Moltes Gràcies, Eva. I cannot but appreciate the effort you went through to complete the postage on this cover with stamps from different issues, while keeping the lot subordinated to the same theme that also transpires from the two lovely postcards inside the envelope: Valencia.
A letter can be much more than a folded piece of paper inside an envelope. In its apparent simplicity a letter (and I mean the physical object, not the written message therein contained) can be an exercise of creativity or a statement of purpose that transcends its formal classic usage as vector for information transmission, for communication. This, as we all know, is most often reserved for the words written in the neatly folded sheets of paper - or the back of the postcards, as in this case - that surge to life once the envelope, that unsuspecting Pandora’s box, is desecrated by the recipient.
In these days of global electron mail, those that insist in writing letters and postcards using such "unconventional" tools as a ballpoint or, worse yet, a fountain pen, have, even if unconsciously, become part of an evolutionary drift that is producing a sort of a differentiated sub-species: the Homo sapiens epistolator, a being that views written communication not merely as an operative functional necessity but as something akin to a craft.
Mail art is, of course, one flashing example that readily comes to mind; traditional letter writing fans another, but I think philatelists, in general, are also a part of this restricted universe, so much so, that they will go to the extreme of mailing envelopes empty but for a sheet of card inside to guarantee the envelop will not fold into itself, just for the sake of getting a particular cancel or cachet on them, thus creating a unique piece that the recipient will hopefully treasure.
There is therefore a metalanguage in a Homo sapiens epistolator letter that might not be apparent to the whole species taxon, and knowingly using it, on one hand, and deciphering it, on the other, is of course a source of pleasure for the cognoscienti.
Stamps can lend themselves also to this particular metalanguage, for most of the times, they are quite semantically rich.
Take Eva's cover, for instance. Who would notice, but those that have the habit of scrutinising each received letter as the latest product of a specialised manufacture, that there is a hidden message on the face of this envelope, one that needs no passing the paper through an open flame to reveal itself...
The unaware recipient would probably notice what looks to be four stamps, one in warm colours and the other three in a contrasting cold palette; he or she might also notice that one stamp is not really a stamp, because it has no tariff indication and that sending a letter from Spain to Portugal is no longer a cheap indulgence since adding the cost of an "A" stamp - 0.96 € - to the 1,29 € of the other two, generates a total of 2.25€....
But a few would look further afield and notice that there is a leit motiv in all the stamps that is carried into the contents of the envelope, and it is here that the taxon differentiation takes effect: "Ah, Ah, a Valencia themed cover, how nice and thoughtful", the Homo Sapiens epistolator would utter in sincere pleasure, appreciating all the effort that his/her correspondent went through to construct this exercise of thematic unity.
Receiving this particular letter, greatly enriched the exchange of correspondence Eva and I had on the subject of Valencia, a city I recently had the pleasure of speed dating, taking it to a significance level that vastly transcends the nonetheless very relevant written message it contained...
So, if you think that one cannot have augmented reality in a snail mail exchange, try to buy some interesting stamps next time, and do take the time to exercise your orthographic skills in paper and ink one of these days... a whole new universe will (re)open itself to you...
Stamps:
- The World Exhibition of Philately, ESPAÑA 2004 took place in Valencia in May 2004. On the occasion, Correos de España issued a two stamp (0,52€; 0,77 €) + vignette se-tenant set illustrated with images that evoke the city and its relationship with the sea.
The 0,52€ stamp bears an image of the Bravo España, a sailing yacht of the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, famous for its participations in the America's Cup, which first took to the sea in Valencia, in 1999.
The 0,77 € stamp is illustrated with some of the city's landmarks, notably the buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences, the Torres de Serranos and the Cathedral.
- The Fallas de Valencia, which take place every year between 15 and 19 March, are the city's most famous festival, during which wooden sculptures (Fallas) are erected in the city's neighbourhoods, and later burnt down.
The festival was awarded Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Humanity status by UNESCO in 2016.
On 01MAR 2022, Correos de España issued the self-adhesive Tariff A used on the cover, illustrated with a photo of a Falla on fire.
As writing paper, Eva used beautiful postcards showing two of the many baroque wonders of Valencia: the decorations and frescoes of the Church of San Nicolás de Bari and San Pedro Mártir
and the incredible Alabaster decoration of the entrance to the palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas, (which I cannot pardon myself for not having seen, having been not more than a hundred meters or so from it...) which now houses the Ceramics Museum.
