literature

245d

<p>Twa Cats anes on a Cheese did light,<br>To which baith had an equal Right,<br>But Disputes, sic as aft arise,<br>Fell out at sharing of the Prize…</p><p>—Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), “The twa Cats & the Cheese”<br>via the National Library of Scotland<br>😾😾🧀🐵</p><p>An 18th-century Scots poem for International Cat Day</p><p><a href="https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/105690319" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/105690319"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">digital.nls.uk/special-collect</span><span class="invisible">ions-of-printed-music/archive/105690319</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#law</a> <a href="/tags/legal/" rel="tag">#legal</a> <a href="/tags/humor/" rel="tag">#humor</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a> <a href="/tags/internationalcatday/" rel="tag">#InternationalCatDay</a></p>

The twa Cats and the Cheese
Fable IX
by Allan Ramsay

Twa Cats anes on a Cheese did light,
To which baith had an equal Right,
But Disputes, sic as aft arise,
Fell out at sharing of the Prize;
Fair Play said ane, Ye bite o’er thick
Thae Teeth of yours gang wonder quick:
Let’s part it, else lang or the Moon
Be chang’d, the Kebuck will be done.

But wha’s to do’t,—They’re Parties baith,
And ane may do the other Skaith,
Sae with Consent away they trudge,
And laid the Cheese before a Judge,
A Monkey with a campsho Face,
Clerk to a Justice of the Peace,
A Judge he seem’d in Justice skill’d,
When he his Master’s Chair fill’d;
Now Umpire chosen for Division,
Baith sware to stand by his Decision.
Demure he looks.—The Cheese he pales,—
He prives it good,—Ca’s for the Scales,
His Knife whops throw’t,—In twa it fell,
He puts ilk Haff in either Shell;
Said he, We’ll truly weigh the Case,
And strickest Justice shall have Place,
Then lifting up the Scales, he fand
The tane bang up, the ither stand;
Syne out he took the heaviest Haff,
And ate a Knoost o’t quickly aff,
And try’d it syne,—It now prov’d light,
Friend Cats, said he, We’ll do ye right.
Then to the ither Haff he fell,
And laid till’t teughly Tooth and Nail,
Till weigh’d again it lightest prov’d:
The Judge wha this sweet Process lov’d,
Still weigh’d the Case, and still ate on,
Till Clients baith were weary grown,

And tenting how the Matter went,
Cry’d, Come, come Sir, We’re baith content.
Ye Fools, quoth he, and Justice too
Maun be content as well as you.
Thus grumbled they, thus he went on,
Till baith the Haves were near hand done;
Poor Pousies now the Daffine saw
Of gawn for Nignyes to the Law:
And bill’d the Judge that he wad please
To give them the remaining Cheese:
To which his Worship grave reply’d,
The Dues of Court maun first be paid.
Now Justice pleas’d,—What’s to the Fore
Will but right scrimply clear your Score;
That’s our Decreet,—Gae Hame and Sleep,
And thank us ye’re win aff sae cheap.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

302d

<p>The wisdom of surrender</p><p>Samuel Beckett turned an obscure 17th-century Christian heresy into an artistic vision and an unusual personal philosophy</p><p>by Andy Wimbush</p><p><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/how-samuel-beckett-sought-salvation-in-the-midst-of-suffering?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8829cb6bbe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_06_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="aeon.co/essays/how-samuel-beckett-sought-salvation-in-the-midst-of-suffering?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8829cb6bbe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_06_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">aeon.co/essays/how-samuel-beck</span><span class="invisible">ett-sought-salvation-in-the-midst-of-suffering?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8829cb6bbe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_06_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/philosophy/" rel="tag">#philosophy</a></p>

Photo of Samuel Beckett in 1977.

His hair is silver-gray, brushed back or tousled, and his eyes are intense, often staring directly into the camera or cast down in thought.

The expression is contemplative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett#/media/File:Samuel_Beckett,_Pic,_1_(cropped).jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

277d

<p>Sweet-Smelling Lies</p><p>We are discreet sheep, says Mark Twain.</p><p><a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/freedom/sweet-smelling-lies" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.laphamsquarterly.org/freedom/sweet-smelling-lies"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.laphamsquarterly.org/freed</span><span class="invisible">om/sweet-smelling-lies</span></a></p><p>The Autobiography of Mark Twain at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=The+Autobiography+of+Mark+Twain" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=The+Autobiography+of+Mark+Twain"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=The+Autobiography+of+Mark+Twain</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a></p>

A portrait of the American writer Mark Twain taken by A. F. Bradley in New York, 1907.

Twain sits in a three-quarter view, gazing slightly off-camera with a thoughtful, almost pensive look. His trademark bushy white hair and sweeping mustache give him a leonine, distinguished appearance.

He is dressed in his characteristic light-colored white suit, paired with a waistcoat and tie, which became his signature attire in the final decades of his life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#/media/File:Mark_Twain_by_AF_Bradley.jpg

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

302d

<p>How Jane Austen Pulled It Off: On Emma</p><p>One of Jane Austen’s many mind-bending skills was her ability to wrest so much drama from a world that was, by present-day standards, almost unfathomably static. </p><p>By Jennifer Egan</p><p><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/06/11/how-jane-austen-pulled-it-off-on-emma/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JXJ3YQ6CT1ZYTRMRJRX2Q4ZP&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/06/11/how-jane-austen-pulled-it-off-on-emma/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JXJ3YQ6CT1ZYTRMRJRX2Q4ZP&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theparisreview.org/blog/20</span><span class="invisible">25/06/11/how-jane-austen-pulled-it-off-on-emma/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JXJ3YQ6CT1ZYTRMRJRX2Q4ZP&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER</span></a></p><p>Emma at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/158" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/158</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Colour illustration of a 1909 edition of Emma (Jane Austen's novel), by C. E. Brock (died 1938).

Emma explains that it was she who planned Miss Taylor's wedding all along.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emma_CE_Brock_1909_Vol_I_chapter_I.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

302d

<p>Christian Isobel Johnstone (1781–1857) – novelist, journalist, & editor – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 12 June.</p><p>Johnstone was editor for more than a decade of Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, a journal famous for its vigorous liberal viewpoints & incisive literary reviews, & wrote some of the most remarkable Scottish novels of the <a href="/tags/romantic/" rel="tag">#Romantic</a> era.</p><p>1/4</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishwomenwritersontheweb.net/writers-a-to-z/christian-isobel-johnstone" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishwomenwritersontheweb.net/writers-a-to-z/christian-isobel-johnstone"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishwomenwritersonthew</span><span class="invisible">eb.net/writers-a-to-z/christian-isobel-johnstone</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/romanticism/" rel="tag">#romanticism</a></p>

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

302d

<p>McGonagall Salon(agall)<br>24 June, Edinburgh & online – free</p><p>The Edinburgh Literary Salon & the International Ghost Society – Edinburgh’s newest & most easily-distracted paranormal investigation society – present an interactive journey through the life & poetic gems of William McGonagall, including a playable big screen RPG, hidden Easter eggs, & a virtual McGonagall experience</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/junes-mcgonagall-salonagall-tickets-1407703903269" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/junes-mcgonagall-salonagall-tickets-1407703903269"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/junes-m</span><span class="invisible">cgonagall-salonagall-tickets-1407703903269</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/dundee/" rel="tag">#Dundee</a> <a href="/tags/mcgonagall/" rel="tag">#McGonagall</a></p>

