Een tijdje terug had ik wat postzegels gekocht van de Royal Mail.
Ik dacht dat ik daarbij ook ‘eerste dag zegels’ of een eerstedagenvelop
had gekocht.
Maar in de zending van vorige week zat die niet.
Vandaag kreeg ik weer een brief. Inmiddels de derde of vierde.
Deze keer zat er een eerstedagenvelop in.

Eerstedagenvelop met de Charles Dickenszegels. Bij de gelegenheid van de viering van zijn 200ste geboortedag.

Zo ziet er dat in detail uit. Mr. Bumble links, Mr. Pickwick rechts en in het middel de stempel van First day of issue Portsmouth 19.06.2012.

Dit is een kaart met toelichtende tekst.

De tekst is:

Charles Dickens
The year 1812 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Regarded as the greatest novelist of his generation, he was also a campaigning journalist and philanthropist who helped to change the world in which he lived.
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812 to John and Elizabeth Dickens. After several happy years in Kent the family relocated to London, but the move to such an expensive city would prove disastrous for Charlesx92 debt ridden parents. In February 1824, 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a blacking factory, pasting labels onto bottles to earn some money, but his father was arrested for debt and sent to prison. Charlesx92 experience of walking alone through the meanest parts of London between his lodgings, his lowly job and the prison for several weeks was later recalled in his fiction and journalism.
After working as a legal clerk and later as a freelance court reporter, Charles began to gain recognition for his writing x96 a series of short stories printed in various magazines would be published as Sketches by Boz in 1836. That same year he married Catharine Hogarth, and together they would have ten children.
The first of his 15 novels was The Pickwick Papers, which was published in monthly instalments between 1836 and 1837. By the time he had finished Oliver Twist and Nicolas Nickleby in 1839 he was a household name. He also wrote travelogues, the first of which was completed after he and his wife journeyed around the USA and Canada in 1842.
In 1858, Charles embarked upon his first public reading tour, travelling all over Britain and overseas performing extracts from his books. The events were a phenomenal success, with his performances adored by the public and critics alike.
Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870 at the age of 58. On Queen Victoriax92s insistence he was buried at Westminster Abbey in Poetsx92 Corner.

Ik kon het niet laten om daar wat digitaal mee te spelen.