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| 1067 - Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty |
Posted on 28.04.2014, 25.04.2015, 04.08.2016, 08.10.2017
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in the middle of New York Harbor, in Manhattan. The statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet.
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1068 - The Statue of Liberty with Manhattan in the background (1)
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The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad. Bartholdi was inspired by French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to American independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples. He may have been minded to honor the Union victory in the American Civil War and the end of slavery.
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| 1069 - Aerial view of the Statue of Liberty |
This masterpiece of the human spirit, which brings together art and engineering in a new and powerful way, is composed of thinly pounded copper sheets over a steel framework, designed by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel. Its symbolic value lies in two basic factors. Presented by France with the intention of affirming the historical alliance between the two nations, it was financed by international subscription in recognition of the establishment of the principles of freedom and democracy.
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| 3162 - The Statue of Liberty with Manhattan in the background (2) Postcard made exclusively for Statue of Liberty Museum |
The Statue also soon became and has endured as a symbol of the migration of people from many countries into the United States in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876, and in New York's Madison Square Park from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened due to lack of funds.
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| 1070 - New York Harbor at dusk |
Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World started a drive for donations to complete the project that attracted more than 120,000 contributors. The statue was constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. In 1956, Bedloe's Island was renamed Liberty Island, and nearby Ellis Island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument by proclamation of President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.
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| 1541 - Statue of Liberty |
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In 1972, the American Museum of Immigration, in the statue's base, was opened in a ceremony led by President Richard Nixon. The museum's backers never provided it with an endowment to secure its future and it closed in 1991 after the opening of an immigration museum on Ellis Island. In 1984, the statue was closed to the public for the duration of the renovation. The torch, found to have been leaking water since the 1916 alterations, was replaced with an exact replica of Bartholdi's unaltered torch. It reflects the sun's rays in daytime and lighted by floodlights at night.
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| 2735 The 130th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty |
The entire puddled iron armature designed by Gustave Eiffel was replaced. Low-carbon corrosion-resistant stainless steel bars that now hold the staples next to the skin are made of Ferralium, an alloy that bends slightly and returns to its original shape as the statue moves. In 1984, the Statue of Liberty was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because is a "masterpiece of the human spirit" that "endures as a highly potent symbol - inspiring contemplation, debate and protest - of ideals such as liberty, peace, human rights, abolition of slavery, democracy and opportunity."
About the stamps
The stamp on postcards 1067-1070 is a Global Forever First-Class Mail International stamp, about which I wrote here.
The first stamps on the postcard 1541 are part of the set A scene in Colorado, 150 million years ago, which is part of the series The World of Dinosaurs, about which I wrote here.
The last stamp, depicting Reticulate Collared Lizard, is part of the series Reptiles & Amphibians, issued on October 7, 2003. These stamps (all with the same face values, 37c) depict five colorful reptiles and amphibians that are appreciated for much more then just their beauty. They create a healthier environment by hunting and eating rodents and insects which helps control the rodent and insect population.
• Scarlet King Snake (reptile) - It's on the postcard 1543
• Ornate Chorus Frog (amphibian) - It's on the postcard 1543
• Reticulate Collared Lizard (reptile) - It's on the postcard 1541
• Blue Spotted Salamander (amphibian)
• Ornate Box Turtle (reptile)
On the postcard 2735
During the last philatelic exhibition "Paris-Philex", the French Post has released on May 20, 2016, a stamp collector (4 permanent "World" identical stamps - € 1.25 currently) devoted to the 130th anniversary of the inauguration of the Statue of Liberty. Designed by the Agency "Huitième Jour", this collector (selling price : € 10) was printed only at 5,020 copies. The same agency also designed the postcard (€ 2, print run : 3,520) published for this occasion, including the same illustration as the one featured on these 4 stamps.
On the postcard 3162
The first tree stamps are part of the series Declaration on Independence, issued on July 4, 1976, and designed by Vincent E. Hoffman. The issue, with perforations dividing the strip into four individual stamps (se-tenant stamps with the same face value, 13 c), is the last of the Bicentennial commemoratives released by the U.S. Postal Service. The strip of stamps reproduces the painting Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose was to set forth the principles upon which the Congress had acted two days earlier when it voted to declare the freedom and independence of the thirteen American colonies from England. Although the draft was accepted on July 4, formal signing of the document actually occurred on August 2, 1776. The Trumbull painting features the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence - John Adams, Roger Sherman, Thomas Jefferson (presenting the document), and Benjamin Franklin - standing before John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress. The painting includes portraits of forty-two of the fifty-six signers and five other patriots. The artist sketched the individuals and the room from life. The same painting, minus its left third, was one of the souvenir sheets issued at Interphil 76.
• First from the left
• The second from the left - It's on the postcard 3162
• The third from the left - It's on the postcard 3162
• The fourth from the left - It's on the postcard 3162
The second stamp, depicting Buffalo Bill Cody and issued on June 6, 1988, is part of the Great Americans series, a very large set of definitive stamps issued starting on December 27, 1980, and continuing through 1999. The basic design of the stamps has much in common with the predecessor Americana series and the contemporaneous transportation coils; the few elements consisting only of portrait, name, possibly occupation/notability, inscription "USA", and denomination, in a single color on a white background. The range of subjects was much broader than the previous Prominent Americans series or Liberty Issue. Where the predecessors focused mainly on political figures, the subjects of the Great Americans series were well-known from a number of diverse fields and ethnicities.
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846 - 1917) was an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill started working at the age of eleven, after his father's death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14. During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865. Later he served as a civilian scout for the US Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872. One of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, Buffalo Bill's legend began to spread when he was only twenty-three. Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, in Great Britain and continental Europe.
The third stamp is part of the series Bicentennial Lewis & Clark Expedition, issued on May 14, 2004. Two of the stamps feature individual portraits of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark painted by Michael J. Deas in a style reminiscent of early 19th-century portraits of the two explorers. The third, also designed and painted by Michael J. Deas, depicts Meriwether Lewis and William Clark standing on a promontory surveying the countryside. All three stamps have the same face value, 37 cents.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery on a heroic expedition from the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. President Thomas Jefferson had instructed them to follow the Missouri and Columbia Rivers and locate the elusive Northwest Passage. Along the way, they explored much of the territory of Louisiana, the vast uncharted wilderness west of the Mississippi River that the United States had recently purchased from France. They mapped rivers; collected plants and animals new to science; held councils with Indians; and kept detailed journals - books destined to become classics of both American history and American literature.
• William Clark's portrait
• Meriwether Lewis's portrait
• Lewis and Clark standing on a promontory - It's on the postcard 3162
The fourth stamp is part of the series Mineral Heritage, designed by Leonard E. Buckley, and issued on June 13, 1974. All four stamp have the same face value, 10 cents.
• Amethyst - It's on the postcard 3162
• Rhodochrosite
• Tourmaline
• Petrified wood
References
Statue of Liberty - Wikipedia
Statue of Liberty - UNESCO official website
Sender 1067-1070, 1541, 2735, 3162: Denise
1067: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 31.12.2013
Photo: Masterfile
1068: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 31.12.2013
Photo: H. Sund
1069: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 31.12.2013
Photo: Stephanie Izzo
1070: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 01.04.2014
Photo: Stephanie Izzo
1541: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 07.03.2015
2735: Bought from World Stamp Show-NY 2016 (Javis Center, New York City, United States) and sent from France
3162: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 26.09.2017
Postcard made exclusively for Statue of Liberty Museum
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