Blue Mauritius

Blue Mauritius Synopsis

Follow the adventures of the world's most sought-after postage stamps-from a tropical Indian Ocean island to the hushed atmosphere of the modern auction room-in this dramatic and passionate tale of the first stamp hunters. In September 1847 colored squares of paper were stuck on to envelopes and used to send out admission cards to a fancy-dress ball on the tropical island of Mauritius. No one at the party would have guessed that these stamps would one day be worth more than a million dollars. When a two-pence "e;Blue Mauritius"e; surfaced on the fledgling French stamp-collecting market in 1865 it gained instant celebrity. Soldiers, schoolboys, and the entire German nation became obsessed with finding one of these extremely rare examples. When in 1903 a perfect specimen, discovered in a childhood album, was bought at auction by the Prince of Wales, the Blue Mauritius gained superstar status. Even now, "e;Post Office Mauritius"e; stamps are synonymous with fame, wealth, and mystery. The most coveted scraps of paper in existence, this is their story-from their birth during days of sail, taking them from Port Louis to Bordeaux, India and Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan, into the hearts and imagination of collectors everywhere.