literature

Cover of the novel Black Beauty, first edition 1877, published by London: Jarrold and Sons Unknown author - https://archive.org/details/blackbeautyhisgr00seweiala

https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-22731_THE-BAT

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146d

In dusk, from in among the walnut tree
and its bearing down upon the damaskina,
although we never see the bat unwrap
like a sticky sweet from the paper…

—WN Herbert, “The Bat”
from OMNESIA (Bloodaxe, 2013)

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #bats #BatAppreciationDay

THE BAT
W. N. Herbert

In dusk, from in among the walnut tree
and its bearing down upon the damaskina,
although we never see the bat unwrap
like a sticky sweet from the paper

of suddenly frictionless voiceless wings,
it begins to bi-, to trilocate, to be
anywhere at once in air's old film, wavering
with half-seen insects – it's in the field,

the garden, even underneath the canopy
of vineleaves that, by day, shades the little patio.
We watch the sky a dropping sun's turned gray
after an hour of lemon, mango, watermelon –

though this still lets some light be gleaned
through a wing like a sallow, puffed-out cheek,
a torch shone through a bloodless hand,
but gone in the second you understand

as though showing how exactly we must leave
each day – and do – a gathering of senses, sights
too small or intricate to count as insight,
too brief to form what we'd call belief.

The bat, that master of departures, is lost
to night, forgetting as it misses each leaf
and every branch: a figure of omnesia,
the way the world desires to be the past.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_(play)

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1y

#OTD in 1891.

Maurice Maeterlinck's play The Blind (written in 1890) is premièred. Les Aveugles is, along with L'Intruse, one of Maurice Maeterlinck's first two plays.

Les Aveugles is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48368

A print by Nicholas Roerich published 1906, based on Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blind.

The artwork feature a desolate, eerie setting, a forest, reflecting the isolation and vulnerability of the blind characters in the play. The figures could appear huddled together, their expressions a mix of fear, confusion, and a yearning for guidance, symbolizing humanity's search for meaning in the face of the unknown. Roerich’s use of light, perhaps moonlight or a faint celestial glow, might guide the viewer’s eye and emphasize the interplay between darkness and illumination, echoing the play’s spiritual overtones.

Auguste Donnay illustration pour Les aveugles de Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) in Théâtre de Maurice Maeterlinck, illustré par Auguste Donnay, (1862-1921) Date d'édition : 1901-1902 (BNF/Gallica)

https://blog.pgdp.net/2026/01/01/the-minute-boys/

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252d

Happy New Year!

This month's Distributed Proofreaders' Blog takes time out to talk about the Minute Boys juvenile series.

#books #literature #dp #dpblog

Cover of the "The Minute Boys of Long Island" by James Otis. The cover shows two youths in colonel wear looking towards something to their left.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/120

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1y

"Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel."

Jack London died #OTD in 1916.

A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

Jack London (date unknown) Bain Collection - Library of Congress.

https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784106751/nameless-country/

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1y

When you were people
We could have loved you,
Found out your names
And brought you presents…

—“Poem for Innocent Victims of War” by AC Jacobs (1937–1994) – born #OTD, 30 May

Published in NAMELESS COUNTRY: Selected Poems (Carcanet, 2018)

A 🎂 🧵

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#Scottish #literature #poetry #Jewish #diaspora #20thcentury #warpoetry

Poem for Innocent Victims of War
A. C. Jacobs

You did not die for me
Or love or desperation.
No-one chipped your names
On plaques on peaceful blocks of stone.
You are just the useless dead
Who mock our daily sin of passion,
Climb through our heads in cold, slow silence.

When you were people
We could have loved you,
Found out your names
And brought you presents.
We could have walked around with your response.

Or even if you chose to die
We might have understood your longing
And written down your utmost fear.

Now, though, you have got beyond our feelings,
And we can never almost follow
To learn your last shared and perfect secret.

https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmes0000will

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1y

#OTD in 1899.

William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes, based (with authorisation) on the writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, opens in New York City with himself in the title rôle.

Detail of photograph of the Broadway production of Sherlock Holmes, with William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes and Katherine Florence as Alice Faulkner. Stage Publishing Company, Inc.; photograph by Byron Company - Stage, August 1937 (page 91)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Bregendahl

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1y

Danish author Marie Bregendahl was born #OTD in 1867.

Her first novel Hendrik i Bakken was published in 1904. She went on to gain fame with En Dødsnat in 1912, based on the death of her mother when she was only 12.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/01/new-bedford-whaling-museum-moby-dick-marathon

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251d

"Call me Ishmael."

Readers dive into New Bedford Whaling Museum's 30th 'Moby-Dick' marathon

by Andrea Shea

Moby-Dick at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lewis-carrolls-personal-copy-of-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-returns-to-its-spiritual-home-in-oxford-180987910/

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251d

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do:..."

Lewis Carroll’s Personal Copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ Returns to its ‘Spiritual Home’ in Oxford

The book has been donated jointly to Christ Church and the Bodleian Library, which are both part of the University of Oxford

by Sarah Kuta

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11

Cover of the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The cover has a beige or cream-colored background with the title "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" displayed at the top in a bold, serif typeface in dark blue or black. At the bottom, "LEWIS CARROLL" appears in the same typeface and color.

The main image is contained within a dark blue border and depicts a whimsical garden scene featuring two central figures:

On the right stands Alice, portrayed as a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair with bangs. She wears a classic white pinafore dress over a white blouse, with the dress featuring a decorative orange or coral-colored hem with a scalloped pattern. Her expression is calm and pleasant.

On the left is a rotund figure in elaborate costume consisting of:

An enormous round red or orange hat or headdress that dominates the upper portion
A smiling, chubby face with rosy cheeks
An orange and yellow striped collar or ruff
A flowing orange robe or dress decorated with circular patterns and ornate details
The figure has a jovial, almost comical appearance

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11/pg11-images.html

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/raunchy-banned-book-helped-to-launch-counterculture/

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251d

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. "

‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’: The raunchy banned book that became a best-seller and helped to launch counterculture

by Paulina Subia

Lady Chatterley’s Love at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73144

A photo of Lawrence by Lady Ottoline Morrell in November 1915.

Lawrence stands in a formal, frontal pose facing the camera directly, with his body slightly stiff and arms at his sides.

Lawrence has a distinctive full beard that covers much of his lower face, and his hair is parted and styled in the fashion of the Edwardian period.

He is dressed formally in what appears to be:

A dark jacket or suit coat with visible buttons down the front
Light-colored trousers
Dark shoes or boots
What appears to be a white collar visible at the neck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence#/media/File:D.H._Lawrence,_29_November_1915.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)#

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1y

#OTD in 1859

Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, an early example of mystery fiction, begins serialisation in All the Year Round.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Year_Round

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/583

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mousetrap

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1y

#OTD in 1952.

Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End after a premiere in Nottingham, UK. It will become the longest continuously running play in history.

22461th performance of The Mousetrap (at St Martin's Theatre)

https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571338191-the-arctic/

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172d

Hear my prayer, O non-existent God,
accept these cries into thy nothingness,
thou, who never leaves poor men unblessed
by your false comfort…

—Don Paterson, “Atheist Prayer”
from THE ARCTIC (Faber, 2023)

Today, March 23, is Atheist Day

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #atheism #AtheistDay

Atheist Prayer
Don Paterson

after Miguel de Unamuno

Hear my prayer, O non-existent God,
accept these cries into thy nothingness,
thou, who never leaves poor men unblessed
by your false comfort. Your perfect fraud
was all I ever yearned for, my old friend:
when you withdraw, my memory is assailed
by every silly song and fairy tale
my mother read to sweeten the day’s end.

