Romfilatelia, the specialized company in issuing and trading Romanian philatelic items, releases the philatelic issue entitled “Dracula”. The issue is represented by one miniature sheet by one miniature sheet comprising our stamps.
The Dracula story nourished people’s imagination for over a century. The legend of Dracula was introduced in the universal literature by the Irish writer Bram Stoker, by the full name Abraham Stoker (1847 – 1912). His best-seller novel entitled “Dracula” has been published continuously around the world. The first movie inspired by the author’s book was shot in Germany and was entitled “Nosferatu”. Nonetheless, the legend of Dracula entered the people’s consciousness in1931, when Hungarian actor of Romanian origin, Bela Lugosi played the main role in the movie bearing the name of the main character. The author’s inspiration for this book’s title was an obscure historic document about the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, which contained a short reference to Voivode Dracula, never mentioned as Vlad. The author of the manual made a short note of Dracula in a sense that his name meant Devil in Romanian. This was Bram Stoker’s inspiration for the Count’s name. As for vampire facts, his inspiration was the universal folklore.
The main character of the novel, Count Dracula from Transylvania, was a creature of Evil and Darkness, a vampire. The Count-vampire created by the writer was part of an aristocratic family. He was tall, attractive, dressed in black and possessed and unusual physical strength. Dracula had the power to transform into a wolf and a bat. The master of darkness lived only under the protection of night, by daybreak it returned to its grave or to a coffin filled with its native soil.
The historical truth states that, in the 15th century ruled a Wallachian voivode know as Vlad Tepes, called Vlad Dracula or Draculea, inspired by his father’s name, Vlad Dracul, ruler of Wallachia, member of the Order of the Dragon. Until this day, many people confuse the two characters, one fictive and the other real.
Bram Stoker’s novel is the origin of today’s many legends regarding the Count-vampire. His novel inspired dozens of movies and advertising materials.
The first stamp of the miniature sheet reproduces Bram Stoker’s portrait. The other three postage stamps illustrate Count Dracula’s different states found in the novel, showing his evil nature. The postal stamps have the nominal value of 31,000 Lei (ROL) each.
