Cedars

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The stamps I have to enter the collection today , are from a small lot I have since last November..They were not bought , but given to me by someone from my family who went to Turkey for a few days.. Everybody that I know that goes to a foreign country, receives always my ' OK! bring me some old stamps...'... so she did , and by the end of November, in one of the weekly Family lunches, I received a small stockcard with no more than 50 stamps... The interesting thing is that the stamps were not Turkish but from Lebanon...

It is a pretty good lot , because it is very representative of Lebanon stamps and their evolution, with stamps of the main series,from the 20's to the 60's...I was very happy , because I didn't had any stamp from Lebanon...

some previous comments are needed before I began to show the stamps... The first stamps from Lebanon are like those of Morocco , Algeria and Tunisia, from French Origin ( stamps issued in France with Local Overprints or issued with different Country labels...)... following these French stamps, we have some others with the Label "Grand Liban"... Then appeared the label "Republique Libanaise" and finally "Liban".. Lebanon was occupied by French Forces after the WWI and achieved independence in 1942..

Let us now show the stamps...

These are stamps from a series from 1925, and curiously from the only series with Label "Grand Liban" and non Overprinted or surcharged stamps..like in the case of Morocco and Algeria , these are stamps designed by Joseph De La Neziere.. As with many other French Stamp Designers , the work of De La Neziere is very diverse and focused in many different countries, specially France former Colonies...He was the subject of one of my first posts in my other blog, and I have updated it several times , because even with many catalogs and diverse data ,there are always countries that I didn't think off... I need to updated it again..! the motifs shown are : 1) Crusader Castle , Tripoli 2)Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek 3)View of Zahle

1925 "Views from Lebanon 1925" (13) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Photo (Helio Vaugirard , Paris)] Sc(52,54,57)

two stamps from the series above overprinted in the 1st case and surcharged in the 2nd..the first stamp present us a group of two distinct overprints.. the stamp was from the series "Views from Lebanon 1925" and was Overprinted in 1927 with a Bar over "Grand Liban" and the French Label "Republique Libanaise" below... in 1928 the stamp received a second Overprint with a bar over the existing Arabic Labels at the bottom and adding new Arabic Labels above the Bar..

1) 1928 "Overprint 'Bars and Arabic Labels' on 1927 (Overprint ' Bars and Republic Libanaise' on "Views From Lebanon 1925")" (12) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Photo (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(88)

The 2nd stamp was surcharged with the same group of Overprints plus numeric and arabic value and Bars (the difference is that this surcharge has these elements from the beginning...)

2) 1928 " Surcharge Over "Views From Lebanon 1925"" (5) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Photo (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(105)

The Utilization of the Label "Republique Libanaise" started in 1930 with a series that I have no stamps.. immediately after comes this series , also with views from Lebanon and also designed by De La Neziere..some of the motifs are the same .. the series is divided in values lesser  then 1/2 Piaster that have a different format (as you can see , by the stamp of a quarter of Piaster) and are [Litho] Printed and all the others that are [Photo] Printed.. If you take a closer look to the 2nd group of stamps You will find that the 2nd stamp is [Recess] Printed... well , the stamp is included because it belongs to a 1940  redrawn of some stamps of this series , with the inclusion of a new motif (this one represented by this 5P stamps..) I think that the detail presented in the design of this stamps is considerably higher (and it is normal to be this way....) than those of the [Photo] stamps.. just take a look..! I must say also that the perforation is 13 instead of 12.5 or 13.5

 The motifs represented are , by the same order... 1)View of Bickfaya 2)Beid-Ed-Din Palace 3)Crusader Castle, Tripoli 4) Belfort Castle 5) Beid-Ed-Din Palace 6) Nahr El Kelb Bridge 7) Ruins of Sun Temple , Baalbeck 8) Ruins of Bacchus Temple, Baalbeck

1) 1930 "Views from Lebanon 1930/1935" (18) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Photo (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(117,122,123,126,127,129)

