Shakespeare is renowned as being the most famous and celebrated writer of all time. His work is studied and praised all over the world and although he died exactly 400 years ago, his work today is as popular as it ever has been. So, in light of all the other celebrations that are taking place this year to commemorate the great bard, it is no surprise that the Royal Mail has decided to mark this important anniversary with a special collection of stamps.
This set consists of exactly ten stamps (First Class stamps) and each of them includes small extracts from some of his work. The poetry and words selected are to remind us all of his genius and how relevant he still is. In addition, starting from 9th April, a specially designed postmark is being applied to mail stamped in the UK paying tribute to the best poet and writer in the world. The postmark simply contains two words and two numbers – William Shakespeare 1564 – 1616.
Of course, this is not the first time that the Royal Mail has used Shakespeare as an inspiration for their stamps. In the past they have issued stamps that have shown small illustrations of Shakespeare’s plays, the poet himself and the Globe Theatre. As previously mentioned, this latest set of stamps is focused on the amazing words created by the Bard and carefully chosen lines from his poems and plays. In the last five decades, Shakespeare and certain things related to his work have been depicted on exactly 25 stamps. So, if we exclude the members of the Royal Family, William Shakespeare is the person that has appeared the most on British stamps which is some achievement.
According to Nadhim Zahawi, Stratford MP, printing the famous poet’s words on the stamps was one of the best ways to show respect to William Shakespeare and commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death. He said “These words and his work in general have been studied and praised all over the world and now they will travel through Royal Mail’s stamps too.”
The Royal Mail considered many options about the look of the stamps until deciding that the best way to mark the anniversary of his passing was to use his words, rather than images of Shakespeare on their stamps. No doubt, these words will resonate for another 400 years……
Shakespeare is renowned as being the most famous and celebrated writer of all time. His work is studied and praised all over the world and although he died exactly 400 years ago, his work today is as popular as it ever has been. So, in light of all the other celebrations that are taking place this year to commemorate the great bard, it is no surprise that the Royal Mail has decided to mark this important anniversary with a special collection of stamps.
This set consists of exactly ten stamps (First Class stamps) and each of them includes small extracts from some of his work. The poetry and words selected are to remind us all of his genius and how relevant he still is. In addition, starting from 9th April, a specially designed postmark is being applied to mail stamped in the UK paying tribute to the best poet and writer in the world. The postmark simply contains two words and two numbers – William Shakespeare 1564 – 1616.
Of course, this is not the first time that the Royal Mail has used Shakespeare as an inspiration for their stamps. In the past they have issued stamps that have shown small illustrations of Shakespeare’s plays, the poet himself and the Globe Theatre. As previously mentioned, this latest set of stamps is focused on the amazing words created by the Bard and carefully chosen lines from his poems and plays. In the last five decades, Shakespeare and certain things related to his work have been depicted on exactly 25 stamps. So, if we exclude the members of the Royal Family, William Shakespeare is the person that has appeared the most on British stamps which is some achievement.
According to Nadhim Zahawi, Stratford MP, printing the famous poet’s words on the stamps was one of the best ways to show respect to William Shakespeare and commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death. He said “These words and his work in general have been studied and praised all over the world and now they will travel through Royal Mail’s stamps too.”
The Royal Mail considered many options about the look of the stamps until deciding that the best way to mark the anniversary of his passing was to use his words, rather than images of Shakespeare on their stamps. No doubt, these words will resonate for another 400 years……