Birth Bicentenary of Charles Darwin .....

Date of Issue - 12 February 2009

Hi ! This year marks both the bicentenary of the birth greatest naturalist in history and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Royal Mail is celebrating these events with a set of six Stamps and a special Miniature Sheet which are being released on February 12, 2009 .The stamps show the areas of study that helped to contribute to his ideas: zoology, ornithology, geology, botany and anthropology. Here are the beautiful stamps and the Miniature sheet. These magnificent issues reminding me of my school and college days when I studied Darwin's Theory in detail. Now its on beautiful stamps. It's really a giving a feeling of close association of philately with our everyday life..! Its a beautiful issue and will be liked by all collectors aw well as the biologists. This is all for today !.....Till Next Post ....Have a Nice Time !..

Charles Darwin

Born at the Mount, Shrewsbury on 12 February 1809, Darwin studied at both Edinburgh and Christ's College, Cambridge before in 1831, aged just 22, he embarked on a five year journey to south America, and beyond, aboard the HMS Beagle. He died on 19 April 1882 at Down House, Downe, Kent. It was always hoped that Charles Robert Darwin would join his mother, father and grandfather in becoming a doctor, little suspecting that he was destined to challenge the scientific understanding of how life on Earth adapted and evolved. More than two decades after his return he eventually published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Darwin wanted to unravel 'the mystery of mysteries - the first appearance of new beings on Earth', and his book immediately challenged the established beliefs concerning evolution that were commonly held at the time, triggering a scientific revolution that still causes debate today.

Stamp designs:

1st class - Charles Darwin;

48p - Zoology (Marine Iguana);

50p - Ornithology (Galapagos Finches);

56p Geology (Pacific Atoll);

72p - Botany (Bee Orchid);

81p Anthropology (Orang-utan)

The details of stamps
Of the six stamps the 1st class shows a portrait of the man himself while the others show Darwin's areas of study that helped to contribute to his ideas on evolution: Zoology, Ornithology, Geology, Botany and Anthropology through a mixture of present day photography and relevant archive material from Darwin's time.

Zoology (48p) is represented by a photograph of a Marine Iguana, just like the uniquely adapted reptiles observed on the Beagle Voyage; ornithology (50p)> by the Galapagos Finches that demonstrated variation through the shapes of their bills; geology (56p) by a Pacific atoll; botany (72p) by an illustration of a bee orchid; and anthropology (81p) by an orang-utan like the one Darwin studied in London Zoo.

Darwin Miniature Sheet
The miniature sheet comprises of four stamps showing the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands that had such a profound effect upon Darwin's thinking. The creatures are set against the background of the Admiralty hydrographic map made from observations taken on the Beagle voyage.

Stamps on Miiature sheet

1st class - Flightless Cormorant

1st class - Giant Tortoise and Cactus Finch

81p - Marine Iguana

81p - Floreana Mockingbird
The animals are shown against the background of the map produced on the Beagle mission.

Darwin Stamp Cards
A total of eleven stamp cards will be available: ten showing enlarged versions of the six Darwin stamps and four Miniature Sheet stamps, and one featuring an image of the complete Miniature Sheet.

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