On 22nd July, the Isle of Man Post Office released a set of six stamps to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of the American writer Herman Melville. Created by an artist named Juan Moore from Manx-born, the six stamps depict six crew members of the fictional whaling ship Pequod from Herman Melville’s famous 1851 novel, Moby Dick.

The non-denominated international-rate stamp features a character named Manxman. A true mystic by nature, Manxman is the oldest crewmember who has ‘studied signs’. He gets carried away by the idea of good and bad omens faced by the crew members. The non-denominated first-class stamp depicts Captain Ahab with a harpoon. The EU stamp shows the narrator Ishmael; The non-denominated stamp for big letters depicts the chief mate Starbuck; a £1.52 stamp shows the harpooner Queequeg; a £1.85 stamp features the second mate Stubb with a pipe. Each illustration also shows Captain Ahab's rival, the great white whale Moby Dick. The stamps were created by EJC Design, printed by Cartor SA by offset lithography in different sheets of 15.

Born on 1st August 1819 in New York City, the talented novelist, short story writer, and poet from the American Renaissance period is best remembered for his 1846 romantic novel Typee and its sequel Omoo (1847), before he published his most revered book, Moby-Dick in 1851.

Image Courtesy: The Isle of Man Post Office Visit philamart to view and purchase variety of stamps from all over the world.