiatelic piece devoted to the Bibliothèque humaniste de Sélestat, which is a nice personal coincidence because it was in Sélestat where I bought my first french stamps at a local post office right after visiting the Bibliothèque during an Alsac-Library study trip some of years go. (I just googled it up: It was October 10th 2003…) This year the impressive library which resides since 1889 in some building at the corner Rue de Sel and Rue de la Bibliothèque (while the post office can be found three minutes away in the Rue de la Poste..) celebrates its 555 anniversary and despite I’m not sure whether there is some relation to the topical’s issue, I just go ahead and suppose there is one. One nice trivia is the inscription of the storefront’s mosaic mounted in 1907 saying “Stadtbibliothek – Museum” in german as Sélestat belonged between 1871 and 1918 to Germany as a garrison town.

The stamp features an illuminated initial of the Livre des Miracles de Sainte-Foy written by Bernard episcopal schoolmaster of Angers. The nominal value is 60 cents. The engraving is done by Jacky Larrivière.

Many thanks to Larry T. Nix who sent me this beautiful postage stamp – among others which I hopefully will have time to comment here soon.

Mikael Agricola, honoured by Finnish Post

Ben — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:42:17 +0000

There is a new book-related postage stamp to be issued by the Finnish Post on March 3rd 2007. It is minisheet with two stamps honouring Finlands the reformer and father of written Finnish, Mikael Agricola, who died 450 years ago.

The first stamp shows the first book printed ever in Finland: Agricola’s Abckiria (Ye ABC booke) published 1543. The second displays a figure drawn by Lucas Cranach which pictures Mikael Agricola preaching. It is taken from an issue of Agricola’s translation of the New Testament. The circulation of the minisheet will be 300 000. The stamps are designed by the finnish designer Timo Berry, who became i.e. famous for his “Freedom of Expression”/Amnesty International-poster. The minisheet is printed by Joh. Enschedé Stamps on Sopal Satimat paper.