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The Men behind the Stamp


By Birgitte Wistoft

You rarely achieve fame by issuing a stamp, but maybe if you are pictured on one. With a delay of 150 years four Danish men get the chance. They are introduced below.


Post Danmark celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first Danish stamp by issuing four new stamps, each one showing a male individual in three-quarter profile. The four men had a common project: Denmark’s first stamp which is also shown on the new stamps.

The Engraver, value: DKK 4.00
M.W. Ferslew (1801-52)

Martinus William Ferslew drew, engraved, and printed Denmark’s first stamp. He was born in a modest house in North Zealand, the oldest son of clockmaker apprentice Abraham Ferslew from St. Thomas, the Danish West Indies.

At an early age William demonstrated artistic skills, took drawing lessons, and served his apprenticeship with engraver and matematical instrument maker C.Il Hoffmann in Copenhagen. Moreover, he was an evening student at the drawing school of the Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1822 as a trained engraver he got his first job in Aalborg where he also established his own workshop. In 1827 he qualified in lithographic methods and settled in Copenhagen together with his wife. Ferslew now shared his time between the job as manager of Henckel’s Institution of Lithographic Arts and his private engraving business.

He also made two long study tours to Paris. Owing to the expertise he had gained within copperplate printing and note engraving, he got employed in the National Bank. In 1839 he was appointed royal court engraver.

Ferslew’s drawing which became the 4 R.B.S. foot post stamp was finalized in the autumn of 1850. He elaborated the watermark material and took care of the printing himself. Furthermore he elaborated the mother stamp for the 2 R.B.S. foot post stamp which was issued on 1st May 1851.

After Ferslew’s death on 21st April 1852 his company, C. Ferslew & Co., developed under the management of his son into a large and well-reputed printing house and editorial office.

The Postmaster, value: DKK 6.00
F.C. von Jessen (1810-53)

The handsome man portrayed on the above-mentioned stamp is the actual originator of the cheep unit postage rate, postmaster in Copenhagen, Frantz Christopher von Jessen. Frantz was the oldest son of county prefect in Nykoebing Falster, titular Privy Councillor Mathias Reinholdt von Jessen. Having graduated in law at Copenhagen University he began his career in the postal service. Excited with the challenge of improving the old postal service von Jessen published "Handbook of the External Postal Service for Private Citizens and Post Office Employees" in 1839.

In 1842 he got a seat in a commission with the assignment to revise the postage rates, and the year after he was appointed postmaster and head of the Copenhagen parcel post office. In 1848 a reform proposal was ready, but then came the war (the first was of Schleswig 1848-50) so introduction of the reform proposal in von Jessen’s version was postponed until 1850 and adopted by Parliament on 11th March 1851.

To von Jessen personally the successful reform proposal meant another step up the carrier ladder. In 1850 he was appointed head postmaster of Copenhagen – the first of the kind – as well as head of Copenhagen Letter and Parcel Post Office and top manager of the foot post service. On 11th March 1851 he became Knight of Dannebrog.

The Printer, value: DKK 5.50
A.J.S. Thiele (1825-1907)

In 1770 Johan Rudolf Thiele founded his printing house in Copenhagen. The year after he became the owner of a property in St. Helliggejststraede where the printing house was then situated until 1839. The property still exists, but the address is called 7-9 Valkendorfsgade and contains the study collections, archives, and library of Post & Tele Museum.

Johan Rudolf Thiele’s grandsons, the brothers Just (1823-76) and Andreas Jeppe Schmidt (1825-1907) were trained at home and in printing houses in Leipzig and Prague. From 1846 they took over the family business and specialized in printing of bank notes and postal vouchers, i.e. stamps.

Postal Reform Act was passed in Parliament on 11th March 1851. The Act was supposed to take effect and the stamp be issued on 1st April so time was short. Royal Court Engraver Ferslew became the general contractor of the project. The handmade, unprinted sheets came from Drewsen & Sons’ Paper Factory provided with watermarks from Ferslew’s stamps. Ferslew engraved and started printing. For the printing he had been allowed to use the machines of the National Bank and to assist him he had the bank’s printer, Andreas Thiele.

A little less than four million copies of the first 4 R.B.S. were printed whereas the first version of the 2 R.B.S. which was only to be used in Copenhagen, was printed in a good 100,000 copies.

Thiele got the contract of printing the second edition of the stamps. Now the General Directorate of Posts paid for printing machines which were placed in some attics in the post yard in Koebmagergade. Only in 1862 was permission granted to printing of stamps on Thiele’s own premises where all Danish stamps were manufactured until 1933.

The Postmaster General, value: DKK 10.25
M.O.S. Danneskjold-Samsoe (1804-94)

Magrius Otto Sophus was born on 4th July 1804 at Gisselfeld convent for noble virgins as the third son of count Christian Conrad Sophus Danneskold-Samsoe. Already at the age of 20 he received by royal ordinance a seat in the General Directory of Posts. While being promoted to higher ranks within the General Directory of Post he made himself conversant with both domestic and foreign postal conditions. At the age of 38, competent and eager to reform, he was appointed postmaster general, the highest office of the postal service.
During the more than 30 years of Danneskjold-Samsoe’s management the Danish postal service was modernized into a form which was maintained in all essentials into a large part of 20th century.

Besides the postage rate reform which resulted in the introduction of stamps and letterboxes, the postal service took care of the establishment of regular steamship connections between the different parts of the country and the systemization of mail distribution via the rolling network. A proper rural delivery service was established and money transfers by postal order and COD were introduced.

Sophus Danneskjold-Samsoe ended his days as chancellor and Knight of the Elephant, Denmark’s most distinguished decoration.


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