Magyar Posta is continuing its decades-long tradition of issuing stamps with a surcharge in order to support youth stamp collecting again in 2026. This time, a miniature sheet marking the tercentenary of the publication of Jonathan Swift’s satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels is being issued. Magyar Posta devotes the proceeds of the surcharge on the miniature sheets sold, totalling HUF 150 per sheet, to supporting youth stamp collecting. The miniature sheet of four stamps was designed by the graphic designer Boglárka Nádi and produced in 10,000 copies by the Pénzjegynyomda Zrt. printing company. The new issue is available from Filaposta, philately specialist services, certain post offices and www.posta.hu.
Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels, a classic of world literature, in 1726. The novel is a biting satire presented in the form of a travel narrative. The work aims not only to entertain but also to expose the follies, frailties and social injustices humans are prone to. This fascinating and exciting story is about a typical middle- class traveller, Gulliver, who travels to remote parts of the world to learn more about other cultures and people. He visits several fantastical lands, such as Lilliput (the land of tiny people), Brobdingnag (the island of giants), Laputa (a flying island inhabited by impractical intellectuals), and the land of the Houyhnhnms (horses). The work is about the imaginary journeys of a fictional character, but being related in the first person singular and the use of specific dates impart a sense of plausibility. The novel consists of four parts and describes four voyages. Lilliput and the island of giants are a satire of English social conditions, examining people and human relationships from a distance, as if through a telescope, or under a microscope. The flying island mocks contemporary empirical science and rational thinking. The land of horses is a cruel condemnation of the human race: there is no creature on Earth more impossible than man. Nevertheless, positive human values remain at the pinnacle of the value system in the stories: reason, moral purity, true humanity, helpfulness, and human dignity.
The stamps of the miniature sheet depict scenes taken from Gulliver’s four different voyages. A fantastical image evoking the novel’s origins, with the author’s name, Jonathan Swift, and life dates listed below it appear on the commemorative first day cover. The postmark on the first day cover features a ship motif.
