literature

1y

<p>German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1724.</p><p>He is best known for his epic poem "Der Messias" which was heavily influenced by John Milton's "Paradise Lost" but distinguished itself with its intense emotionality and religious fervor. Klopstock also wrote numerous odes and lyric poems that celebrated themes of friendship, patriotism, nature, and spirituality. Notable collections include "Odes" and "Poetische Werke".</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6558" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6558"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/6558</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Klopstock by Johann Caspar Füssli (1750)
Johann Caspar Füssli - Das Jahrhundert der Freundschaft. Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim und seine Zeitgenossen, ed. Ute Pott (Göttingen: Wallstein, 2004), p. 25.

Image of a man with white hair and a red tie in a painting.

Titelblatt der Erstausgabe der ersten drei Gesänge des Messias (1749).

Klopstock began writing "Der Messias" in 1748. This epic poem, written in unrhymed hexameters, is a religious and lyrical masterpiece that narrates the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It was heavily influenced by John Milton's "Paradise Lost" but distinguished itself with its intense emotionality and religious fervor.

The first three cantos were published in 1748, and the poem was eventually completed in 1773. The work was groundbreaking for its time, emphasizing religious devotion and the sublime rather than the rationality and order typical of Enlightenment literature.

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160d

<p>WRITERS!</p><p>Submissions invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a>, & <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!</p><p>@writingcommunity </p><p>Submit free via Submittable 👇</p><p><a href="https://nws.submittable.com/submit" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>nws.submittable.com/submit</a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/writing/" rel="tag">#writing</a> <a href="/tags/writingcommunity/" rel="tag">#WritingCommunity</a> <a href="/tags/iamwriting/" rel="tag">#IAmWriting</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/shortfiction/" rel="tag">#shortfiction</a> <a href="/tags/shortstories/" rel="tag">#shortstories</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a></p>

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228d

<p>this is thi<br>six a clock<br>news thi<br>man said n<br>thi reason<br>a talk wia<br>BBC accent<br>iz coz yi<br>widny wahnt<br>mi ti talk<br>aboot thi<br>trooth wia<br>voice lik<br>wanna yoo<br>scruff. if<br>a toktaboot<br>thi trooth<br>lik wanna yoo<br>scruff yi<br>widny thingk<br>it wuz troo.<br>jist wanna yoo<br>scruff tokn.</p><p>—Tom Leonard, “The Six O’Clock News”<br>🎂 Tom Leonard, 22 Aug 1944</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/glasgow/" rel="tag">#Glasgow</a> <a href="/tags/glaswegian/" rel="tag">#Glaswegian</a> <a href="/tags/voice/" rel="tag">#voice</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/tomleonard/" rel="tag">#TomLeonard</a></p>

The Six O’Clock News
Tom Leonard

this is thi
six a clock
news thi
man said n
thi reason
a talk wia
BBC accent
iz coz yi
widny wahnt
mi ti talk
aboot thi
trooth wia
voice lik
wanna yoo
scruff. if
a toktaboot
thi trooth
lik wanna yoo
scruff yi
widny thingk
it wuz troo.
jist wanna yoo
scruff tokn.
thirza right
way ti spell
ana right way
to tok it. this
is me tokn yir
right way a
spellin. this
is ma trooth.
yooz doant no
thi trooth
yirsellz cawz
yi canny talk
right. this is
the six a clock
nyooz. belt up.

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118d

<p>I am a human being <br>and I exist</p><p>a human being<br>and a citizen of the world</p><p>responsible to that world<br>– and responsible for that world</p><p>—Tom Leonard, “Being a Human Being”<br>First published in PN Review 32 (2005)</p><p>Today, 10 December, is Human Rights Day </p><p><a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.un.org/en/observances/huma</span><span class="invisible">n-rights-day</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/humanrights/" rel="tag">#HumanRights</a> <a href="/tags/humanrightsday/" rel="tag">#HUmanRightsDay</a></p>

Being a Human Being
Tom Leonard

for Mordechai Vanunu

not to be complicit
not to accept everyone else is silent it must be alright

not to keep one’s mouth shut to hold onto one’s job
not to accept public language as cover and decoy

not to put friends and family before the rest of the world
not to say I am wrong when you know the government is wrong

not to be just a bought behaviour pattern
to accept the moment and fact of choice

I am a human being
and I exist

a human being
and a citizen of the world

responsible to that world
– and responsible for that world

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92d

<p>Off Lindisfarne<br>the waves shiver like monks<br>at their ablutions.</p><p>Under high horizontals<br>of ice-cloud, the sky<br>scrubbed clean as a dairy.</p><p>The train darts north,<br>hungry as a tongue…</p><p>—Alison Fell, “January, 5”<br>published in LIGHTYEAR (Smokestack Books, 2005)</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/january-5/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/january-5/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/january-5/</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/winter/" rel="tag">#winter</a></p>

January, 5
by Alison Fell

Off Lindisfarne
the waves shiver like monks
at their ablutions.

