Literary Arts Saul Bellow Three ounce Forever First Class Postage Stamps

Saul Bellow, in pen, ink and watercolor, worked up by Joe Ciardiello from photographs taken in 1982 - fedora, white turtleneck, dark jacket. Behind him is Chicago, where he lived most of his life: skyscrapers, and the L running between them, painted down in pale yellows and brownish greys so the face stays in front. Ethel Kessler was the art director. It was issued in Chicago in February 2024 as part of the Literary Arts series, in panes of 20, with the title in dark purple at the upper right.

The important detail is on the left edge, printed vertically: Three Ounce. This is a three-ounce stamp, worth $1.40 at current rates, and it exists for mail that is well past a normal letter - a thick manuscript, a legal packet, a stack of photographs, a heavy multi-page report. Doing the same job with one-ounce Forever stamps takes two of them and still leaves you short. For anyone posting documents regularly, a sheet of these saves a trip to the counter every time.