A resumption… maps, books and a love letter!

Some recent snail mail…

827 - What better place to resume posting than with a handwritten Love Letter from about 1900 from my Austrian friend Renate?

912 - This is a Ukrainian post-box, courtesy of Julia (postcrossing UA-747921).

 It had this beautoful stamps on it.

927 – A card sent by Dai Li from China shows Joseph Roulin, a French postman, by Van Gogh.   

The Roulin Family is group of portrait paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles in 1888 and 1889 on Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children: Armand, Camille and Marcelle. This series is unique in many ways. Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial and other reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for paintings, in fact for several sittings each was a bounty.  Joseph Roulin became a particularly good, loyal and supporting friend to Van Gogh during his stay in Arles.

Here are some more US state maps I have received recently –

566 - Arizona from my friend Carol in Washington.

581 – New Mexico, also from Carol - this is one of my favourite State maps.

 718 – New Mexico from Sarilyn who lives in Texas but has a holiday home in New Mexico. (Postcrossing US-2304232)

661 - Oregon from my friend Arianne who also loves in Washington - another good example of the State map that shows what goes in the different parts of the State.

830 – Oregon from JarieLyn, a friend from Las Vegas

889 – My lovely Belarusian friend Mish had a holiday in Turkey -

887 - And Mish can have a walk here in this park in Minsk during her breaks at work - 

And I have acquired two new friends who have sent me lots of cards – Damien in France and Dai Li in China.  I shall feature some of their contributions soon.

Meanwhile here are some books -

736 - from Viktoria in Voronezh in Russia  (postcrossing RU-1816704)

748 - from Heleen in The Netherlands - a picture of Emile Zola by Edouard Manet -

 

772 - from my friend Danielle in Nebraska who is one of my most regular postcard swappers and who always seems to find exactly the right card for me.    This is 'Girl reading in a sunlit room' by Carl Holsoe (1863-1935).

809 - From Anastasia in Belarus came this postcard by contemporary artist Pino. 

Pino Daeni (November 8, 1939 – May 25, 2010) was an Italian Impressionist book illustrator and artist. He is known for his style of feminine, romantic women and strong men painted with loose but accurate brushwork. Considered one of the highest paid book illustrators of his time, he created over 3,000 book covers, movie posters and magazine illustrations.

These were the wonderful stamps Anastasia found for me.

860 - Another "reading" card from Daniell.  She and I have noted that there are very few pictures of men reading compared to those of women.  And those of men tend to be newspapers rather than books.

 

934 - from Jean-Michel (postcrossing FR - 318375) came this one 

I loved all the stickers and stamps he used on the back ...

935 - Jonnukka from Finland (postcrossing FI-1872109) sees me drinking a coffee and reading a book.  Fairly accurate.  That's what I'm off to do now before bed.....

See you soon...

480 – 482 - Maps of Bulgaria

Cards no 480 – 482 - Irina 

 Maps of Bulgaria 

Country Card Sent From: Bulgaria 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Sofia 

Date Received: 6th April 2013 

Distance Travelled: 1,415 miles 

 Time Taken: 5 days 

You can click on this to enlarge it. 

Irina in Bulgaria sent me these three wonderful map cards of her country. The first one, above, is in the shape of the country. I had another one that was shaped like the country, back in January, thanks to Martine.

  This second map is of the administrative areas of Bulgaria.

 And this third one is of the Museum Cities. (Again it can be clicked on to enlarge it.)

These were the stamps used.

 Republic of Bulgaria's tourist logo issued 04.01.2013 -

They included this lovely 2010 Europa one.

 It comes from a set of Children's Books stamps -

477 – Louisiana

Cards no 477 - Arianne 

Louisiana 

Country Card Sent From: USA 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Whidbey Island, Washington 

Date Received: 4th April 2013 

Distance Travelled: 4,589 miles 

Time Taken: ? days 

 

This is the fourteenth State for which I've now got a State Map - hooray.

 Click to enlarge

474/5/6 – Whidbey Island and Washington State

Cards no 474/5/6 - Arianne 

Washington State 

Country Card Sent From: USA 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Whidbey Island, Washington 

Date Received: 4th April 2013 

Distance Travelled: 4,589 miles 

Time Taken: ? days 

 Click to enlarge

Whidbey Island (historical spelling Whidby) is the largest of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington. The island forms the northern boundary of Puget Sound. It is home to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island is also home to 58,211 residents (according to the 2000 census), also known as Whidbey Islanders. An estimated 29,000 of Whidbey Islanders live in rural locations.

Whidbey Island is the 40th largest island in the United States. It is ranked as the fourth longest and fourth largest island in the contiguous United States, behind Padre Island, Texas (the world's longest barrier island); Long Island (a fact disputed by residents); and Isle Royale, Michigan. In the state of Washington, it is the largest island, followed by Orcas Island.

 Whidbey Island was once inhabited by members of the Lower Skagit, Swinomish, Suquamish, Snohomish and other Native American tribes. The first known European sighting of Whidbey Island was during the 1790 Spanish expedition of Manuel Quimper and Gonzalo López de Haro on the Princesa Real. The island was fully explored in 1792 by Captain George Vancou-ver. In May of that year, Royal Navy officers and members of Vancouver's expedition, Joseph Whidbey and Peter Puget, began to map and explore the areas of what would later be named Puget Sound. After Whidbey circumnavigated the island in June 1792, Vancouver named the island in his honour.

These three cards  (and the next one) came with a letter in this wonderful home-made envelope from Arianne.

And the stamps were interesting too:-

Carl Christian Schurz (1829 – 1906) was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army General in the American Civil War, U. S. Sena-tor, and Secretary of the Interior. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.

The Smithsonian Institution was established with funds from James Smithson (1765-1829), a British scientist who left his estate to the United States to found “at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Smithson, the illegitimate child of a wealthy Englishman, had traveled much during his life, but had never once set foot on American soil. Smithson never wrote about or discussed his bequest with friends or colleagues, so we are left to speculate on the ideals and motivations of a gift that has had such significant impact on the arts, humanities, and sciences in the United States. It was some time after his death that the Institution was fgounded - by Act of Congress in 1846. This stamp, issued in 1996, celebrated the 150th anniversary. The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, with 19 museums, 9 research centers and more than 140 affiliate museums around the world.

Alta California (English: Upper California) was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and con-sisted of the modern American states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado and south western Wyoming. The territory passed to American control after the Mexican–American War and ceased to exist with the creation of the State of California in 1850.

Bella Coola is a community of approximately 600 at the western extremity of the Bella Coola Valley. The Nuxalk people were present in the Bella Coola valley prior to any formal written history of the area. This is confirmed both by oral history that continues unbroken to present day, and by written history of some of the first European explorers of the area.

Gilbert Rohde (1894–1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to de-fine American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller Inc.