Under high horizontals
of ice-cloud, the sky
scrubbed clean as a dairy.

The train darts north,
hungry as a tongue.

Only the exile longs for
the words to name a country:

either live it or learn,
at a bare table,

ancestral silence, like a rumble
deep in the loch’s throat,

the forgotten song
of the curling-stone,

the snow slipping like white meat
from the bones of the mountain.

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1y

<p>American author and journalist Rebecca Harding Davis was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1831.</p><p>"Life in the Iron Mills" (1861): Davis´s most famous work, originally published anonymously in the Atlantic Monthly, is considered one of the earliest examples of American realism. It depicts the harsh realities of life for industrial workers and is noted for its empathetic portrayal of the working class.</p><p>Books by Rebecca Harding Davis at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/186" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/186"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/186</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

American novelist Rebecca Harding Davis.

A monochrome photograph featuring a woman with long hair, from the past.

Cover page of Life in the Iron-Mills; Or, The Korl Woman by Rebecca Harding Davis.

"Life in the Iron Mills; or, The Korl Woman" is a novella by Rebecca Harding Davis, first published in 1861 in the Atlantic Monthly. It is considered a pioneering work of American realism and is notable for its social critique and empathetic portrayal of the working class during the Industrial Revolution.

The novella is set in a dreary industrial town and revolves around the lives of Hugh Wolfe, a furnace tender in an iron mill, and his cousin Deborah, who works in a cotton mill. The story is narrated by an unnamed observer who provides a grim depiction of the industrial environment and the dehumanizing conditions faced by the workers.

"Life in the Iron Mills" remains a seminal work in American literature, celebrated for its empathetic portrayal of the working class and its pioneering role in the development of literary realism.

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159d

<p>Victorian Horror and the Search for Truth</p><p>by Emily Erwin</p><p><a href="https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/victorian-horror-and-the-search-for-truth/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.wordonfire.org/articles/victorian-horror-and-the-search-for-truth/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.wordonfire.org/articles/vi</span><span class="invisible">ctorian-horror-and-the-search-for-truth/</span></a></p><p>The Woman in White at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/583" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/583</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Walter Hartright's first encounter with 'The Woman in White'. Illustration by Thomas Eyre Macklin.

Illustration for The Woman in White, a lithograph by Thomas Eyre Macklin RBA (1867–1943), a British artist, illustrator and sculptor.

It depicts the haunting nighttime meeting between the young drawing master Walter Hartright and the mysterious woman dressed entirely in white, from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

The scene shows the two figures standing on a dimly lit country road. Walter, dressed in formal Victorian attire with a tall hat and cloak, looks toward the woman with a mix of surprise and concern. The woman in white, her expression anxious and imploring, gestures toward the distance as she asks, “Is that the road to London?” Her light gown and bonnet stand out against the shadowed background and cloudy night sky, enhancing her spectral presence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)#/media/File:Illustration_by_Thomas_Eyre_Macklin_for_The_Woman_in_White_(1).jpg

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92d

<p>RE: <a href="https://mastodon.scot/@scotlit/115842616105911298" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="mastodon.scot/@scotlit/115842616105911298"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">mastodon.scot/@scotlit/1158426</span><span class="invisible">16105911298</span></a></p><p>“The killer is never assumed to be a local East Ender… He’s always judged to be a man out of place, flipping between high society by day & the dark & dirty streets of Whitechapel by night”</p><p>Lucy Worsley on how Robert Louis Stevenson’s JEKYLL & HYDE influenced the legend of Jack the Ripper</p><p><a href="https://www.salon.com/2014/10/18/jack_the_rippers_long_shadow_from_sherlock_holmes_to_jekyll_hyde/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.salon.com/2014/10/18/jack_the_rippers_long_shadow_from_sherlock_holmes_to_jekyll_hyde/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.salon.com/2014/10/18/jack_</span><span class="invisible">the_rippers_long_shadow_from_sherlock_holmes_to_jekyll_hyde/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/robertlouisstevenson/" rel="tag">#RobertLouisStevenson</a> <a href="/tags/jekyllandhyde/" rel="tag">#JekyllandHyde</a> <a href="/tags/horror/" rel="tag">#horror</a> <a href="/tags/gothic/" rel="tag">#gothic</a> <a href="/tags/jacktheripper/" rel="tag">#JacktheRipper</a></p>

