Lucas Debes was a curate in Thorshavn, the principal town of the Faroe Islands in 1651. The following year he became vicar and later rector of the Latin school there. In 1673 he published an historical and scientific account of the Faroes with the title The Faroes and the Faroese disclosed, that is, a Description of the Faroe Islands and their Inhabitants, in which several of Nature's Secrets and Antiquities are brought to Light and revealed.

     Included in the essay was the map that is represented on the stamp, Faeroarum prima and accurata Descripto. Although the title of the map claims that it is first and accurate only twenty-one of the islands are shown, and those are not exactly accurate as to shape.