Jim Butcher (American, B. 1944) "Purple Mountains Majesty" Signed lower right. Original Oil Pastel on Cold Press Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 6c & 18c America the Beautiful stamp issued April 24, 1981. Hailed as America's second national anthem, America the Beautiful first appeared in the Congregationalist magazine dated July 4, 1895. The song's poignant words -- descriptive of the nation's great natural beauty -- were written by American author Katharine Lee Bates. Its melody is the creation of Samuel Ward. Miss Bates, who taught English at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, wrote a number of fine literary works during her lifetime. Among these are The Pilgrim Ship, From Gretna Green to Land's End, and the scholarly studies English Religious Drama and History of American Literature. However Miss Bates' most celebrated work, without doubt, is the inspired America the Beautiful honored in a stamp and painting. The author's love of her homeland shines clearly through each line of the song and the reader gets a sense of the vastness, the richness and the beauty of America. It is a song close to the heart of everyone who loves his homeland. It is a song of peace, a song that calls Americans to give thanks for the rich blessings that are theirs and seek brotherhood among the people. For a host of reasons, America the Beautiful is a song as dear to the hearts of Americans as any song sung to honor this proud nation. Image Size: 16.75 x 14.75 in. Overall Size: 20.25 x 18.25 in. Unframed. (B07135)