Jane Austen Stamps Celebrating Pride and Prejudice Have Arrived!

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Jane Austen Stamps Celebrating Pride and Prejudice Have Arrived!

March 20, 2013 by Vic

Inquiring Readers, my friend and frequent contributor, Tony Grant, sent me a gift that went straight to my heart – the Royal Mail’s new Jane Austen stamps. These were printed to mark the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. The packaging, as you can see from my scans, is divine, with Jane’s name printed in a font based on her handwriting.

For a lucky few, letters that were posted during a designated week in Chawton in Hampshire, where she lived during the last 8 years of her life, and in Steventon near Basingstoke, where she spent her first 20 or so years, will bear a special postmark. To read the information on the packaging, click on the images.

In the scan below the Pride and Prejudice stamp is blown up and sits in the center. Again, click on the image to read the text.

Elizabeth views Darcy’s portrait as she wanders through Pemberley, guided by the housekeeper and escorted by her aunt and uncle. The scans overlap a bit. In the one below you can see the six stamps affixed at the bottom.

The special postmark for the set features the Pride And Prejudice quote: “Do anything rather than marry without affection.” Royal Mail’s Andrew Hammond said: “It is an honour for Royal Mail to commemorate [Jane Austen's] work.”

Illustrator Angela Barrett was commissioned to illustrate the six stamps that make up the st. One can only wish that somewhere up in heaven she and her family are aware of how very far her fame has spread. If you will note, the Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice stamps make up the first class stamps.

In 2007, a BBC poll for World Book Day voted Pride and Prejudice as the book most respondents could not live without. – BBC News

Published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice was Austen’s second novel and she described it as her “own darling child”. – The Guardian

Below are the enlarged stamps of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

Information and images from Express, Gazette, Radio Times, and BBC News.

Thank you, Tony, from the bottom of my heart. These Jane Austen stamps are the perfect gift for a Janeite.

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Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen Novels, Jane Austen's World, Popular culture, Pride and Prejudice | Tagged celebrating pride and prejudice, Jane Austen stamps, Royal Mail | 18 Comments

18 Responses

on March 20, 2013 at 09:58 Sandi

I’m swooning. :)
on March 20, 2013 at 11:24 Raquel Sallaberry Brião

Perfect gift, indeed, Vic!
(my stamps has arrived too, but I’m far from home… sigh)
on March 20, 2013 at 12:09 Elizabeth

I got mine when they came out. Lovely. work & the packaging is very nice.
Enjoy!
on March 20, 2013 at 12:23 Mardell

I wish we had them in the states! They are lovely.
on March 20, 2013 at 13:19 ellaquinnauthor

I’m so jealous. I tweeted.
on March 20, 2013 at 14:53 aurora

It looks absolutely divine. You are really lucky!
on March 20, 2013 at 15:16 generalgtony

Vic, i am glad you like the stamps. You have a made a lovely post about them..

Over here we tend to use the stamps to stick on letters and parcels so we can send things to people!!!

All the best,
Tony
on March 20, 2013 at 15:42 Joan Bryan's

You can buy them on line, google Royal Mail Shop and follow the links
on March 20, 2013 at 17:55 Laura

these are beautiful, might need to get them for myself! x
on March 20, 2013 at 21:30 Serendipity Handmade & Vintage

Jealous! What a lovely set of stamps.
on March 21, 2013 at 00:45 kfield2

Thanks for sharing! Tony, how kind of you to send them to Vic. I’m vicariously living out her joy by reading this post.
on March 21, 2013 at 07:56 Ilseta

Absolutely gorgeous!!!! I made yesterday the purchase on the Royal Mail online shop and I can’t hardly wait for them!!!!!! (thank you for posting!)
on March 22, 2013 at 06:20 Jessica

Lovely, what a beautiful tribute from her countrymen and women. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of these!
on March 23, 2013 at 08:28 Angelica

They’re just lovely!!! A friend of mine sent me a sheet each of the the six stamps plus the set of 6. I was dancing with joy when they arrived! Now to frame them…
on March 26, 2013 at 09:35 Woolf and Austen, together again… | Blogging Woolf

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on March 29, 2013 at 03:22 lmhess

From all of us – Thanks, Tony! I used to collect stamps in my youth and still fall in love with really beautiful commemoratives. These are just lovely!
on March 29, 2013 at 23:21 Diana

I think Jane herself would approve! They are exquisite!
on May 8, 2013 at 01:45 Romantic Remakes: You’ve Got Mail | THE PRINCE IN THE TOWER: A Modern Gothic Romance

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