Dunes
Dunes. Arabian Philatelic Madness is a book dedicated to the 20th century philatelic phenomenon The term itself refers to the many editions of stamps issued in the 1960s and early 1970s by the Emirates of the Arabian Peninsula in excessive quantities for speculative purposes. They have been deemed «undesirable» by the International Philatelic Federation.
The book is a rich, gift-quality edition that not only allows the reader not only to delve into the history of this unique phenomenon but also to explore the global cultural and historical context of the third quarter of the 20th century through the topics depicted on the stamps: the Olympic Games, Space exploration, and prominent political figures. Also of interest are collections of stamps, uncharacteristic for Muslim countries, dedicated to Christian saints and holidays, as well as those depicting nude figures in reproductions of Renaissance paintings. Despite the marginal status of these stamps, the phenomenon itself immerses the reader in the fascinating world of philately.
Each chapter opens with a spread (1 or 2 pages) serving as a half-title page, featuring an extreme close-up of a stamp with all scanning artifacts preserved and the rosette pattern maintained, emphasizing the scale discrepancy.
The text part is visually divided into three parts. The top section is reserved for the main text, the bottom section features a continuous band of stamp images running along the page, and the middle section (the margin) is dedicated to marginalia, comments, and captions for the illustrations.
At the end of a chapter, a spread is presented, designed in the form of a stockbook sleeve, which contains a thematic collection of the stamps featured in that chapter.
The book also contains indexes, including lists of stamps by year of issue, and other supplementary texts. The text in the captions is oriented in the same way as on the illustrations.
Size: 205×290mm Typography: Overpass, Literata, Novelist (developed by Alena Krachkovsakaya for HSE Design)
