Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
JANE AUSTEN BICENTENARY CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS 1975 _____________________________________________ WRAP PARTY Thanks for joining us this week for Jane Austen's 232nd. birthday celebration honoring the design and issue of her bicentenary stamps in Great Britain in 1975. I hope you enjoyed learning about the fascinating design process, the history of their release and the celebration by the Jane... Continue Reading →
 JANE AUSTEN BICENTENARY CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE  STAMPS 1975 _____________________________________________ Part five PRESS, PRINTING & PUBLIC Early in 1973, it had been proposed that the new stamps be released on Jane Austen's birthday of December 16th. Unfortunately, this conflicted with the release of the planned Christmas stamps, so the release was scheduled for July or August of 1975. Further production delays... Continue Reading →
JANE AUSTEN BICENTENARY CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS 1975 _______________________________________________  Part four REVEAL & APPROVAL On June 5th (1974), Barbara Brown's four stamp illustrations were revealed to the Stamp Advisory Committee and approved. The final details such as variations on the amount of information (Austen's name and dates, book titles, names of characters) were still under discussion, and... Continue Reading →
JANE AUSTEN BICENTENARY CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS 1975 __________________________________________________ Part three AN INSPIRATION Barbara Brown's challenge in creating artwork of Jane Austen's characters was a daunting but not unique task. How could one honestly represent such beloved characters whose persona's have been so wholly impressed in the imagination of her readers for over 160 years? It... Continue Reading →
JANE AUSTEN BICENTENARY CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS 1975 ___________________________________________________ Part two A COMMISSION Early in March of 1974, artist and book illustrator Barbara G. Brown  of Saxon Artist, Ltd., was commissioned by the SAC to create preliminary designs of the Jane Austen bicentenary stamp set. Miss Brown met Stuart Rose to discuss preliminary ideas; it... Continue Reading →