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

277d

<p>John Buchan, Master Storyteller – with Ursula Buchan<br>5 September, Dunfermline – tickets £8.03</p><p>Ursula Buchan, John Buchan’s granddaughter & biographer, marks the 150th anniversary of one of the most influential Scottish novelists of the 20th century with an in-depth examination of his literary accomplishments</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outwith-writing-john-buchan-master-storyteller-with-ursula-buchan-tickets-1366141067709" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outwith-writing-john-buchan-master-storyteller-with-ursula-buchan-tickets-1366141067709"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outwith</span><span class="invisible">-writing-john-buchan-master-storyteller-with-ursula-buchan-tickets-1366141067709</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/johnbuchan/" rel="tag">#JohnBuchan</a> <a href="/tags/novelist/" rel="tag">#novelist</a></p>

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

277d

<p>My childhood passes on a bicycle<br>Down West Coats Road, beneath our sycamore<br>That filters July sunlight through the slow<br>Sidereal quiet of the suburb…</p><p>—Robert Crawford, “Cambuslang”<br>published in SELECTED POEMS, (Jonathan Cape, 2011)</p><p><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/362438/selected-poems-by-robert-crawford/9781446484227" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.penguin.co.uk/books/362438/selected-poems-by-robert-crawford/9781446484227"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.penguin.co.uk/books/362438</span><span class="invisible">/selected-poems-by-robert-crawford/9781446484227</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/cambuslang/" rel="tag">#Cambuslang</a> <a href="/tags/glasgow/" rel="tag">#Glasgow</a></p>

Cambuslang
Robert Crawford

My childhood passes on a bicycle
Down West Coats Road, beneath our sycamore
That filters July sunlight through the slow
Sidereal quiet of the suburb

Where my father calls our garden “the croft”, and grows
Rows of potatoes, a countryman Glasgow disguised
Too long as a bank teller. A piece of broken glass
Shines on the lawn. Something always glistens

In the yards of grass that gently separate
A small boy from this same house where my parents
Live on together, smiling just beyond
The flowers-only gardens, the conservation area.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

277d

<p>Dive Into Over 10,000 Historical Children’s Books Thanks to This Fascinating Database</p><p>Children’s books are some of the first things that form us. The University of Florida’s Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature traces that transformation, encompassing some of the world’s finest examples of what is now affectionately referred to as “kid lit.”</p><p>By Eva Baron </p><p><a href="https://mymodernmet.com/baldwin-library-of-historical-childrens-literature-database/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="mymodernmet.com/baldwin-library-of-historical-childrens-literature-database/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">mymodernmet.com/baldwin-librar</span><span class="invisible">y-of-historical-childrens-literature-database/</span></a>?</p><p>Children literature at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=children+literature" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=children+literature"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=children+literature</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a></p>

Sleeping Beauty and the palace dwellers under a century-long sleep enchantment (The Sleeping Beauty by Sir Edward Burne-Jones).

David Nash Ford - http://www.berkshirehistory.com/odds/briar_rose.html

"The Rose Bower" from the "Legend of Briar Rose" by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, located at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire.

The painting depicts the moment from the Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose) legend, where the princess lies asleep with her ladies-in-waiting. The entire court has been overtaken by the enchanted sleep.

In this panel, the princess lies elegantly on a carved wooden bed, her delicate form draped in flowing, richly colored robes. Around her, maids and attendants rest in languid poses, some slumped in chairs or on cushions, their heads drooping in enchanted slumber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty#/media/File:The_Rose_Bower_Buscot_Park.jpg

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

301d

<p>Help! Murder! Polis!</p><p>“Whether buried in the blackhouses of Lewis or the shuttered shipyards of Glasgow, Scotland’s mysteries speak to specific legacies which have shaped the land- & cityscapes that house its crimes”</p><p>THE BOTTLE IMP goes on the trail of Scottish crime writing…</p><p>1/8</p><p><a href="https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/06/help-murder-polis/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/06/help-murder-polis/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/0</span><span class="invisible">6/help-murder-polis/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/crimewriting/" rel="tag">#crimewriting</a> <a href="/tags/crimefiction/" rel="tag">#crimefiction</a></p>

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

301d

<p>Life in Jane Austen’s Goshen</p><p>“This is Goshen,” my mother and father would frequently say. The idea was simple, perhaps, but it said as much about my parents’ perceptions of the outside world as it did about their vision for our home. </p><p>By Caleb Gayle</p><p>Mansfield Park at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/141" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/141</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Illustration for ch.7 of Mansfield Park, in the Series of English Idylls, published by J.M Dent & Co. (London) and E.P. Dutton & Co. (New York). " While Fanny cut the roses ".

The scene is pastoral and gentle, set in a lush garden or estate landscape typical of the English countryside.

Fanny Price, the novel’s shy and thoughtful heroine, is depicted outdoors, cutting roses from a blooming bush.

Fanny wears a long, flowing Regency-era dress, modest and light-colored, with gentle folds and period-appropriate details like a sash or high waistline.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mansfield_Park_(C._E._Brock)#/media/File:Mp-Brock-06.jpg

2 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

277d

<p>Professors & authors Zoë Strachan & Louise Welsh on “Families in Time, Families in Crime” – recorded on 17 June</p><p>“Reading Scotland” is a virtual community run by JGU Mainz, bringing together Germans & Scots & all who have an interest in Scottish life & literature</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8oQfsQ3_I" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8oQfsQ3_I"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8oQf</span><span class="invisible">sQ3_I</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

301d

<p>Goonie: Poetry Extravaganza with Michael Mullen & Friends<br>20 June, Lighthouse Books, Edinburgh. £0–£10.99</p><p>Exploring queerness through fierce lyrical poetry & celebrating Scotland through vernacular vignettes, GOONIE is Michael Mullen’s debut collection</p><p><a href="https://lighthousebookshop.com/events/goonie-poetry-extravaganza-with-michael-mullen-and-friends" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lighthousebookshop.com/events/goonie-poetry-extravaganza-with-michael-mullen-and-friends"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lighthousebookshop.com/events/</span><span class="invisible">goonie-poetry-extravaganza-with-michael-mullen-and-friends</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/queer/" rel="tag">#queer</a> <a href="/tags/queerness/" rel="tag">#queerness</a> <a href="/tags/scotland/" rel="tag">#Scotland</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a></p>

A bumfled rug, dark blue, with a red, yellow, pink, white and green floral pattern. Text:

poetry launch
michael mullen
+ fellow Edwin Morgan Award Winners
friday 20th june
indie bookshop week
poetry extravaganza

Next to the text is a cover image for GOONIE, by Michael Mullen. Looking down at a carpet of the same design, we can see a pair of feet wearing black men's shoes and dark trousers, and a single foot wearing a silver slipper-style woman's shoe and a bright red stocking.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

278d

<p>10 famous quotes from George Orwell’s 1984 that still resonate</p><p><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/web-stories/10-famous-quotes-from-george-orwells-1984-that-still-resonate/photostory/122249713.cms" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/web-stories/10-famous-quotes-from-george-orwells-1984-that-still-resonate/photostory/122249713.cms"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">timesofindia.indiatimes.com/li</span><span class="invisible">fe-style/books/web-stories/10-famous-quotes-from-george-orwells-1984-that-still-resonate/photostory/122249713.cms</span></a></p><p>More about "1984";<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen</span><span class="invisible">_Eighty-Four</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a></p>

The first edition cover of George Orwell's book, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

Michael Kennard - https://interminablerambling.com/2020/10/21/george-orwell-1984/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#/media/File:1984_first_edition_cover.jpg

2 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

300d

<p>Yeats Day marks 160 years since Nobel Laureate's birth</p><p>By Shane Ó Curraighín</p><p><a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2025/0613/1518359-yeats-day-sligo/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.rte.ie/news/regional/2025/0613/1518359-yeats-day-sligo/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.rte.ie/news/regional/2025/</span><span class="invisible">0613/1518359-yeats-day-sligo/</span></a></p><p>Yeats at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1719" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1719"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/1719</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), poet. Charcoal drawing by John Singer Sargent (1908).

Yeats is depicted in three-quarter view, turned slightly to one side.

His face is long and sharply defined, with prominent cheekbones and a high forehead.

The eyes are deeply set and thoughtful, with a somewhat distant, contemplative gaze.

His hair is tousled and slightly wild, swept back from the forehead.

He wears a high-collared shirt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._B._Yeats#/media/File:Portrait_drawing_of_WB_Yeats_by_JS_Sargent.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

300d

<p>British Library to reinstate Oscar Wilde’s reader card 130 years after it was revoked</p><p>Pass to be presented to playwright’s grandson after original cancelled over conviction for gross indecency</p><p>By Dalya Alberge</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jun/13/british-library-reinstate-oscar-wilde-reader-card" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jun/13/british-library-reinstate-oscar-wilde-reader-card"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/culture/20</span><span class="invisible">25/jun/13/british-library-reinstate-oscar-wilde-reader-card</span></a></p><p>Oscar Wilde at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/111" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/111"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/111</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony, albumen print on card mount, sheet 30.6 x 18.4 cm, on mount 33 x 19 cm. Notes 1045 U.S. Copyright Office. Title from item. No. 22. Copyright by N. Sarony.

Oscar Wilde is captured in a full-length pose, leaning languidly to one side, his body curved with relaxed confidence.

He is dressed in fashionably eccentric attire: a velvet coat or jacket, silk cravat or ascot, knee breeches.

Wilde holds a cane.

His hair is shoulder-length.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde#/media/File:Oscar_Wilde_by_Napoleon_Sarony._Three-quarter-length_photograph,_seated.jpg

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

300d

<p>James Hutton (1726–1797), father of modern geology, was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 14 June (NS; 3 June OS). One of the first European proponents of “deep time”, the conclusion of his 1788 paper “Theory of the Earth” has been called one of the most lyrical sentences in all of science:</p><p>The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,—no prospect of an end.</p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/2808" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/2808"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.nationalgalleries.org/art-</span><span class="invisible">and-artists/2808</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/enlightenment/" rel="tag">#Enlightenment</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/deeptime/" rel="tag">#DeepTime</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/geology/" rel="tag">#geology</a></p>

A portrait of James Hutton, painted by Sir Henry Raeburn. Oil on canvas, c. 1776. Hutton – a slim, middle-aged man, clean-shaven and with a receding hairline – sits in a plain wooden chair. His left leg is crossed over his right knee, and his hands are interlaced on his lap. He wears a brown eighteenth-century suit, with knee breeches. To his left is a table covered by a green cloth; on the table are piles of papers and a collection of rocks and fossils.

2 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

300d

<p>I Can Read You Like a Book: On Northanger Abbey</p><p>By B. D. McClay</p><p>“How are people, at any rate, to be understood?”</p><p><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/06/09/i-can-read-you-like-a-book-on-northanger-abbey/?utm_source=The+Paris+Review+Newsletter&utm_campaign=183685b4b4-TPRMailchimp_20250613_WEEKLY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_35491ea532-183685b4b4-55433165&mc_cid=183685b4b4&mc_eid=1ab9ba5038" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/06/09/i-can-read-you-like-a-book-on-northanger-abbey/?utm_source=The+Paris+Review+Newsletter&utm_campaign=183685b4b4-TPRMailchimp_20250613_WEEKLY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_35491ea532-183685b4b4-55433165&mc_cid=183685b4b4&mc_eid=1ab9ba5038"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theparisreview.org/blog/20</span><span class="invisible">25/06/09/i-can-read-you-like-a-book-on-northanger-abbey/?utm_source=The+Paris+Review+Newsletter&utm_campaign=183685b4b4-TPRMailchimp_20250613_WEEKLY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_35491ea532-183685b4b4-55433165&mc_cid=183685b4b4&mc_eid=1ab9ba5038</span></a></p><p>Northanger Abbey at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/121" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/121</a> </p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Tinted Line Drawing by H.M. Brock for Northanger Abbey, ch 22 (II, 7) Henry drove so well.

