The Governor's wife was giving a fancy-dress ball, and she decided that the invitations should go out bearing the latest thingpostage stamps. The year was 1847, and stamps had just been authorized for the Indian Ocean colony of Mauritius, which her husband administered. So she asked that old, half-blind Mr. Barnard, the island's watchmaker, jeweler and amateur engraver, finish the island's first stamps as soon as possible.
On a small copper plate such as might be used to engrave a visiting card, Mr. Barnard cut a pretty profile of the young Queen Victoria,...
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