British Isles Bibliophilately

For philatelists, London is the place to be in 2010. The London 2010 Festival of Stamps is well underway, and a major stamp show began there on May 8th. As noted in my post on April 26, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, went on sale in London 170 years ago this month. I have put together a web page featuring postage stamps related to libraries of the British Isles as a salute to this important philatelic anniversary. The postage stamp above was issued in 1966 by Ajman. It features Winston Churchill in front of the British Museum at a time when the museum included what is now the British Library. The Museum still contains one of the most elaborate library reading rooms in the world. The British Library which is home to one of the world's most extensive collections of postage stamps is an active participant in the London 2010 Festival of Stamps and has scheduled a number of activities for this occasion.