How great you are, my absent god! So rare
and boundless, an idea less than air:
O look how very thin the world has grown
in trying to meet you. For you and you alone
I suffer, Lord; for you, I die and die –
since were you to exist … Then so might I.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/authors/forgotten-female-authors-who-inspired-jane-austen?utm_source=RSS

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171d

4 Forgotten Female Authors Who Inspired Jane Austen

Books at PG by:

Frances Burney

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2010

Maria Edgeworth

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/630

Charlotte Smith

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/41281

Elizabeth Inchbald

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1305

Maria Edgeworth

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1y

#OTD in 1919.

The Großes Schauspielhaus opens as a theater in Berlin, with an interior designed by Hans Poelzig. It begins with the director Max Reinhardt's production of the Oresteia.

The House of Atreus at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8604

Set design for Aeschylus' Oresteia (premiere April 8, 1912 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in the Nibelungensaal of the Rosengarten Mannheim, production: Ferdinand Gregori), gouache over pencil, Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung der Universität zu Köln, Schloss Wahn

https://aeon.co/essays/how-austen-and-darwin-converged-on-the-question-of-beauty

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1y

Is beauty natural?

Charles Darwin was as fascinated by extravagant ornament in nature as Jane Austen was in culture. Did their explanations agree?

By Abigail Tulenko via @aeonmag

https://www.medievalists.net/2026/01/fimbulvetr-medieval/

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243d

Fimbulvetr: When the Medieval World Saw the Sun Go Dark

In the medieval world, strange signs in the sky were rarely ignored. In AD 536, when the sun seemed to lose its light and the climate turned harsh, that catastrophe may have been remembered in the terrifying Norse legend of Fimbulvetr.

By Andrea Maraschi

Norse mythology at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/4932

#books #literature #mythology

A scene from the last phase of Ragnarök, after Surtr has engulfed the world with fire. The surrounding text implies that this is Ásgarðr (Asgard) burning (by Emil Doepler, 1905).

This image depicts a dramatic scene from Norse mythology by German artist Emil Doepler (1905), illustrating the final phase of Ragnarök—the apocalyptic destruction of the world in Norse cosmology.

The painting shows a fortress or stronghold, silhouetted in dark tones against an intensely fiery sky. The structure, which represents Ásgarðr (Asgard, the realm of the gods), appears as a dark mass with towers and battlements rising against the flames. The sky is engulfed in vivid oranges, reds, and yellows, creating a sense of overwhelming conflagration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar%C3%B6k#/media/File:Ragnar%C3%B6k_by_Doepler.jpg

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/beal-library-old-book-purge-9.7040273

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243d

10,000 books were tossed at a London school. Librarians say there are other ways to give books a second life

The province says it is halting all current and future school library reviews

by Kendra Seguin

Librarians at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=librarians

#books #literature #librarians

"Morrisania, Thirteen women, librarians?" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1875.

The photograph shows a group of thirteen women arranged in two rows - seven standing in the back row and six seated or kneeling in the front row. They are photographed outdoors against a wall heavily covered with ivy or climbing vines.

The women are dressed in typical late 19th-century attire. Most wear white blouses (shirtwaists) with high collars and long sleeves, paired with dark skirts. Some have decorative brooches or pins at their collars. Their hair is styled in the fashion of the era, with most wearing it pulled back or up. One woman in the back row appears to be wearing a hat.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4343e1d0-c5b3-012f-faca-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0

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1y

As today is the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, this is a good reason to re-read Victor Hugo's masterpiece. There is also an interesting book on the restoration of Notre-Dame (1843).

Notre-Dame de Paris - Tome 1 by Victor Hugo:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70891

Notre-Dame de Paris - Tome 2:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71445

The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6539

Projet de restauration de Notre-Dame de Paris by Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18920

Frontispiece of Notre-Dame de Paris - Tome 1

Author: Victor Hugo

Illustrator: François Flameng

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn

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1y

#OTD in 1884.

