Greece
George I Essay
Stamp "essays" depicting George I of Greece
Bob Lamb writes that the Greek government began investigating the use of postage stamps in 1855, first approaching Perkins, Baker and Co. whose price was too high. They then approached Albert Barre who proposed a design featuring Hermes, the messenger of the gods. It was this design that was adopted. Lamb suggests that this decision may have been tied to the unpopularity of the Bavarian born King Otto who was overthrown in 1862. The following year a seventeen year old Danish prince was elected by the Greek National Assembly to take the throne as King George I. The stamp essays pictured above identified by Maury in 1871 appear to depict the new king and can thus be attributed to the period between 1863 and 1871.
King George I of Greece, 1863
Photographer: Southwell Bros studio
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:King_George_I_of_Greece_Southwell_Bros.jpg
Bibliography
"Greece." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2008.
Chapier, Georges. Les Timbres de Fantasie Avec Supplement. Lucerne: Emile Bertrand, n. date.
"George I of Greece." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2 Nov. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation.
Web. 24 Nov. 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Greece.
Lamb, Bob. "Greece: The Hellenic Republic." The American Philatelist. Nov. 2013: 1080.
Rossiter, Stuart and John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986.
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© Grose Educational Media, 2013
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