Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol
on U.S. Postage Stamps

Washington Monument

refer to caption
18-cent George Washington and Washington Monument stamp

Architect Robert Mills, a U.S. government architect and engineer celebrated for his neoclassical structures, submitted the winning design for the Washington Monument in a competition held in 1836. He designed the world's tallest obelisk, which, at 555 feet in height, is also the District of Columbia’s most prominent structure or, as Dan Brown writes (p. 13), “the city’s centerpiece.” Mills, a Mason, did not live to see the Monument’s completion in 1888. He died in 1855.

 
Free Frank cover
Elisha Whittlesey, comptroller of the Washington National Monument Society, signed this free frank cover, dated May 27 [1850] and addressed to the International Order of Odd Fellows.
Free Frank cover insert
The envelope bears an 1850 certificate for donation to the monument and facsimile signatures of the officers and managers of the Washington National Monument Society of 1850, including President Zachary Taylor.

Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol