№ 306/кор. 200th birth anniversary of Thomas Mayne Reid to be put into circulation as part of the “World Cultural Celebrities” series

Thomas Mayne Reid (1818−1883) was an English writer, the author of adventure novels and books for children and young adults; some of those works were published under the name of Reid, Captain Mayne.

He was born in the hamlet of Ballyroney (County Down, Ireland) in a pastor’s family. Reid was educated in Belfast and moved to the USA in 1838. He was a reporter in the Mexican-American War of 1846‒1848 and returned to Europe in 1849. 1850 saw his first novel The Rifle Rangers about the Mexican rebels’ resistance to the American invasion. His best adventure novels were written in the 1850s: The Scalp Hunters, Osceola, The Headless Horseman dwelling on the struggle of oppressed people in America. Large parts of his novels were dedicated to the description of flora and fauna of Asia, Africa and America.
Mayne Reid’s works inspired such prominent authors as Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry Rider Haggard and Jack London. T.M. Reid’s books were translated into German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Swedish.

The envelope with a commemorative stamp depicts Thomas Mayne Reid’s portrait against his own illustration to Osceola.