2) 1940 "Redraw of 'views of Lebanon 1930/1935'" (1) [Joseph De La Neziere)][Recess (Degorce)] Sc(155)

3) 1930 "Views from Lebanon 1930/1935" (3) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Litho (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(116)

This is a Great Stamp!!..definitely the Great highlight of this post.. the paper, the design and the engraving are perfectly combined to result in a Great stamp...! Representing President Emile Eddé , the stamp is designed by Philipe Mourani and engraved by the Master Henry Cheffer ..Cheffer don't need an introduction, it's one of the Best designers and engraver's and that's it..!! Philipe Mourani was a French painter, who traveled through the Orient ,North Africa and Meddle East , becoming an Orientalist , learning Arab language and writing ,and rapidly acquiring a great level of expertise....he designed several stamps for Lebanon, that turn out to be his home base to his endless travels...It is curious that Joseph De La Neziere had a similar life path.. 

The stamp originally belong to a series from 1937 and was Surcharged in the same Year with 2P or 2.50P...
1) 1937 "Surcharge over 'President  Emile Eddé' 1937" (3) [Des (Philipe Mourani)][Engr (Henry Cheffer)][Recess] Sc(146)

Here are 3 of the 20 (more or less) different designs of the famous "Cedar of Lebanon" , image of the Country... the designs can differ in the design of the tree itself or , just the background or background and frames or just frames...the first 2 stamps are identical and from the same series of 1937 and are also work of the Designer Philipe Mourani ..the first representation of the Cedar appeared in the series of the "Grand Liban" from 1925...the last 2 stamps are work of one of the most important designer of Lebanese and Syrian stamps.. i'm talking of the Russian Paul Koroleff..
1)2) 1937/1940 "Cedars from Lebanon" (5) [Des (Philipe Mourani)][Typo] Sc(138,138A)
3) 1946/1947 "Cedars of Lebanon" (5) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Litho (Impremerie Catholique, Beirut)] Sc(200)
4) 1948 "Cedars of Lebanon" (5) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Litho (Impremerie Catholique, Beirut)] Sc(210)

This is a Postal Tax stamp , issued whenever the necessity of acquiring funds for a cause or Social need ,these stamps were issued from 1945 to 1962 , with different goals...
this is a stamp from 1945 and this time it behaves like a War stamp ; it is surcharged with a beautiful Violet Surcharge, but in this case it is not clearly visible, it is somehow 'blurred'...I leave here an image of the surcharge because I think it is one of the most beautiful I ever found..
the stamp itself represents once again the "Cedar of Lebanon" and is surrounded by Beautiful Arabic motifs..
1945 "War Stamp" (1) [Litho] Sc(RA1)

These are some stamps representing views from Lebanon, and are from several different series.. I will just present the technical data and Sc code, because there isn't much more to say about them..
1) 1937/1940 "Views from Lebanon" (15) [Des (Philipe Mourani)][Engr (Jules Piel)][Recess] Sc(142)
2) 1930/1935 "Views from Lebanon" (18) [Des (Joseph De La Neziere)][Photo (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(119) (I forgot to present this stamp along the others of it's series..)
3) 1950 "Views of Lebanon" (5) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Litho (IC,Beirut)] Sc(241)
4) 1952 "views of Lebanon" (6) [Des (Paul koroleff)][Litho (IC,Beirut)] Sc(262)
5) 1957 "Views from Lebanon" (7) [Des (V. Pliss)][Litho (Imprimerie J. Saikali)] Sc(C230)
6) 1947 "Views from Lebanon" (4) [Des (Paul koroleff)][Photo (IC,Beirut)] Sc(207)
7) 1961 "Views from Lebanon" (3) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Photo (Imprimerie Cortbaui)] Sc(361)
8)9) 1961 "Baie De Maameltein" (4) [Des (J.A. Kufedjian)][Photo (Imprimerie Saikali)] Sc(299,300)

