Lithuania 816

     The souvenir sheet was issued by Lithuania in 2006 to commemorate the 1000th Anniversary of Lithuania. The map is Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae Caeterarumque Regionum illi Adiacentium Exacta Descreptio III. mi ac Excell. mi Principis et. D. ni D. Nicolai Christophori Radziwil, D[ei] G[ratia] Olycae ac in Nieswies Ducis, S. Rom. Imperii Principis, in Szylowiec ac Mir Comitis et. S. Sepulchri Hierosolimitani Militis etc. opera, cura et impensis facta in lucem edita...., drawn by Thomas Makovskis under the instructions of Mikalojus Krstupas Radvila Našlaitėis (Prince Nicholas Christophe Radziwill), engraved by Hessel Gerritsz , and published as a four sheet wall map of Lithuania and parts of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. in 1613,  by Willem Blaeu in Amsterdam under his original imprint Guilhelmus Janssoni, and in Blaeu''s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus in 1649.

     The subjects of the four stamps on the sheet are 1. The Charter of Stephen Bathory; "The Grand Courtyard of Vilnius University" by P. Smuglevičius; portrait of Stephen Bathory by A. Deveria. 2."Polish Envoys to the Tsar" by V. Smakauskas; a silver coin minted in the 17th century by John Casimir. 3. The Constitution of 3 May 1791; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania officer's seal of the 18th century depicting the coat of arms; "Portrait Medal of Mykolas Kazimieras Oginskis (the last Lithuanian hetmon {chief army commander}) by J.F. Holchauzer. 4. The appeal to defend the homeland issued in 1794 by the Lithuanian Supreme National Council during the uprising headed by Tadeusz Kosciuszko; a fragment of the uprising's battle scene; "Portrait of Tadeusz Kosciuszko" by J. Grassi.
     At the bottom of the sheet is the inscription, IŠ LIETUVOS NATIONALINIO MUZIEJAUS IR VILNIAUS UNIVERSITETO RINKINIŲ, which identifies the location where the map is preserved as the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius.