CPS Resource Centre
Portugal 2014-02-24
On February 24, 2014 Portuguese Post issued a souvenir sheet and single stamp to mark the 400th anniversary of the publishing of Fernão Mendes Pinto’s Pilgrimage (Peregrinação). Pinto was a a Portuguese explorer and writer and the work is considered an autobiographical account of his travels and voyages throughout India, Asia and the far east. The Pilgrimage was published posthumously in 1614 and many historians have doubted the truthfulness of his many interesting stories. The €3.00 sheet features a single long stamp. A world map “Mapa do Mundo de Antonio Sanches, 1623” is shown in the background and covers about 70% of the sheet. The lower 30% of the sheet is covered by hand writing of what could be journal entries. The stamp is in the upper right hand section of the sheet, covering the continents of Africa and Asia, as depicted in the antique world map. In the bottom left corner is a sailing ship of the period and in the bottom right corner is the cover page of the Pilgrimage. The single €1.00 issue features some of the same motifs from the sheet, however there is no map.
