The stamp was issued to celebrate the life and literary works of Saul Bellow.
The stamp design features a portrait of Bellow, depicted in pen, ink, and watercolor, based on photographs from 1982. The background showcases a street in Chicago, the city Bellow lived in for much of his life. The original artwork was created by Joe Ciardiello.
There was no formal First Day of Issue Ceremony for this stamp, but the First Day of Issue Postmark was from Chicago, Illinois, where Bellow lived and worked as a professor at the University of Chicago.
About the Literary Arts Series: The series, which began in 1979 with a John Steinbeck stamp, honors some of America??s most renowned authors. According to the USPS, ??These skillful wordsmiths spun our favorite tales??and American history along with them.?? The series recognizes both well-known and lesser-known authors, capturing America??s rich literary history.
History: Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was born in Quebec, Canada, to Jewish immigrants from Russia. Even as a child, he was passionate about reading, with favorites including the Torah, Shakespeare, 19th-century Russian novels, and Harriet Beecher Stowe??s Uncle Tom??s Cabin, which inspired him to become a writer.
At nine years old, Bellow and his family moved to Chicago, the setting for many of his novels. Though he initially wanted to study literature at Northwestern University, Bellow encountered antisemitism in the English department and chose instead to study anthropology and sociology.
During World War II, Bellow completed his first novel, Dangling Man, in 1944. In 1948, he was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and spent several years in Paris before returning to Chicago. His novel Herzog (1964) became his first bestseller, earning him the International Literary Prize the following year??making him the first American to receive the award.
Bellow??s novels went on to earn him many accolades, including the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2024, he was honored with the 34th stamp in the US Literary Arts Series, solidifying his place as one of America??s greatest writers.
