Showing posts with label 1987. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1987. Show all posts

Monday, 17 April 2017

Iceland 1987 - Stamp Day

In 1835 the Gaimard expedition set off to explore Iceland and Greenland on the ship La Recherche. The leader of this expedition was Paul Gaimard, a French Naval surgeon and naturalist who wrote about the expedition in a nine volume work entitled: Voyage en Islande et au Groënland. This series, which included many illustrations, was then considered the definitive study of the islands. Another participant of the expedition was Auguste Mayer, a French artist who taught drawing at the École Navale. Mayer provided many gorgeous illustrations for Gaimard's book. For more on this expedition check out my blog from two weeks ago - click HERE 

One of the locations the expedition visited in Iceland was commercial station at Djúpivogur. Throughout its history, Djúpivogur has been an important trading centre. In fact, its commercial records date all the way back to 1589. A warehouse from 1790, called Langabúð (the oldest warehouse in Djúpivogur)  still stands in the town, and it has even been recently renovated and is a Heritage Museum.

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On 9 October 1987 Iceland issued a beautiful Souvenir Sheet for Stamp Day. This was the second year in a row that Iceland issued a special Stamp Day issue. For the 1986 issue, see the link above. Just like 1986, the 1987 Souvenir Sheet was designed and engraved by Czeslaw Slania. And in my humble opinion, it is even better than the first. But, of course, I may be biased, since this Souvenir Sheet includes sailing ships!


This stunning landscape captures a moment in time with stunning clarity: from the stark and rugged landscapes surrounding Djúpivogur to the tall ships sitting at anchor in the habour; and from the small village perched atop the rugged terrain to the villagers rowing out to the ships in row boats to greet the traders in the ships.









Until next time...


Saturday, 8 April 2017

Iceland 1987 - Rasmus Rask

The ability to understand more than one language is impressive enough, but to understand twenty-five is just amazing! The name of this remarkable person is Rasmus Rask (Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch). Rask, born 22 November 1787, was a Danish linguist and Philologist (the study of language in written sources). Rask was passionate about languages, especially Icelandic, which he worked very hard to preserve. In fact, he travelled extensively in order to study languages up close and personal. He visited Russia, Persia, Iceland, India, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). One can only imagine the adventures this man had, and the stories he had to tell.

By the time he died at the age of 44, he had acquired the grammar and dialects of some twenty-five languages. It is uncertain to me exactly how many of these languages he was fluent in, but he did study intensely the following:  Sami, Swedish, Faroese, English, Dutch, Gothic, Old English and Portuguese. He had also started studies of German, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Latin, Russian, Polish and Czech, although Icelandic continued to be his main interest. Wow! Very impressive.

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On 10 June 1987 Iceland issued a stamp to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Rasmus Rask. Czeslaw Slania designed and engraved the stamp.


This is a beautifully simple portrait that captures the youthful exuberance and determination of a highly intelligent man. One can see the passion in this man's eyes and a vulnerability that belies his innate sense of adventure.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!