On 28.06.2000 Palestine issued a stamp booklet as part of its series commemorating the "Bethlehem 2000" celebrations.
The booklet contains seven sheets (ie. 14 pages) of which three contain one stamp each at 2,000 Fils. Total value: 6,000 Fils. Printed and produced by Cartor Security Printers, La Loupe, France, using 22 carat gold applications. The print run is unknown.
No official FDC was issued for this stamp booklet although sets of three FDCs (each with one sheet) cancelled 29.06.2000 do exist.
The booklet was devised by M.J. Gelamur using images of paintings by Fra Angelico (ca. 1395–1455), Giotto (1266–1337), Gentile da Fabriano (ca. 1370–1427),
and a photo-montage by French artist and stamp designer Jean-Paul Véret-Lemarinier (*1944):
- page 3, stamp Zobbel 153: detail from Giotto's Nativity of Jesus (Natività di Gesù, 1303–1305), detail from a fesco in Scrovegni (or Arena) chapel in Padua.
- page 7, stamp Zobbel 154: detail from Giotto's Padua Crucifix (Crocifisso di Padova, ca. 1304), detail from a painted wodden crucifix originally in Scrovegni (or Arena) chapel in Padua, now in the Musei civici degli Eremitani, Padua.
- page 11, stamp Zobbel 155: detail from Fra Angelico's Madonna of the Star (Madonna della stella, ca. 1424), painting in the Museo di San Marco, Florence.
- on page 1: detail from Giotto's Nativity of Jesus.
- on page 2: detail from Fra Angelico's The Annunciation (ca. 1438/55), fresco in San Marco Convent (Museo di San Marco), Florence
- on page 5: Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi (Adorazione dei Magi, 1423), painting in the Galleria delle Uffizi, Florence.
- on page 6: detail from Giotto's Padua Crucifix.
- on page 9: detail from Giotto's The Mourning of Christ (Compianto sul Cristo morto, 1303–1305) (fresco, Scrovegni chapel, Padua)
- on page 10: detail from Fra Angelico's Madonna of the Star.
- on page 13: Giotto's The Last Supper (Ultima cena, ca. 1306) (painting in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich).
- on page 14: photo-montage featuring the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Chrurch of the Holy Sepulchre, design created by Jean-Paul Véret-Lemarinier.
To make the differentiation of the Bethlehem 2000 stamps more easy, I have created a
Guide to the Cartor Christmas and Easter Stamps (1999, 2000, 2001)
where all the stamps are shown and classified.
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The booklet contains seven sheets:
- cover 1 (pages 1/2)
- stamp pane 1 (pages 3/4): 2,000 Fils: Zobbel 153, Zobbel MHBl. 001
- interleaving sheet 1 (pages 5/6)
- stamp pane 2 (pages 7/8): 2,000 Fils: Zobbel 154, Zobbel MHBl. 002
- interleaving sheet 2 (pages 9/10)
- stamp pane 3 (pages 11/12): 2,000 Fils: Zobbel 155, Zobbel MHBl. 003
- cover 2 (pages 13/14)
The sheets are stitched together on the left side with white fathom (26 stiches) covered by thick sticky tape. Part of the cover is cut out to make the stamp on pane 1 visible. The booklet exists in two versions:
- red tape (regular version): Zobbel MH 001
- gold tape (believed to be a trial version by printers Cartor): Zobbel MH 001b
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The size of the booklet is 156x99mm, with exact measurements varying slightly. The "golden" variant is reported by Thomas Schubert to be minimally smaller at 155x96mm, a copy I have however measures 156.4x98.1mm.
External links:
• Fra Angelico: "The Annunciation" (Italian Wikipedia)
• Gentile da Fabriano: "Adoration of the Magi" (Italian Wikipedia)
• Giotto: "Nativity of Jesus" (Italian Wikipedia)
• Fra Angelico: "Madonna of the Stars" (Italian Wikipedia)
• Giotto: "The Mourning of Christ" (Italian Wikipedia)
• Giotto: The Padua Cruxifix (Italian Wikipedia)
• Jean-Paul Véret-Lemarinier (Site de Référence des Créateurs de Timbres, French)
• Museo di San Marco, Florence (Uffizi)
Zobbel | Value | Size | Perfor. | Printed | Notes |
153 | 2,000f | 36x50.5mm | K 13.25 | – | Pane 1: Zobbel MHBl. 001 |
154 | 2,000f | 51x36.2mm | Pane 2: Zobbel MHBl. 002 |
155 | 2,000f | 36x51.4mm | Pane 3: Zobbel MHBl. 003 |
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