9 Misconceptions About Shakespeare
Think you know everything about The Bard? Think again.
By Meredith Danko
https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/authors/misconceptions-about-shakespeare
Shakespeare at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/65
literature
Nan Shepherd & her friends
21 Nov, Aberdeen – free, ticketed
Nan Shepherd has often been imagined as a solitary walker & writer. In this talk, Dr Timothy Baker looks at the importance of female friendship in Nan Shepherd’s writing & life, placing her as part of a much larger network of Aberdonian women writers & thinkers
https://aberdeencity.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=16811409
#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #womenwriters #NanShepherd #Aberdeen
Walking in a waking dream
I watched nineteen deer
pour from ridge to glen-floor,
then each in turn leap,
leap the new-raised
peat-dark burn…
—Kathleen Jamie, “The Hinds”
from THE BONNIEST COMPANIE (Picador, 2015)
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/kathleen-jamie/the-bonniest-companie/9781509801718
Poetic Gems for Topaz: Verses for the Bicentenary of McGonagall
19 Nov, Dundee. Free, ticketed
The Wyvern Poets will share their verses written to celebrate the life, works & legacy of William Topaz McGonagall. The Wyvern Poets acknowledge McGonagall’s enduring impact, which has spread far beyond the city he called home.
#Scottish #literature #poetry #19thcentury #Victorian #McGonagall #BadPoetry
Postcards from Virginia Woolf
By Sarah Bochicchio
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/11/07/postcards-from-virginia-woolf/
Virginia at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/89
![Woolf in 1927.
"Studio photograph of Virginia Woolf (c. 1927) reprinted by permission of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College" (p. XII) [, the Smith College having been presented by Esther Cloudman Dunn another print of the same picture].
The photograph was, according to the Smith College Library's web site, "used for promotion" by Harcourt Brace, the publisher of the American version of To the Lighthouse in 1927. In Virginia Woolf Icon (University of Chicago Press, 1999), Brenda Silver describes the photograph as an "(unidentified) studio photograph" and comments it "appear[ed] in in an number of Harcourt Brace ads and articles about Woolf and/or her works in the States during the late 1920s ans the 1930s" (p. 132).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#/media/File:Virginia_Woolf_1927.jpg](/proxy/post_attachment/900087/f9207d7b1c.jpg "Woolf in 1927.
\"Studio photograph of Virginia Woolf (c. 1927) reprinted by permission of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College\" (p. XII) [, the Smith College having been presented by Esther Cloudman Dunn another print of the same picture].
The photograph was, according to the Smith College Library's web site, \"used for promotion\" by Harcourt Brace, the publisher of the American version of To the Lighthouse in 1927. In Virginia Woolf Icon (University of Chicago Press, 1999), Brenda Silver describes the photograph as an \"(unidentified) studio photograph\" and comments it \"appear[ed] in in an number of Harcourt Brace ads and articles about Woolf and/or her works in the States during the late 1920s ans the 1930s\" (p. 132).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#/media/File:Virginia_Woolf_1927.jpg")
Frankenstein pop-up display
7 Nov, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Free.
A special one-day pop-up display exploring the enduring legacy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Discover the novel’s lasting influence on works by Scottish writers such as Muriel Spark, Alasdair Gray, Janice Galloway & Liz Lochhead
Velvetine Verses: Scotland’s Young Makars Poetry Evening
11 Dec, Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh. Free, ticketed
An evening of poetry and music showcasing poets from four years of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Next Generation Young Makars mentoring scheme. Curated by Ria Smart.
#OTD in 1598.
William Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice (under the title "the Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called the Jewe of Venyce") is entered on the Stationers' Register. By decree of Queen Elizabeth, the Stationers' Register licensed printed works, giving the Crown tight control over all published material.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice
The Merchant of Venice at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1515
#OTD in 1897.
The writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush, where he will write his first successful stories.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London
Books by Jack London at PG:
"Science has "explained" nothing; the more we know the more fantastic the world becomes and the profounder the surrounding darkness."
Along the Road, Part II. Views of Holland (p. 108)
~Aldous Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963)
Books by Aldous Huxley at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/780
Italian journalist and novelist Matilde Serao died #OTD in 1927.
She was the first woman called to edit an Italian newspaper, Il Corriere di Roma and later Il Giorno. Serao was also the co-founder and editor of the newspaper Il Mattino, and the author of several novels. She never won the Nobel Prize in Literature despite being nominated on six occasions.
Books by Matilde Serao at PG:
https://dev.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7688
German humanist, scholar, & historian Beatus Rhenanus died #OTD in 1547.
