The moment has arrived! Czeslaw Slania's final engraving for Iceland. His final engraving was the last in a series of three stunning Souvenir Sheets depicting fragments of the Carta Marina.
The Carta Marina is the earliest known map of the Nordic countries in existence. This incredible map took twelve years to produce, and drew upon the ancient maps of Ptolemy and the more contemporary works of the Bavarian astronomer, Jacob Ziegler. For more on the map and the other two fragments engraved by Slania, follow these two links. Iceland 1989, Iceland 1990.
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On 23 May 1991 Iceland issued a stunning Souvenir Sheet to raise money for the 1991 Nordia Stamp Exhibition. This Souvenir Sheet was engraved by Czeslaw Slania. It comprises 3 stamps, each with a value of 50kr. But each sheet actually sold for 215kr. This Souvenir Sheet illustrates a fragment of the Carta Marina focusing on Iceland. The rightmost stamp also depicts one of Iceland's glaciers, but more on that later.
As always, the best way to appreciate the details in this Souvenir Sheet is through some close-ups!
This third stamp beautifully depicts Iceland's relationship with glaciers, by illustrating what I presume is the ökulsárlón (literally "glacial river lagoon") is a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park. It is considered as one of the natural wonders of Iceland. Below is a lovely shot of a portion of the glacier.
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| By Molechaser - http://www.flickr.com/photos/molechaser/4285744098/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11775406 |
In fact, a little over ten percent of Iceland's land area is covered by glaciers. The Icelandic word for glacier is jökull. For more on Iceland's glaciers, click HERE.
Until next time...
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