Ten British stamps featuring famous authors

To mark Robert Louis Stevenson Day on 13 November, we’ve rounded up ten top stamps featuring the life and work of famous writers.

1. Dylan Thomas
Earlier this year, the poet Dylan Thomas was featured as one of Royal Mail’s ‘Remarkable Lives’, a set of stamps featuring the lives of celebrated Britons. The first class stamp devoted to Dylan Thomas featured a black and white portrait of the author along with the words ‘Dylan Thomas 1914-1953, poet and writer’.

2. A A Milne
Children’s author A A Milne was celebrated in a 2010 commemorative issue titled ‘Children’s books: Winnie the Pooh’. Magpie Studio designed the ten stamps which featured scenes from Winnie the Pooh books, including Britain’s contribution to the Europa theme ‘children’s books’.

3. Roald Dahl
‘Animal Tales’ was a set of eight stamps issued in 2006 featuring the work of popular children’s authors. The writers featured included Roald Dahl (whose stamp is shown here), Beatrix Potter, Mick Inkpen and Michael Bond.

4. Charles Wesley
The work of hymn writer Charles Wesley, brother of the founder of Methodism John Wesley, was featured within the 1999 issue 'Christians’ Tale' which was part of Royal Mail’s Millennium Series. The stamp shows a historic reproduction of the lyrics of the hymn, along with a detail from an image of a stained glass angel.

5. Enid Blyton
In 1997 Royal Mail issued a presentation pack of five stamps to mark the centenary of the birth of children’s author Enid Blyton. The stamps, designed by Christian Birmingham, featured The Famous Five (pictured here), Noddy, The Secret Seven, The Magic Faraway Tree and Malory Towers.

6. Robert Louis Stevenson
1993 saw the release of Greetings stamps which included the work of Robert Louis Stevenson with a stamp showing Long John Silver from Treasure Island. The set also featured The Bash Street Kids, the Just William books and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

7. Charlotte Bronte
The 1980 Famous Authoresses four-stamp set, designed by Barbara Brown, included a stamp showing Charlotte Bronte, the author of the novel Jane Eyre.

8. Beatrix Potter
1979 was the Year of the Child and this was marked by Royal Mail with a set of four stamps designed by Edward Hughes and issued under the name ‘Year of the Child’. The set featured Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit (pictured), The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme, Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

9. John Keats
Royal Mail’s Literary Anniversaries issue of 1971 marked the 150th death anniversary of poet John Keats (pictured), the bi-centenary of the death of Thomas Gray and the birth bi-centenary of Sir Walter Scott. The stamps were designed by Rosalind Dease and sold in a presentation pack.

10. Charles Dickens
1970 saw the release of ‘literary anniversaries’, five stamps celebrating the work of Charles Dickens and William Wordsworth. Dicken’s famous novel Oliver Twist’ was featured on this 5d stamp featuring the famous scene in the book when Oliver daringly asks for more food at the workhouse.

Read much more about past and current GB stamps in the November 2014 issue of Stamp & Coin Mart. Order the print edition right here, or download the issue using the links below…