On November 1, 2019, Jersey Post issued a series of postage stamps to commemorate the 200th birthday of the English writer George Eliot.

In fact, George Eliot was the pseudonym under which the English writer Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880) wrote her novels. In the 19th century, many women wrote fiction under male pseudonyms in order to be taken more seriously by readers and avoid interference in their personal lives.

Mary Ann Evans, under the name of George Eliot, wrote several beautiful, pastoral novels that have earned her a rightful place among Victorian novelists. Her most famous work is Middlemarch, which is considered one of the greatest novels in the English language.

The publication of this series of postage stamps by Jersey Post, rather than by Royal Mail, might, on first glance, appear a little strange. After all, very little connects the writer to the island. Mary Ann Evans visited Jersey only once - in the summer of 1857, when she and her common-law husband George Lewes spent three summer months on the island. Although, it must be said that she really liked the island and in her memoirs spoke warmly about the time she spent on Jersey.

We must pay tribute to the creativity of Jersey Post: in developing a series of postage stamps in honor of George Eliot, they did not go down the usual route, depicting a portrait of the writer or the heroes of her works. Instead, the main subject of the series of stamps was the island of Jersey itself, as Mary Ann Evans would have seen it in the summer of 1857.

Designed by artist Peter Fancourt, the six stamps in the series depict scenes of Jersey life in the mid-19th century and are accompanied by quotes from the writer describing her feelings about the places she visited. For the postage stamps, Peter Fancourt used Mary Ann Evans' original letters and diaries to best represent her travels and experiences on the island.

The main elements are pastoral views of the island, accompanied by relevant quotes: an island of orchards; the grand old castle; the first lovely walk; a peaceful, scarcely rippled sea; a delicious evening.

Only the last stamp of the series, dedicated to horse racing and accompanied by the quote "a little of Jersey human nature", stands out from the crowd. On July 15, 1857, Mary Ann Evans and George Lewes found themselves at the Gorey races, where they saw gambling fans and passions simmering in the world of racing.

Racing on Jersey has always been a popular sport and a spectacle that attracted large numbers of people. For more than sixty years, from 1843 to 1906, the races took place on the east coast of Jersey at Gorey Common, where Mary Ann Evans paid them a visit. With the advent of the Eastern Railway, access to Gorey has become noticeably easier and the annual horse races have become the largest event on the island, attracting huge crowds.