Disputation of the Holy Sacrament in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City (reversed from the original). Below the portrait is text as follows: "Dante / VII CENTENARIO / DELLA NASCITA" (Dante, 7th centenary of [his] birth). The cachet is printed on a small sheet of anodized aluminum which is affixed to the envelope. Clyde J. Sarzin developed this type of metal cachet and issued first day covers through Sarzin Metallics.]]> Each envelope is signed by the artist along the bottom edge.]]>
Dante was born in Florence, Italy. His parents died when he was young and Brunetti Latine, a statesman, supervised his education. Many scholars think that he studied philosophy at Bologna and Padua, and theology at Paris. Since the 1800s Dante has been regarded as one of the world's greatest poets. Chaucer & Milton imitated him, Longfellow, Shelley & Hugo praised his perfect style, and his sincere poetic character. Two outstanding works are his New Life and the Divine Comedy. Dante held high political office in Florence, but a hostile political faction exiled him in 1302.]]>
Dante Alighieri, Italian poet, born in Florence, May 21, 1265. The world regards him as one of the greatest poets of all time. His most famous work was The Divine Comedy, relating his dream journey into the world of souls, through hell, purgatory, and heaven.]]> This first day cover was designed by C. Stephen Anderson. The cachet features a woodcut-style portrait of Dante above a brief biography of the poet. The text of the biography is as follows:

Born in Florence, Italy, in 1265, Dante Aligheri was perhaps the outstanding poet of the middle ages. He is often called the father of Italian literature. His best-known works are "New Life" and the "Divine Comedy". A lesser known but important work, "On Monarchy," advocated the separation of church and state. The last nineteen years of his life were spent wandering in exile. He died in Ravenna, Italy, in 1321.

Here Dante's surname is spelled "Aligheri," an accepted alternative for "Alighieri." The cachet is known in a black, green, and red versions.]]> This first day cover was issued by the philatelic group Círculo Filatélico de Liniers and postmarked in Rosario, Santa Fe, on September 16, 1965. The cachet features Gustave Doré's portrait of Dante. Below the portrait is a detail from Doré's illustration for Purgatorio 2:43-44 depicting Dante and Virgil watching as a "heavenly pilot" guides his boat toward them as they stand on the shore. A banner proclaims "SEPTIMO CENTENARIO" in reference to the 700th anniversary of Dante's birth.]]>
Chickering's cachet features a reversed detail from Eugène Delacroix's first major painting, Dante et Virgile aux enfers (known in English as The Barque of Dante or Dante and Virgil in Hell). Above this detail is a depiction of the storm of lustful sinners from Inferno 5. Text from the top of the cachet down reads: "Dante Alighieri / Poet · Philosopher / of the Middle / Ages"; "Dante and / Virgil in / Hell"; "Born in / Florence 1265"; and "First Day of Issue" beside which are the names Jackson and Chickering. This cachet also is found on the Overseas Mailer first day cover.]]> First Day Cover - United States - 1965 - Overseas Mailer]]> First Days: Journal of the American First Day Cover Society 55, no. 5 (July 15, 2010): 10–20.]]> Universal Philatelic Cover Society cachet.]]>