biography
| name: |
Cole, Sir Henry
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pseudonym Felix Summerley
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1808–82)
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| biography:
| Designer, writer, and civil servant, born in Bath, SW England, UK. He introduced the penny postage system and is one of several candidates cited as inventor of the adhesive stamp. Under his pseudonym he set up a firm for ‘art manufacture’, published illustrated children's books, and published the first Christmas card. He planned and largely organized the Great Exhibition of 1851 under the patronage of Prince Albert. He also set up a national system of art education, and was director of the South Kensington Museum (1853–73), which became the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was knighted in 1875. |
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