Equatorial Guinea: Famous people

 

Equatorial Guinea issued a set of three stamps in 1996 honoring three diverse famous people. Those depicted are Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), and Giovanni Tiepolo 1696-1770). The year of issue, 1996, was an anniversary year for each of these persons. There seems to be no other connection between these figures and that nation. Scott does not give a more specific issue date other than 1996 for this set (SNC 217a, b, c). There was a higher-denominated souvenir sheet issued as part of the set; I do not have an example of that. The three stamps were issued together: most collectors maintain them as a strip of three attached stamps. Bruckner is shown in front of an organ facade. I believe it is the St Florian Monastery instrument, closely associated with him.

Guinea: German and Austrian Composers

 

 

Guinea issued a mini-sheet and a sheetlet of four stamps commemorating German and Austrian composers in 2017. The sheet of four stamps includes images of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. The mini-sheet shows Anton Bruckner. An organ is in the background of the Bruckner stamp.

European colonizers divvied up the African continent savagely in previous centuries. Portugal, France and Spain all laid claim to areas that included the name "Guinea." The region was a major source for gold which is why it was important to the colonizers. After the various colonies gained independence they took various names: the Spanish region became Equatorial Guinea, the Portuguese region became Guinea-Bissau; French Guinea became simply Guinea. Thus these stamps are from the formerly French region, and include French on the stamps and use francs for the denominations.

Anton Bruckner is closely associated with the St Florian Church in Austria. He has been interred in the church's crypt since his death. The organ pictured on the stamp seems to be that of the St Florian church. Rather than a larger picture of Bruckner in the selvage of the sheet as is often done with this sort of stamp issue, an image of JS Bach is shown.

The organ was built in the 16th century by Franz Xavier Chrismann of Slovenia. It presently has more than 7000 pipes.

Austria: Nico Dostal

Austria issued a set of 2 stamps honoring composers of operettas in 1995. The 6 shilling stamp showed Franz von Suppe and a scene from "The Beautiful Galathea." The cover above shows Nico Dostal and a scene from his operetta, "The Hungarian Wedding." The stamp in this case is not the stamp-related item, but rather the postmark. It is a commemorative postmark dated April 26 1996,  about one hundred years after the death of composer Anton Bruckner. Better known for his non-organ compositions, Bruckner did produce a handful of organ works with which many organists are familiar. The postmark includes an image of the composer along with some representative pipes. While I have not investigated, I suspect there is no (strong) relation between Dostal and Bruckner, nor between Dostal and the pipe organ. Sergio Berti is the name of a stamp dealer in Italy with whom I have dealt some in the past, though this cover itself was a gift from Mark Jameson.