Some bio-mimicry drawings...

And some NEW stamps ...

nice set and it scanned very well IMO. Received from my significant other on large envelopes as she knows about and appreciates my stamp obsession. These are 10 out of the 12 stamps in the issue. 

Old Stamps Part I cont. ... more Bolivia

I have 5 out of 6 of the next set ... I may have the sixth stamp (a 90 centavo carmine) on some of my other pages. This appears to be a war issue ... but reads as if the set is commemorating a revolution ... I cannot find any information concerning an anniversary of a 1943 revolution ... the closest is the ascendancy of the Revolutionary Nationalist Party in 1952. So ... who knows? Stampworld link.

Old Stamps Part I cont. .... more Bolivia

The second issue pictured on that page is the six-stamp issue commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Bolivian National Anthem. According to wikipedia the hymn wasn't officially adopted until 1951 ... so I don't know why they issued commemorative stamps in 1946. Stampworld info here.

The national anthem of Bolivia (Himno Nacional de Bolivia), also known as Bolivianos, el Hado Propicio (Bolivians, a most Favorable Destiny) was adopted in 1851. José Ignacio de Sanjinés, a signer of both the Bolivian Declaration of Independence and the first Bolivian Constitution, wrote the lyrics. The music was composed by an Italian, Leopoldo Benedetto Vincenti.

Again the stamp appears to be a combination of engraving and photolithograph. The musical score and images in the middle of the stamp appear to be engraved.

Old Stamps Part I: Bolivia

Working through some of my purchased old album pages last night. The 'B' countries in preparation for the arrival of my sparkly new Minkus Global Supreme Album ...

anyway, up first is Bolivia. You can see hinge stains on a couple of the denominations ... fortunately I think I have better copies of these stamps. These are the 1943 100th Anniversary Issue of the founding of El Bini. From wikipedia we learn:

Beni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country (after Santa Cruz), covering 213,564 square kilometers (82,458 sq mi), and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José Ballivián. Its capital is Trinidad.

The guy standing in the stamp is Jose Ballivian. The building is most likely the original capital in Trinidad, labeled as Plaza y Catedral -- Trinidad. Stampworld has both this issue and the similar airmail issue pictured ... but a little mixed up. 

One more tidbit of information ... it appears to me that the portrait of the General is engraved, while the rest of the stamp is probably a photolithograph. I would need to check my Scott's catalog (currently in storage) to ascertain for certain. 

Love these sketches ...

I don't care so much about the words etc as I do the sketches of the organisms; borrowed from this blog http://www.botanicalillustration.blogspot.com/

Another nice set ...

this set scratches two of my stamp-collecting itches ... ships AND definitives

from Portugal