1998 32c Literary Arts: Stephen Vincent Benet

US #3221
1998 Stephen Vincent Benet

• 15th stamp in Literary Arts series
• Honors Benet – poet, novelist, and short story writer

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Literary Arts
Value:  32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  July 22, 1998
First Day City:  Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Quantity Issued:  30,000,000
Printed by:  Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Offset, Microprinting
Format:  Pane of 20
Perforations:  11.1

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp was issued to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Stephen Benet.

About the stamp design:  This stamp followed the previous pattern in the Literary Arts series.  The portrait of Benet was illustrated by Michael Deas.  The background scene is a reminder of one of the author’s most famous works, John Brown’s Body.  The scene was inspired by a bas-relief sculpture in Boston Common showing Union soldiers.

Special design details:  There is microprinting along the barrel of the rifle belonging to the soldier to the far right of the stamp.

First Day City:  The stamp was dedicated at the Lower Town Historic District of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.  The town was the setting of Benet’s poem John Brown’s Body.

About the Literary Arts Series: The Literary Arts Series began in 1979 with a John Steinbeck stamp.  The objective of the series is to honor America’s most renowned authors.  As the USPS put it, “These skillful wordsmiths spun our favorite tales – and American history along with them.”  The series honors both well-known and lesser-known authors, making it like an encapsulation of America’s rich and varied literary history.

History the stamp represents: Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943) was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  During his early childhood, his father, a colonel in the Army, read poetry to Benet and his siblings.  Therefore, it seemed natural for him to become an author with an interest in military history.
Writing novels, short stories, and epic poems, Benet combined detailed accounts of historical events with fiction and folklore.  One example of this is the short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” (1937).  This tale was turned into a motion picture, a play, and an opera.  Another historically based work, A Book of Americans, which he wrote with his wife Rosemary, characterizes famous Americans for children.
Benet’s love for military history and politics is nowhere more evident than in his epic poem John Brown’s Body.  In this work, he tries to give a complete picture of the Civil War, from the events leading up to it to actual battlefield scenes.  He accomplishes this by telling the story from a variety of viewpoints, including those of a slave, an abolitionist, a civilian woman, and a soldier.  Benet received two Pulitzer Prizes, the first for John Brown’s Body and later for Western Star (1943).