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159d

<p>Rubbing a glistening circle<br>on the steamed-up window I framed <br>a pheasant in a field of mist…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “Aberdeen Train”<br>published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/ind</span><span class="invisible">exer?product=9781784109967</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/chineseart/" rel="tag">#ChineseArt</a> <a href="/tags/edwinmorgan/" rel="tag">#EdwinMorgan</a> <a href="/tags/autumn/" rel="tag">#autumn</a> <a href="/tags/october/" rel="tag">#October</a></p>

Edwin Morgan
Aberdeen Train

Rubbing a glistening circle
on the steamed-up window I framed
a pheasant in a field of mist.
The sun was a great red thing somewhere low,
struggling with the milky scene. In the furrows
a piece of glass winked into life,
hypnotized the silly dandy; we
hooted past him with his head cocked,
contemplating a bottle-end,
and this was the last of October,
a Chinese moment in the Mearns.

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159d

<p>He telt us his wife had run aff wi Super Mario.<br>Noo, he wis dinin on the dustbins, dwinin awa<br>for want o a pouer pill and a braw sheenie cherry…</p><p>—Amy Jo Philip, “Pac-Man’s Last Stand”<br>in DOUBLE BILL (Red Squirrel Press 2014)<br>🟡 🍒 👻 </p><p>Happy 45th birthday to Pac-Man!</p><p><a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/double-bill-andy-jackson" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/double-bill-andy-jackson"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.redsquirrelpress.com/produ</span><span class="invisible">ct-page/double-bill-andy-jackson</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/pacman/" rel="tag">#PacMan</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/gaming/" rel="tag">#gaming</a> <a href="/tags/retrogaming/" rel="tag">#retrogaming</a> <a href="/tags/googledoodle/" rel="tag">#GoogleDoodle</a></p>

Pac-Man’s Last Stand
Amy Jo Philip

We funt him dossin in a piss-scented close
oot the back o a defunct arcade,
his canary coupon dulled fae dool and stour
tae say naething o the bargain booze he swallied
fae a bottle happed in a broun paper poke.

He telt us his wife had run aff wi Super Mario.
Noo, he wis dinin on the dustbins, dwinin awa
for want o a pouer pill and a braw sheenie cherry;
in a constant, feartie, blootered dwam
o Inky, Blinky, Pinky and even Clyde closin in

for the kill. Haurdly a shaddae o his auld sel.
The worst o it wis, every time he yawned
his gub wid gant that wee tait wider till it seemed
he’d fauld in on hissel and the air aroun him growe
shairp wi they twa wirds ilka gamer dreids.

Naiturally, we taen him hame wi’s and fed him up
on spare fou stops, Morellos and tartrazine.
Man, ye shuid hae seen thon appetite!
The trouble stairted wi a toattie bite taen out
the sofa. Afore lang, the living room was a guddle

o sawdust, torn swatches and chowed wires. Im gey feart
he’ll soon hae eaten us oot o hous and hauld.
And that’s whaur youse come in. A puckle wee ghosties
dinnae fleg me, but yon yellae golach’s anither story.
The doors and windaes is aw locked. He’ll no suspect a thing.

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159d

<p>Meet the Real Dr. Frankenstein</p><p>The Italian scientist who sparked an electric revolution that led to the beloved horror story—and the battery</p><p>By Molly Glick</p><p><a href="https://nautil.us/meet-the-real-dr-frankenstein-1245010/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="nautil.us/meet-the-real-dr-frankenstein-1245010/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">nautil.us/meet-the-real-dr-fra</span><span class="invisible">nkenstein-1245010/</span></a></p><p>Galvani and Frankenstein at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/27281" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/27281"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje</span><span class="invisible">ct/27281</span></a><br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a></p>

Luigi Galvani - De viribus electricitatis in motu musculari commentarius, Tav. 1

Luigi Galvani experiment on frogs legs.

