CZESLAW SLANIA, POLAND 1953 – COURTYARD OF THE ROYAL WAWEL PALACE IN KRAKOW PROOF
THE 80 gr VALUE STAMP, ISSUED FOR “THE YEAR OF THE REBIRTH” (RENAISSANCE COMMEMORATION) AND DEPICTING THE COURTYARD OF THE ROYAL WAWEL PALACE IN KRAKOW, WAS DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED BY SLANIA. ON THIS STAMP, UNDER ONE OF THE WINDOW’S OF THE THIRD FLOOR GABLE, SLANIA HAS AS A JOKE ENGRAVED THE NAME OF ONE OF HIS RELATIVES “PILCH”.
THE ORIGINAL SET OF 3 STAMPS WERE ISSUED ON 10TH NOVEMBER 1953 AND THESE BLACK PROOFS, WERE ISSUED IN OCTOBER 1958 IN CONJUNCTION WITH A BOOK TO COMMEMORATE THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLISH POST OFFICE. THE ITEMS ON SALE ARE THE PROOFS AND NOT THE COMPLETE BOOK. THE PROOFS WERE PRINTED BY PWPW (THE NATIONAL PRINTER’S OF POLISH BANKNOTES AND STAMPS) IN WARSAW. NOTE: ONLY THE 80 gr STAMP IS A SLANIA ITEM, HOWEVER, THE ITEMS ON SALE ARE A COMPLETE SET OF 3 PROOFS.
CATALOGUE NUMBERS: SG 829, MI 822, FI 684, SC 593.
FOR CHESS COLLECTORS: THE 20gr STAMP DEPICTS JAN KOCHANOWSKI Poet, translator and playwright. Born 1530 in Sycyna, died 1584 in Lublin. The greatest Polish and a major European Renaissance man of letters whose poetic genius was the first of such brilliance in Poland and remained the only one until the explosion of talent in Romanticism.
In the poem SZACHY (CHESS) Kochanowski used the work SCACCIA LUDUS by the Italian poet Marco Girolamo Vida, moving the plot from Mount Olympus to the royal court and adding some local touch. A chess tournament is taking place at the court of the Danish king Tarses; the hand of the king´s daughter is the prize. The tournament is described with expertise in the subject (as Kochanowski was a very competent player himself) and with psychological sensitivity (the daughter is clearly in favour of one of the players and helps him discreetly).
THESE PROOFS ARE A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS SLANIA OR CHESS THEMATICS COLLECTOR.
THESE BLACK PROOFS ARE VERY RARELY OFFERED SO DON’T MISS THE CHANCE TO OWN THEM.
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