Rhenanus worked as a proofreader & editor for the famous printing house of Froben in Basel. His work "Rerum Germanicarum Libri Tres", published in 1531, provided a comprehensive history of Germany from ancient times to the present & was noted for its use of original sources. The Beatus Rhenanus Library houses many of his manuscripts & personal collections, preserving his legacy.
"Science means simply the aggregate of all the recipes that are always successful. All the rest is literature."
Moralités.
~Paul Valéry (30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945)
Canadian writer Mazo de la Roche died #OTD in 1961.
Her first novel, "Possession," was published in 1923. Although it did not achieve significant success, it marked the beginning of her career as a novelist. De la Roche achieved international fame with the publication of "Jalna" in 1927. The "Jalna" series comprises 16 novels, written over a span of more than three decades.
Books by Mazo de la Roche at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/31212
“The understated power of this writing is extraordinary. Something of that sense of human vision seeing beyond the time of its own life’s duration, surely appealed to T. S. Eliot, who published The Silver Darlings and more of Gunn’s novels”
—Prof Alan Riach re-examines Gunn’s legacy
Neil M. Gunn (1891–1973), one of the most important writers of the 20th century Scottish renaissance, was born #OTD, 8 Nov – a 🎂 🧵
1/5
https://www.thenational.scot/news/15637617.neil-gunn-and-the-search-for-scotlands-soul/
French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac died #OTD in 1850.
Novelist, art critic, playwright, literary critic, essayist, journalist and printer, he left one of the most imposing works of fiction in French literature, with more than ninety novels and short stories published between 1829 and 1855 under the title La Comédie humaine.
Books by Honoré de Balzac at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/251
#OTD in 1887.
L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
First published in Russian on July 26 [O.S. July 14] 1887, the publication of Unua Libro marks the formal beginning of the Esperanto movement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unua_Libro
Books in Esperanto at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/34
#OTD in 1928.
The novel The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Publication, originally scheduled for late 1928, was brought forward when he discovered that another novel with a lesbian theme, Compton Mackenzie's Extraordinary Women, was to be published in September. The Well appeared on 27 July, in a black cover with a plain jacket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_of_Loneliness
The Well of Loneliness at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/73042
Learn from this picture how we journey in this world
Slithering as we go, the foolish and the wise…
—John Burnside, “Pieter Brueghel: Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap, 1565”
from BLACK CAT BONE (Jonathan Cape, 2011)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/412331/black-cat-bone-by-john-burnside/9780224093859
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #art #visualart #Bruegel #winter #JohnBurnside
French writer and historian Hilaire Belloc was born #OTD in 1870.
His notable works include "The Path to Rome" (1902), a travel book about his journey on foot from central France to Rome, and his biographies of historical figures like Oliver Cromwell and Joan of Arc. He is also remembered for his humorous verse, especially his collection of children’s poetry, "Cautionary Tales for Children" (1907), which includes famous poems such as "Matilda" and "Jim".
Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher Giosuè Carducci was born #OTD in 1835.
His poetry collections, such as "Rime nuove" and "Odi barbare", are notable for their classical forms and themes, often drawing inspiration from ancient Roman and Greek literature. In addition to his literary work, Carducci was a respected academic. He taught Italian literature at the University of Bologna for many years.
Books by Giosuè Carducci at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/43982
"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!"
Hamlet, Act I, scene v.
#OTD in 1759.
The earliest known professional performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet in North America (in Garrick's version) is given by the American Company in Philadelphia, with Lewis Hallam Jr. as Hamlet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
Hamlet at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524
American writer Herman Melville was born #OTD in 1819.
Melville's first two books, "Typee" (1846) and "Omoo" (1847), were based on his adventures in the South Seas and were quite popular. These semi-autobiographical novels painted a romanticized view of life among the Pacific Islanders. Published in 1851, "Moby-Dick" is considered Melville's masterpiece. Initially, the book was not well-received, and its complex structure and themes puzzled readers and critics alike.
Edited 1y ago
The bell that tolls my syllables can tell
An underwater tale, clang how there fell
Suddenly out of a surface shouting world
Into dumb calm doomed children…
—“S.S. City of Benares”, by George Sutherland Fraser (1915–1980) – born #OTD, 8 Nov.
On 18 September, 1940, at one minute past midnight, the SS CITY OF BENARES was torpedoed in the Atlantic. Of 134 passengers, 90 were child refugees bound for Canada. Only 13 children survived.
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #WarPoetry #WW2 #refugees
British novelist and scientific Agnes Giberne died #OTD in 1939.
She is best known for her popular science books on astronomy. Her most famous work, Sun, Moon, and Stars: Astronomy for Beginners (1879), became a significant educational resource, introducing countless readers to the basics of astronomy. She also authored numerous Christian books, including religious biographies and devotional literature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Giberne
Agnes Giberne at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/47772
