Wednesday 26 September 2018

Missing Answer

Princess Wilhelmina engraving stationery card 5 cent blue
Princess Wilhelmina "hanging hair", portrait engraved by H. Raeder after a photo of H.R.F. Kameke. 

I've seen hundreds if not thousands of Princess Wilhelmina stationery cards and I only acquire these cards when they are of interest for my special collections. This particular card though is different, but I am still in doubt why... It probably has something to do with the enigmatic message on the reverse and the addressee.

Princess Wilhelmina / Wilhelmina hangend haar
Princess Wilhelmina Stationery 5c (G30)

The card was sent from Utrecht on the 21st of September between 8-9 a.m. and arrived in Antwerp the same day between 6-8 p.m. Apart from the marvelous engraving of princess Wilhelmina, the Dutch coat of arms adorns the card.   

Dutch coat of arms
Dutch coat of Arms and Utrecht departure postmark (Small Round)

The message on the reverse is very simple: "Amice, Please preserve this for me. H g." A very intriguing text but alas the answer part of the card has been lost, so we might never know why the sender wished to keep this card...


Achterkant
The message in Dutch: "Amice, Bewaar deze s.t.p. voor mij. H g."

The card was addressed to Albertus Antonie Nijland (1868-1936), a Dutch astronomer who was known for his sightings of so-called variable stars. A crater on the moon has been named the Nijland Crater in honour of him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijland_(crater) 

Albertus Antonie Nijland
A.A. Nijland







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