First Day Cover - Italy - 1972 - Filagrano

Title

First Day Cover - Italy - 1972 - Filagrano

Type

First Day Cover

Coverage

Italy

Date Issued

1972-11-23

Description

These first day covers were issued by Filagrano. The "Gold" series cachet is printed on a small sheet of rayon that is affixed to the envelope within a printed blue-green frame with "ITALIA" at the top. On the cachet itself is text as follows: "Vo CENTENARIO / DELLE PRIME / TRE EDIZIONI / DELLA / DIVINA / COMMEDIA" (5th centenary of the first three editions of the Divina commedia). The cachet features a portrait of Dante behind a table on which is a lamp and an open book.

The regular cachets are known in at least two versions: orange and red. The cachet features a portrait of Dante between two cliffs and text as follows: vertically along the left: "ITALIA"; at the top: "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate." ("Abandon all hope, you who enter" from Inferno 3:9); and along the bottom: "Vo CENTENARIO / DELLE PRIME TRE EDIZIONI DELLA / DIVINA COMMEDIA" (5th centenary of the first three editions of the Divina commedia).

A quotation from Inferno 3:1–9 and a brief explanation of the Divina commedia's being called "divina" are printed on the backs of the envelopes of all versions.

Extent

95 × 165 mm (regular)
95 × 165 mm (Gold)

Contributor

Filagrano (Forlì, Italy)

Language

Italian