The Devil and Daniel Webster

Stephen Vincent Benet

Publisher: White Press

Published: Oct 2, 1936

Magazine: The Saturday Evening Post, October 24, 1936

Description:

This early work by Stephen Vincent Benét was originally published in 1937 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Devil and Daniel Webster' is a short story about a successful lawyer who believes you can win your soul back from the devil. Stephen Vincent Benét was born on 22nd July 1898 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. Benét was an accomplished writer at an early age, having had his first book published at 17 and submitting his third volume of poetry in lieu of a thesis for his degree. During his time at Yale, he was an influential figure at the 'Yale Lit' literary magazine, and a fellow member of the Elizabethan Club. Benét was also a part-time contributor for the early Time Magazine. Benét's best known works are the book-length narrative poem American Civil War, John Brown's Body (1928), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and two short stories, The Devil and Daniel Webster (1936) and By the Waters of Babylon (1937). Benét won a second Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his unfinished poem Western Star in 1944.

Having promised his soul to the Devil in exchange for good fortune, Jabez Stone asks the talented lawyer Daniel Webster to get him out of the bargain.