The BnL receives the commemorative frame of the special stamp ‘225 Joer Nationalbibliothéik’ POST Philately

The National Library has just received the commemorative frame of the special stamp 225 Joer Nationalbibliothéik published by POST Philately. The handover took place on Friday 6 April 2023 in the library’s premises. POST Philately was represented by Isabelle Faber, member of the Executive Committee of POST Luxembourg and Emile Espen, Director of the Philatelic Department of POST Luxembourg.

Mrs. Faber also handed over the commemorative frame of another special stamp about the BnL, which was issued in 2019 on the inauguration of the library’s new building. While the first stamp was intended to present the new building to the public, this year’s stamp focuses more on the collections held at the BnL and its remit.

The special stamp of 2023 depicts an ornate initial “Q” from a late 12^th century manuscript that belonged to the library of the former Cistercian abbey of Orval. This manuscript contains a collection of texts originally written in Greek by Eusebius of Caesarea (3^rd/4^th century) and translated into Latin by St. Jerome (4^th/5^th century) concerning the exact interpretation of certain key words in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

On the extract of this manuscript are superimposed two banners in the colours of the BnL’s graphic charter as well as a cursor recalling computer tools, the web and ICT. The stamp evokes both the heritage resources that are at the heart of the BnL’s conservation and dissemination missions, while alluding to the cutting-edge technologies used to preserve these historical documents and make them accessible to as many people as possible.

The two collection stamps will be kept at the BnL and are part of the Ephemera Collection. The collection consists of printed documents in everyday use. These include, for example, calendars, diplomas, invitations, menu cards, admission tickets, old letterhead invoices, religious souvenirs or advertisements.