Evening star., 1955-02-13
PhHoteIic News
PhiIotelic News
Architectural Stamps
Historic and Beautiful.
By james WoIdo Fowcett

Topical collectors more and
more are specializing in stamps
relating to architecture. This
is q natural consequence OF
the exceptional beauty Of
many such adhesives.
Good architectural design is
"frozen music" and the mo-
blest peoples have brought
their spiritual, intellectual
and physical talents to the
creation of buildings which
survive the ages as monuments
not to a few great rulers but
much more definitely to the
the multitudes Of
workers, who actually pile
them up against the sky.
A case in point is the spa
orange stamp, of Egypt 1867,
bearing upon its face the
outlines of the Sphinx and a
pyramid. This composition
commemorated the pharaohs
who inspired the construction
of all the magnificent fruits
of ancient civilization in the
fertile valley Of the Nile, yet
it likewise testified to the skill
and the power Of cooperation
of thousands of ordinary men
and women who really per-
formed the labor involved.
Historians formerly referred to
these people as slaves, but
that theory no longer is ac-
cepted by scholars.
No pharaoh competent to
put together the Pyramid Of
Cheops could have been merely
q selfish and ruthless tyrant.
He must have possessed quail
tiles which entitled HIM to
the respect and even the affec-
tion of the Egyptian nation on
its human level. The invest
ment which he made in his
vast tomb was, in effect. an
endowment of all his artisan
neighbors. They required shell
ter, clothing. food, medical
attention and numerous other
services while they were en-
gagged in the projects he
sponsored, his pyramid in
cluded; and he provided those
necessities and thus contrib
uted to the general welfare
of the entire community over
which he presided.
Thousands of years later the
monuments pictured on Egypt's
No. 8 stamp still are paying
dividends in terms Of money
into the Nile Valley by
tourists from all quarters Of
the earth.
The Gothic Pinnocle
The same principle is DEM
onstrated in the French semi
postal 10fr plus 6fr dark gray
green stamp of 1947 represent
ing the Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Paris. Considered by
topical philatelists as an ex-
ceptionally fine example Of
postal art, this label reflects
the power and the glory Of one
of the most important folk
movements in the history Of
the science Of construction
namely, the Gothic movement,
started largely if not exclu-
sively by Abbot Suger t1081-
115D of st. Denis, statesman,
historian, friend and adviser
30 Louis vi and Louis VII.
The island in the Seine
River was a natural site for a
beautiful church, and there in
1853 was begun the raising of
the high Gothic choir and
nave and towers which still
draw congregations of thou
sands to services and cere-
Of praise and prayer.
Not mitred ecclesiastics alone
were responsible for this mir
acle of religious design: not
kings or emperors only paid
for it. Rather, Notre Dame
symbolizes the faith and the
fervor of ordinarys people,
generation after generation.
through more than eight CEN
turies Every artisan-specifi-
cally every architect-who la
bored on its elevation and
adornment gave of himself to-
ward its completion and re-
ceived something important