FRANCE 2003 Vidocq 1775-1857 SG: 3918, Yvert: 3588, Michel: 3730, WNS: FR054.03 September 1, 2003 perf 13.4×13 25 × 40 mm The World's First Detective François Eugène Vidocq was not a fictional detective... but he might as well have been, for all we really know about him! He was the model for Honoré de Balzac's Vautrin and Emile Gaboriau's Lecoq... (and some say for Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Maigret and Sam Spade, as well!) and much of what is "actually known" about him is based on works by unknown authors... including his famed autobiography! "François Eugène Vidocq was an ex-convict who set up the Brigade de la Sûreté, the French national detective police force, and went on to become the world's first private detective. Here are a few of this real-life master sleuth's innovations: He used disguises, decoys, and criminal stool pigeons He experimented with fingerprinting He invented invisible inks He kept detailed files on criminals He conducted blood and ballistics tests He pioneered handwriting analysis" The Vidocq Dossier, by Samuel Edwards, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1977 One of a set of six stamps focusing on writers and literature. Destinées romanesques (Storybook Destinies) Miniature sheet, 4,60 € - 1,60 € for the French Red Cross Why is the postmark 30.08.2003 when the "issue date" is 01.09.2003? email Six Storybook Destinies Claudine "Claudine" novels, Colette [1873-1954] The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas [1802-1870] Esmeralda "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Victor Hugo [1802-1885] Gavroche "Les Misérables", Victor Hugo [1802-1885] Nana Emile Zola [1840-1902] Vidocq [1775-1857] (Honoré de Balzac [1799-1850]) More about Vidocq: Vidocq: Convict Turned Detective Magnifique by Joseph Geringer The Great Detectives: Vidocq by Mike Ashley Walking through Walls by Graham Robb Vidocq - 2001 French film starring Gérard Depardieu, directed by Pitof.