US Postal Service issues new Thoreau stamp

The U.S. Postal Service has dedicated its new Henry David Thoreau postage stamp at a ceremony at Walden Pond, where the 19th century American philosopher and naturalist spent two years in solitude and reflection.

The ceremony took place Tuesday in Concord, Massachusetts. Actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr., a board member of the Walden Woods Project, was among those who attended.

Thoreau is the writer of the memoir “Walden” and the essay “Civil Disobedience.” He was honored on the bicentennial year of his birth. The postal service says Thoreau’s way of living simply and rejecting materialism continues to inspire people.

The stamp image comes from an oil-on panel painting of Thoreau’s face based on an 1856 daguerreotype by Benjamin Maxham. It also includes his signature and a branch of sumac leaves.