For immediate release: 28th October 2010
Guernsey Post is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Scottish author J M Barrie, best known for his creation Peter Pan, with an Alderney stamp issue (release date 4 November 2010).
The stamps depict selected images which appear in the fully illustrated edition of Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean, one of the most highly acclaimed living children's writers. McCaughrean's book is the only official sequel to Barrie's timeless classic Peter Pan and Wendy, which was sanctioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital to which Barrie gifted the rights to Peter Pan in 1929.
In typical Peter Pan style a group of children are swarming above London's skyline (36p stamp). Meanwhile, the villainous pirate Captain Hook is seen falling into the jaws of a waiting crocodile (45p stamp) whilst, twenty years on, Captain Hook's ship (48p stamp) is visited by Peter who can be seen at the top of the mast.
Peter is seen waving a rainbow so that he and the other explorers can be freed (50p); the children are seen at the top of 'Neverpeak' (58p), which is covered in snow; and the vivid yellow and orange hues depict a bonfire which frightens off a blizzard and warms the children (80p).
Completing the issue is a miniature sheet (£3 stamp), which features the cover of Barrie's original Peter Pan novel published in 2007 by Oxford University Press, which was also illustrated by David Wyatt. It was commissioned to complement Peter Pan in Scarlet which had been published the previous year.
Dawn Gallienne, head of philatelic at Guernsey Post commented:- "I am thrilled that we have been able to celebrate the life of J M Barrie who created what many consider to be one of the greatest and most influential fictional characters of all time. The illustrations we have chosen from Peter Pan in Scarlet and for our miniature sheet work beautifully when presented on our stamps."
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Press enquiries to:
Sarah Amies, pr consultant, 01484 687040/07811 133973
Dawn Gallienne, head of philatelic, 01481 733524
Notes to editors:
Set in the 1920s, Peter Pan in Scarlet sees the return of Wendy and the Lost Boys, as Peter Pan needs his friends' help. But everything has changed in Neverland and they encounter pirates, witches and fairies, and dangers beyond their imaginations.
Born on 9 May 1860 in Kirriemuir, Scotland, James Matthew Barrie was the ninth of ten children who, during his early childhood, lived in the shadows of his older brother David. Shortly before his fourteenth birthday David died, leaving Barrie's mother devastated. She consoled herself with the fact that David would be forever young; something from which the young Barrie drew inspiration. The idea of being forever young stayed with Barrie - but it was his relationship with the five sons of his great friend, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, which is said to have been the real inspiration for his most famous play, Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. The world remains captivated by Peter Pan and Barrie's legacy lives on, having gifted the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, which receives royalties from all productions and publications.
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