Marian philately is but a part of religious philately (see, for example, COROS*), and both of these are part of philately in general.  The literal meaning of philately conveys the fact "that a stamped letter frees the recipient from paying the mailing charges."  More specifically, philately deals with the collecting and studying of postage and imprinted stamps.

The first stamps appeared in 1840 in Great Britain.  Up until then it was the custom for the recipient to pay mailing charges according to distance.  Intent on simplifying the process, Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879) suggested to unify taxes (1 penny for all distances) and have them paid by the sender.  To make this happen, stamped envelopes were used; but soon a more practical and mobile solution was found: the detachable and adhesive stamp easy to stick or glue on the envelope.  The first stamp of this kind was English; it was black, featured the effigy of Queen Victoria, and was issued on May 1, 1840.  The country was not mentioned.  Even today, only English stamps can be identified thanks to the effigy of the reigning monarch.  Stamps spread rapidly to other countries.  Beginning in 1843, stamps were used in the Swiss Cantons of Zurich (March 1, 1843) and Geneva (September 30, 1843).  In the same year, stamps were adopted by the government of Brazil, two years later (1845) by the government of Basel (Switzerland).  The United States followed suit in 1847. 

Various Christian motifs on stamps appeared during the early decades of the twentieth century.  Note that the first stamp commemorating Christmas was issued on December 7, 1898.  This is a Canadian stamp showing the map of the British Empire and bearing the words Xmas 1898.  (See below)

The first stamp depicting the Virgin Mary is dated February 14, 1920. It was issued in Bavaria and represents the famous Marian column standing on Munich's Marienplatz. It commemorates Maximilian' s I victory over the Turks in 1620 near  Prague, and especially Mary's patronage of the then Kingdom of Bavaria. (See below)

Scott #247   Y&T #41

The same year, on October 5, 1920, Liechtenstein issued a stamp depicting Mary, patroness of the principality.  The first stamp to visualize a Nativity set was issued in Estonia on June 10, 1936.  

The Marian stamps published on Mary Page are part of the Marian Library's stamp collection. This collection covers in comprehensive fashion the period going from the beginnings in 1920 through 1991. It is the work of Bro. Eugene Claret, a Swiss Marianist, who organized the collection and completed it thanks to the gift of a great number of stamps from his own collection. His work is being updated by another Marianist, Bro. Raymond Boutin, from Canada. It is thanks to his efforts and those of Ms. Kris Sommers that the Marian Library's stamp collection is made available to the readers of the Mary Page.

*COROS, Collectors of Religion on Stamps. The COROS Chronicle, bimonthly Journal of the Collectors of Religion on Stamps.

For the French version of this introduction, see: Les timbres marials.

 

EUROPE
ANDORRA	AUSTRIA	BELGIUM	BULGARIA	CROATIA
CYPRUS	ESTONIA	FAROE ISLANDS	FINLAND	GERMANY
		ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON
NORTH AMERICA
	CANADA	MEXICO	UNITED STATES
LATIN AMERICA
ARGENTINA	BELIZE	BOLIVIA	BRAZIL	CHILE
COLOMBIA	COSTA RICA	CUBA	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	ECUADOR
EL SALVADOR	GUATEMALA	GUYANA	HAITI	HONDURAS
NICARAGUA	PANAMA	PARAGUAY	PERU	SURINAME
	URUGUAY		VENEZUELA