Ultrashort pulsed-beam propagation in a Kerr-type bulk medium is studied theoretically through classical and quantum field solutions of a higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which is valid for transversely localized femtosecond pulses in an anomalous dispersion regime. Quantum-mechanical stability analysis via a Hartree approximation to interacting bosons shows that within a certain range of a parameter the solitary wave could be stabilized even in the three-dimensional transverse space-time. This feature admits of an exotic route to multidimensional solitons.