COVER N. 513 - CZECH REPUBLIC

Postmark: 10 00 Praha 18.09.2024

Posted on the 18th September; Received on the 23rd September 2024

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A very neat Cover from the Czech Republic with a beautiful postmark. Děkuji mnohokrát, Ivan.

Prague's Botanical garden formally came into being on the 1st January 1969, in the  Troja - Podhoří area. Today it occupies some 50 hectares being open all year to the public to visit its exhibition grounds which include varied nuclei devoted to flora not only of the Czech Republic but also of the whole world.

On 10APR2024  Česká pošta issued a three stamp souvenir sheet illustrated with fern species from Prague's Botanical garden. The 31 Koruna stamp on the cover bears the image of a Dipteris Conjugata,  of the Dipteridaceae family, native from tropical and temperate Asia, northern Queensland in Australia and some islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Karel Svolinský (1896–1986) was a painter, graphic artist, illustrator, set designer and university teacher who was also responsible for designing and engraving several stamps issued by the then Czechoslovakia.

On the 120th anniversary of his birth and the 30th of his passing, Česká pošta issued the 13 Koruna stamp on the cover, graced with his effigy and a reproduction of one of his beautiful illustrations.

The postmark carries a coat of arms which at first I believed to be that of Prague, but on close inspection I could not match it to the image I found on the internet...can anyone help?