The scene is set outdoors, likely along a country lane near Northanger Abbey.

Henry Tilney is depicted driving a carriage with confidence and ease. He sits upright with relaxed command, holding the reins skillfully.

Catherine Morland sits beside him, looking either directly at Henry or gazing around her with admiration and contentment.

The carriage is drawn by a pair of elegant horses, rendered with clean, expressive lines that capture their movement.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2northanger_abbey-04.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

300d

<p>Bloody Scotland 2025<br>A Kick Up the Arts with Ian Rankin, Natalie Jayne Clark & Gordon Brown</p><p>Recorded at the launch of Bloody Scotland 2025, host Nicola Meighan is joined by Sir Ian Rankin, Bloody Scotland founder and author Gordon Brown – aka Morgan Cry – and writer Natalie Jayne Clark, whose new book The Malt Whisky Murders is shortlisted for the festival’s 2025 debut novel prize.</p><p><a href="https://www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-1/bloody-scotland-2025-with-ian-rankin-natalie-jayne-clark-amp-gordon-brown" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-1/bloody-scotland-2025-with-ian-rankin-natalie-jayne-clark-amp-gordon-brown"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-</span><span class="invisible">1/bloody-scotland-2025-with-ian-rankin-natalie-jayne-clark-amp-gordon-brown</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/podcast/" rel="tag">#podcast</a> <a href="/tags/crimewriting/" rel="tag">#crimewriting</a></p>

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

275d

<p>The French liar</p><p>René Descartes, the founder of modern philosophy, was furiously condemned by his contemporaries. Why did they fear him?</p><p>By Sandrine Parageau</p><p><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/was-rene-descartes-a-self-centred-guru-and-a-lying-fraud?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dbc992bbc2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="aeon.co/essays/was-rene-descartes-a-self-centred-guru-and-a-lying-fraud?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dbc992bbc2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">aeon.co/essays/was-rene-descar</span><span class="invisible">tes-a-self-centred-guru-and-a-lying-fraud?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dbc992bbc2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972</span></a></p><p>Descartes at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/44</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/philosophy/" rel="tag">#Philosophy</a></p>

The Blind Leading the Blind (1568) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The painting depicts six blind men, linked together by holding onto each other’s shoulders or sticks, stumbling across an uneven landscape. They move diagonally across the canvas, from the left foreground toward the right background.

The diagonal composition can be broken into nine parts with two sets of parallel lines perpendicular to each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Leading_the_Blind#/media/File:%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%87%D0%B0_%D0%BE_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%8B%D1%85.jpeg

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

299d

<p>‘Difficult love’: Spanish publisher reprints groundbreaking book of Lorca’s homoerotic sonnets</p><p>Federico García Lorca’s poems were printed anonymously in 1983 after being hidden away by family for 50 years</p><p>By Sam Jones </p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jun/13/spanish-publisher-reprints-sonnets-of-dark-love-federico-garcia-lorca" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jun/13/spanish-publisher-reprints-sonnets-of-dark-love-federico-garcia-lorca"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/culture/20</span><span class="invisible">25/jun/13/spanish-publisher-reprints-sonnets-of-dark-love-federico-garcia-lorca</span></a> </p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Photo of Federico García Lorca, dedicated to Xavier Bóveda.

Lorca's face is captured in sharp relief: high forehead, strong jawline, deeply expressive eyes.

His hair is dark, neatly combed back—shorter on the sides.

He wears a crisp, light-colored shirt under a dark tailored jacket.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Federico_Garc%C3%ADa_Lorca#/media/File:Federico_Garc%C3%ADa_Lorca,_dedicada_a_Xavier_B%C3%B3veda,_1933.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

299d

<p>All 41 Plates From Evelyn Waugh’s Victorian Blood Book, Durenstein!</p><p>This large rectangular decoupage scrapbook of 41 plates bound and wrapped in marble endpapers is remarkable, strange and unsettling, with echoes of illuminated medieval manuscripts and Rosicrucianism.</p><p><a href="https://flashbak.com/evelyn-waugh-victorian-blood-book-durenstein-476211/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="flashbak.com/evelyn-waugh-victorian-blood-book-durenstein-476211/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">flashbak.com/evelyn-waugh-vict</span><span class="invisible">orian-blood-book-durenstein-476211/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Portrait of Evelyn Waugh, circa 1940.

