A Grand Illustrated Dictionary of Stamp Appreciation for World Cultural. Musicians

Author: Shi Yiping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Stamp collecting is a cultural, appreciative, and entertaining activity with broad popular appeal. I am not a professional stamp collector, although I have reached the age of 80 and still bear a heavy burden of editorial responsibilities, with numerous social engagements, I still enjoy stamp collecting. Stamp collecting has indeed brought me much joy in my leisure time, and through interactions with other stamp enthusiasts, I have continuously acquired new knowledge and methods in stamp collecting, further enhancing my interest and proficiency. Recently, Mr. Xue Dade, a veteran stamp collector from Shanghai, wrote to me, saying that he had collaborated with four other stamp collectors to compile a comprehensive illustrated dictionary of stamps on world cultural celebrities, and asked me to write a preface. Having long been engaged in cultural work and concerned with the development of stamp culture, I felt unable to refuse and thus took the liberty of writing a few words here. This set of stamp appreciation dictionaries is grand in scale, rich in content, and comprehensive in categories. Collecting so many stamps, first-day covers, and used postage stamps, as well as introducing related knowledge, requires extensive research, a significant investment of time and effort, and considerable financial resources—truly no easy feat. It is a book that excels both in content and form, serving as both a popular and professional resource; it is both a stamp collecting guide and an excellent tool for art, culture, and history education, making it worthy of recommendation to a broad readership, to all stamp enthusiasts, and especially to young friends.
Of course, this set of dictionaries primarily helps readers gain a certain understanding of world cultural celebrities through stamps. Its role is akin to a signpost, guiding readers closer to these figures. To truly delve into their life stories and artistic achievements, however, one must directly read their works and authoritative biographies and research studies to truly enter their inner world, understand their significant role in the history of human civilization, and appreciate their outstandingness and greatness. If this set of dictionaries can inspire readers to undertake such exploration, then its achievement would be immense!
This set consists of five volumes. The Artists includes over 600 world-renowned painters, sculptors, craftsmen, and architects; The Musicians features over 500 composers, instrumentalists, and singers; The Writers collects over 700 novelists, essayists, poets, and literary critics; The Dramatists and Filmmakers includes nearly 500 playwrights and performing artists; and The Nobel Prize Winners gathers over 500 laureates from the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics, totaling approximately 3,000 portraits or works of cultural celebrities on stamps, each accompanied by concise and refined descriptions of their life stories and significant contributions. The selected stamps, first-day covers, and used postage stamps are all rare collectibles, with compact and elegant designs, offering exquisite visual artistry. This book blends knowledge and appreciation, serving as an enlightening and enjoyable read.
This dictionary integrates knowledge and artistic appreciation, not only providing concise introductions to the experiences and achievements of cultural celebrities but also, guided by the culture of stamp collecting, showcasing their portraits, works, and other illustrations through a wealth of stamps, precious first-day covers, postage stamps, and, in a multi-layered manner, making it a richly illustrated resource.
The arrangement of celebrities in this dictionary follows the geographical order of continents and countries, with minor adjustments based on their historical contributions to world civilization. Within the same country, cultural celebrities are listed in chronological order. In the fifth volume, the Nobel Prize winners are arranged by the order of their awards due to their unique circumstances. For easy reference to the countries, regions, and issue dates of the stamps, this dictionary uniformly places relevant reference text in the upper corners of the stamps. The names of countries are marked according to the official names at the time of issue.