These are Earthquake Stamps... issued to raise funds for the Prevention and Payment of damages from severe Earthquakes...
[Left] stamp from 1959.. there are two varieties of this stamp.. A) with the Arabic Labels at top B) Arabic Labels at the bottom of the stamp..the stamp presented is from type B...
1959 "Earthquake Stamps" (6) [Des (D. Akiskalian)][Litho (Imprimerie J. Saikali)] Sc(RA14)
[Right] 1956 "Earthquake stamps" (1) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Litho (Imprimerie J. Saikali)] Sc(RA11)

To end this post , I have some stamps from the most famous series from Lebanon.. it is one more series with views of Lebanon and it is from 1961.. The series has 9 stamps for current postage and other 9 stamps for Air Mail..
1)2) The first and 2nd groups are current postage mail stamps.. two stamps of the 2.50P are presented just to highlight a color difference between Ultramarine blue and some Dull blue..
1961 "Views from Lebanon" (9) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Photo (Imprimerie J. Saikali)] Sc(366,367,367,369,370,371,373)
3) 1961 "Views from Lebanon (AIR MAIL)" (9) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Photo (Imprimerie J. Saikali)] Sc(C17,...,C320) [The last stamp of this group is a variety with larger numerals .. Sc(C341) 1962]


OK.. it is the end of this post.. hope you like it..!

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A small tribute

New Entries

Periodically I have to return to the stamps of Countries I already have made two or three posts... countries like Spain, US,North Korea, Japan, Russia, France , etc..this time I will do one more post about Spanish stamps...I will start the post normally and then , I will make some brief comments about the rest of it ..

   

Strangely, I cannot find this stamp neither in Scott World Catalog neither in SG (one old 70's catalog..).. so i will leave you here the EDIFIL code ... this is a Telegraph stamp from 1949... there are two emissions of these stamps (let's call them "Spain Arms") , the original from 1940/1942 , with 11.75 Perforation and the other from 1949 with 13.50 Perforation..the stamp , despite the time, remain's with vivid and beautiful colors...

1949 "Spain Arms" (8) [Litho] Edifil (90 TEL)   

these are stamps from a sports series from 1960.. The importance of the Roller Hockey in both the Iberian countries was tremendous in those days.. Spain and Portugal were always " at war" when we talk about this sport , because they were always the champions (one year Portugal, next year Spain, etc..) and all the other countries were miles away from the Virtuosity and strength of the Iberian Players.. I think that in the end , this was the only reason for this sport was never considered an Olympic Sport .. yet it is one of the most stressful and quickest games you ever seen... it is a beautiful sport..!!

it is a series with no hidden secrets...some of the values are AIR MAIL..

1960 "Sports" (14) [Photo] Sc(954,957,958,962,C169)

some stamps from different series ... all the stamps are [Photo] Printed and are also Personalities stamps...here is the data..

1) sorry for the very bad condition of this stamp.. it is the only I've got for now...

1952 "500th Birth Anniv of Ferdinand the Catholic" (5) [Photo] Sc(788)

2) 1954 "Stamp Day and Marcelino Menendez Y Pelayo Commemoration" (1) [Photo] Sc(814)

3) 1961 "Birth Bicentenary of Moratin (poet and dramatist)" (2) [Photo] Sc(972)

4)5) 1960 "Canonization of St. Juan De Ribera" (2) [Photo] Sc(939,940)

6) 1961 "400th Birth Anniv of De Gongora (poet)" (2) [Photo] Sc(1008)

Here we have stamps from one of the most famous Air Series of the world.. these are again [Photo] stamps and that I know of , there are no secrets around... I think I have just one stamp missing..

1) 1955/1956 "Caravel & Airplane / AIR MAIL" (11) [Photo] Sc(C148,C149,C156,C154)

Before I start the post I didn't know how to approach this time the Spanish stamps... suddenly, Saturday everything has changed, with a clear view of what I need to do.. As you know I am a compulsive Catalog buyer, for different reasons , the last and the most important one is my other blog about Stamp Designers...Spain was and still is a resistant , because I'm experiencing difficulties to find data about Designers.. I have a online Edifil Catalog (downloaded from the Net..) and two more Edifil editions on paper, plus the 70's SG catalog on paper and Scott World ..neither one of them has info about the Designers.. SG is the only with the designers from some stamps until they begin to be designed and engraved by the "F. Nacional de Moneda Y Timbre"..then on Saturday I asked another blogger from Spain , who minutes later gave me the info about a Stamp site with an article about the engravers of the F. National de Moneda Y timbre.. well, this changed everything and I decided to choose some engraved stamps that were not in the collection yet  to show them to You and also make a small tribute to the Spanish Engravers..  .. it is a very good and detailed article and I'm very grateful to Cristina Martin San Roque , so i left here the Blog's Adress El Salon De Cris"  ...

I will present the stamps individually, to allow a better view from the visitor.. I will use stamps of the Groups of series "Spanish Personalities" and "Centenary's"... 

let us start with this small sample of the Spanish Engraving School..

After the Sc codes , the names of the Personalities represented are listed

1)2)3) 1968 "Spanish Personalities" (4) [Recess] Sc(1525,1524,1523)[Rosália De Castro, Maria Pacheco, Agustina De Aragon]

4)5)6) 1973 "Spanish Personalities" (3) [Recess] Sc(1744,1745,1746)[Juan De Herrera, Juan De Villanueva,Ventura Rodriguez]

7)8) 1974 "Spanish Personalities" (3) [Recess] Sc(1807,1808)[Jaime Balmes,Father Pedro Poyeda]

9) 1975 "Spanish Personalities" (3) [Recess] Sc(1874)[Antonio Gaudi]

10) 1976 "Spanish Personalities" (3) [Recess] Sc(1935) [Juan Sebastian Elcano]

11)12)13)14) 1979 "Spanish Personalities" (4) [Recess] Sc(2139,...,2142)[Jorge Mannique,Cecilia Bohl De Faber, Francisco Villaespesa, Gregório Maranon]

15)16)17) 1981 "Centenary's" (3) [Recess] Sc(2239,...,2241)[Gabriel Miró,Francisco De Quevedo,St. Benedict]

18) 1982 "Centenary's" (3) [Recess] Sc(2278)[J.R. De Jimenez]

19)20) 1972 "Spanish Personalities" (3) [Recess] Sc(1699,1698) [José De Espronceda, Emilia Pardo Bazan]

21)22) 1970 "Spanish Personalities" (2) [Recess] Sc(1595,1596)[Juan De Avila, Rodrigo Ximenes De Rada]

23) 1966 "Spanish Personalities" (4) [Recess] Sc(C178)[Lucio Aneo Seneca]

24) 1965 "Spanish Personalities" (4) [Recess] Sc(1294)[Gaspar Melchor De Jovellanos]

25) 1965 "Spanish Personalities"  (4) [Recess] Sc(1295)[St. Dominic Of Gusman]

26)27) 1976 "Birth Centenaries of Manuel De Falla and Pablo Casals" (2) [Recess] Sc(2019,2018)[Manuel De Falla, Pablo Casals]

28) 1977 "Spanish Personalities" (4) [Recess] Sc(2029)[Francisco Tarrega]

I do not present the data from the engravers, because I don't had yet the time to study the data from the article.. what I want is to tell You the location of the Article ... some of these stamps are really masterworks , like the 5P that stands alone , "St. Dominic of Gusman (1178/1221)"...the 5P Manuel De Falla appears at last with two other musicians, Pablo Casals and Francisco Tarrega, because he , Falla, and Tarrega are two of my favorite Spanish composers, one for Orchestra and other for classical Guitar...I leave here a video of Paco De Lucia playing a stunning version of the beautiful "Danza De Los Vecinos" from his album "Paco De Lucia Plays Manuel De Falla"

Next time I present stamps from Spain , two series will be highlighted: the "Castles of Spain" and the "Tourism Series", also engraved series.. I expect that in the next post I already have data from Designers and engravers to put some substance into our analysis..

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