The first London publication of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn occurs.

Twain initially conceived of the work as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that would follow Huckleberry Finn through adulthood. He worked on the manuscript off and on for the next several years, ultimately abandoning his original plan of following Huck's development into adulthood.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/76

Cover of the book «Adventures of Huckleberry Finn» by Mark Twain, 1884

By E. W. Kemble (1861–1933)

The central focus is a depiction of Huckleberry Finn, often shown in a casual and relaxed pose, embodying his free-spirited and rebellious nature.

Kemble’s illustration style captures Huck in his rustic clothing—likely a worn shirt, pants rolled up at the cuffs, and perhaps a slouchy hat—evoking the setting of the American South.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuala_Press

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1y

#OTD in 1908.

Cuala Press, set up at Churchtown, Dublin, as a private press independent of the former Dun Emer Press in connection with the Irish Literary Revival and Arts and Crafts movement by Elizabeth "Lolly" Yeats with editorial support from her brother W. B. Yeats, produces its first publication, Poetry and Ireland: Essays by W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson (died 1902).

Elizabeth Yeats using the Cuala Press in Dun Emer Press (1903).

A poised woman in her early 30s, with neatly styled dark hair and wearing modest, period-appropriate attire. She might have an apron over her clothing, reflecting the hands-on nature of her craft.

A traditional hand-operated press dominates the scene. It is crafted from wood or metal, with levers, rollers, and stacks of paper nearby. This press symbolizes the artisanal approach of the Cuala Press.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Henric_Kellgren

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1y

"I saw you - and from that day
I see only you in the world."

Johan Henric Kellgren, born #OTD in 1751, was a Swedish poet and critic.

Kellgren began as a tutor and later worked as a journalist and editor for Stockholms Posten, where he gained a reputation as a sharp and influential critic. Notable works include "Mina Löjen", which blends satire with lyrical beauty, and "Den nya skapelsen", which highlights themes of renewal & enlightenment.

#books #poetry #literature

19th century portrait of Kellgren, engraved by Evald Hansen.

Kellgren is portrayed as a man of intellectual bearing, with sharp, refined features. His face, clean-shaven and composed, reflects both intelligence and sensitivity. His hair, styled neatly and appropriate to the late 18th-century or early 19th-century fashion, might be powdered or combed back.

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1y

"Ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies."

#OTD in 1860.

Charles Dickens's Bildungsroman Great Expectations begins serialization in All the Year Round. Although intended for weekly publication, Great Expectations was divided into nine monthly sections, with new pagination for each.

Great Expectations at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400

Great Expectations advertised in All the Year Round.

With Estella after all.

Great Expectations
[1867 Edition]
by Charles Dickens

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/

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242d

The laverock rises owe blin waas
At ane wi the great North wun
At the heid o hecht…

—“The Heid o Hecht” by Duncan Glen, born #OTD, 11 Jan, 1933. Starting out as an apprentice printer, he became a poet, designer, editor, publisher, & academic

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#Scotish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage

Duncan Glen
The Heid o Hecht

The laverock rises owe blin waas
At ane wi the great North wun
At the heid o hecht. Here The Stuarts huntit the reid deer
And I look doun at that sma grey toun
Wi its fremmit Freench-like Palace
Whaur aince kings walkt wi thochts
O the saft wuns o the Sooth;

Saft wuns that cam lown north
Bringin the bricht bird o simmer
That has but a glisk o that cauld yin
Wha moves baith gress and pine. There
By toom waas whaur aince kings sat
Wi braw sudroun tapestries hidin
The grey stane that cam straucht
Frae the quarries o this hill.

Stanes and laverock risin heich
In the cauld wun that kens nae
Swallow, gouk, or that simmer swarm
O flees. And the great stanes are bare.
Nae claith or burnin wud that can
Gie and tak frae that cauld hunter oot
On the hill wi the laverock wha passes
Owre aw at the heid o hecht.