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I have found Albanian fable stamps in two waves: 1995 One FDC from Albania featuring "Zhan de la Fonten." Postmarked August 20, 1995. The three full-color stamps used for posting the letter display each a variety of fable characters. Even the postmark is peculiar to La Fontaine. $20.50 John Rydzewski at JR Stamps through Ebay, Feb., '02.

Now here is a surprise! I would not have thought of Albania as a country that would celebrate Jean de la Fontaine. The spiffy design on the envelope, rendered in brown, blue, and violet, slenderizes and stylizes La Fontaine as he almost dances up to a book with pen in hand. The first of the stamps, worth 2 leke, includes TT, BC, WC, and LM. The second stamp, worth 3 leke, features FG, FC, FS, and DS. On the third, worth 25 leke, I think I can make out AD, OR, and perhaps OF. The characters seem to be rendered in pastels of some sort.

To allow closer viewing of the envelope and especially of the stamps, I present each enlarged: click on each to see its enlarged version.

1995 Set of four uncancelled stamps from Albania featuring "Zhan de la Fonten." The three conventional full-color stamps display each a variety of fable characters. The fourth, larger item worth 60 leke presents La Fontaine himself with several fable scenes. $3.35 from John Ortz, Montreal, through eBay, Oct., '02. Extra copy of the 60 leke stamp for $1.75 from Mr. Y. Fuks, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Oct., '06.

Earlier I had found the FDC with the three cancelled stamps. Now I have a set of the stamps uncancelled and the fourth piece that goes with them. This larger piece is not perforated. It presents La Fontaine, LM, FC, OF, "The Eagle and the Tortoise," and a final scene which I cannot specify. This scene involves a man and a snake, but I cannot understand their relationship. It bears the name "A. Matsoukis, S.A." It is numbered 0032252. To allow closer viewing of the stamps, I present each enlarged: click on the stamp to see the enlarged version.