Waugh sits or stands waist‑up, facing the camera with a calm expression. His eyes reflect both poise and a hint of world-weariness.

He wears a neatly combed hairstyle, parted on the side. His clothing is dark and formal—likely a sport coat over a shirt and tie

Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964) - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3a42832.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh#/media/File:Evelynwaugh.jpeg

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

299d

<p>Whatever the difference is, it all began<br>the day we woke up face-to-face like lovers<br>and his four-day-old smile dawned on him again,<br>possessed him, till it would not fall or waver…</p><p>—Don Paterson, “Waking with Russell”<br>published in Selected Poems (Faber, 2012)</p><p><a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571281800-selected-poems/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571281800-selected-poems/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.faber.co.uk/product/978057</span><span class="invisible">1281800-selected-poems/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/fathersday/" rel="tag">#FathersDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Waking with Russell
by Don Paterson

Whatever the difference is, it all began
the day we woke up face-to-face like lovers
and his four-day-old smile dawned on him again,
possessed him, till it would not fall or waver;
and I pitched back not my old hard-pressed grin
but his own smile, or one I’d rediscovered.
Dear son, I was mezzo del cammin
and the true path was as lost to me as ever
when you cut in front and lit it as you ran.
See how the true gift never leaves the giver:
returned and redelivered, it rolled on
until the smile poured through us like a river.
How fine, I thought, this waking amongst men!
I kissed your mouth and pledged myself forever.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

276d

<p>The young Oscar Wilde’s Russian revolutionary drama reveals a playwright divided</p><p>Vera; or, The Nihilists concerns a plot to kill a tsar but after Alexander II was assassinated, its London premiere was cancelled. Now receiving a rare production, it captures his conflict between ethics and aesthetics</p><p>By Michael Billington</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jul/07/oscar-wilde-russian-revolutionary-drama-vera-or-the-nihilists" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jul/07/oscar-wilde-russian-revolutionary-drama-vera-or-the-nihilists"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/stage/2025</span><span class="invisible">/jul/07/oscar-wilde-russian-revolutionary-drama-vera-or-the-nihilists</span></a></p><p>Vera; or, The Nihilists at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26494" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26494</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/theatre/" rel="tag">#Theatre</a></p>

Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony.

Wilde is dressed in stylish, somewhat flamboyant attire—a velvet jacket, knee breeches, silk stockings, and often holding a soft hat or a cane, embodying the dandy aesthetic.

Wilde’s longish, wavy hair frames his face, emphasizing his androgynous beauty and poetic persona.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde#/media/File:Oscar_Wilde_by_Napoleon_Sarony._Three-quarter-length_photograph,_seated.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

299d

<p>In the house where he sleeps<br>let my ears<br>be the leaves at the window.</p><p>Let the bulbs of the lamps<br>be my eyes<br>on the animal street…</p><p>—Miriam Nash, “Prayer for My Father as a Child”<br>published in All the Prayers in the House (Bloodaxe, 2017)</p><p><a href="https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/all-the-prayers-in-the-house-1150" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/all-the-prayers-in-the-house-1150"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/prod</span><span class="invisible">uct/all-the-prayers-in-the-house-1150</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/fathersday/" rel="tag">#FathersDay</a></p>

Prayer for My Father as a Child
by Miriam Nash

In the house where he sleeps
let my ears
be the leaves at the window.

Let the bulbs of the lamps
be my eyes
on the animal street.

Let the shadows that harbour
my unborn body
stir when harm is stirring.

I’ll sleep in the drawer
with the knives.
I’ll turn in the locks.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

Previous Page Next Page