In this 18th-century scientific engraving, Galvani demonstrates how electricity can cause muscular movement in a dissected frog’s legs. The scene typically shows frog limbs connected by metal wires to an electrical source or to a metal arc, producing visible contractions when the circuit is completed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Galvani#/media/File:Luigi_Galvani_Experiment.jpeg

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159d

<p>R.B. & Gabriela Cunninghame Graham: International Travel, Domestic Reality<br>28 November, University of Glasgow – free</p><p>A symposium exploring the cultural & political significance of Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham’s travels & travel-writing; the question of his wife Gabriela’s identity & his collusion in the deception at its heart; his writing about women & the equality of the sexes.</p><p><a href="https://wegottickets.com/event/677550" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>wegottickets.com/event/677550</a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/travel/" rel="tag">#travel</a> <a href="/tags/travelwriting/" rel="tag">#travelwriting</a> <a href="/tags/equality/" rel="tag">#equality</a></p>

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159d

<p>“That’s Why We Become Witches”: Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes (1926)</p><p>"A novel about a woman who throws off the yoke of patriarchy to become a witch."</p><p><a href="https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/lolly-willowes/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="publicdomainreview.org/collection/lolly-willowes/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">publicdomainreview.org/collect</span><span class="invisible">ion/lolly-willowes/</span></a></p><p>The book at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72223" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72223</a></p><p><a href="/tags/witches/" rel="tag">#witches</a> <a href="/tags/supernatural/" rel="tag">#supernatural</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Halloween: illustration shows a witch riding on a broom with a black cat.

Edited 159d ago

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159d

<p>The Uncanny Scot</p><p>To get you in the mood for Halloween, this back issue of The Bottle Imp pursues the spectre of the Scottish Gothic – including HP Lovecraft’s favourite Scots word …</p><p>From ghoulies and ghosties<br>And long-leggity beasties<br>And things that go bump in the night,<br>Good Lord, deliver us!</p><p>🎃 <br>(the absence of a neep emoji is cultural imperialism at its worst)</p><p><a href="https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2009/11/editorial-the-uncanny-scot-scottish-gothic/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2009/11/editorial-the-uncanny-scot-scottish-gothic/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2009/1</span><span class="invisible">1/editorial-the-uncanny-scot-scottish-gothic/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/horror/" rel="tag">#horror</a> <a href="/tags/gothic/" rel="tag">#gothic</a> <a href="/tags/halloween/" rel="tag">#halloween</a> <a href="/tags/lovecraft/" rel="tag">#Lovecraft</a> <a href="/tags/hplovecraft/" rel="tag">#HPLovecraft</a></p>

The Uncanny Scot
By The Unreliable Narrator

Readers of a nervous disposition, turn away! This issue of The Bottle Imp pursues the spectre of the Gothic. Naught but ruined towers, blasted heaths, and cold wastes lie within.

Horror seeps in to this our waking world from the margins, and the marginalised. Scotland lies on Britain’s edge, a ragged, ancient fringe. The very rocks beneath our feet are primeval: they count their years in billions, and were old past knowing when first things sneaked and scuttled from out the slime. The skin is thinner here, stretched more tightly over the bones of the Earth.

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118d

<p>George MacDonald (1824–1905) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 10 Dec. One of the earliest theorists of the fantastic, & grandfather of modern fantasy literature, he was read & admired by CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien & Madeleine L’Engle, among others </p><p>@litstudies </p><p>🎨 : Cecilia Harrison (1863–1941)</p><p>🧵 1/5</p><p><a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/3082" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/3082"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.nationalgalleries.org/art-</span><span class="invisible">and-artists/3082</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/fantasty/" rel="tag">#fantasty</a> <a href="/tags/childrenslit/" rel="tag">#childrenslit</a> <a href="/tags/cslewis/" rel="tag">#CSLewis</a> <a href="/tags/tolkien/" rel="tag">#Tolkien</a></p>

“George Macdonald, 1824–1905. Poet and novelist”, by Cecilia Harrison (1863–1941). Oil on canvas.

A portrait of an elderly man with a full white beard, wearing a brown jacket and a deep crimson-coloured cap. His pale grey-blue eyes look down and to the left of the painting, as he sits with his head resting on his right hand.

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118d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1905, O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi” is first published in The New York Sunday World. </p><p>The story at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7256" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7256</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Photograph of O. Henry

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92d

<p>Wordsworth Revolutionized Poetry But His Life Was Equally Interesting</p><p>"Who was William Wordsworth, and what made his poetry so revolutionary? Read about the life and works of this major Romantic poet."</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/william-wordsworth/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/william-wordsworth/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/william-w</span><span class="invisible">ordsworth/</span></a></p><p>Books by Wordsworth at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2879" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2879"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/2879</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Portrait of William Wordsworth, by William Shuter, 1798.

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157d

<p>The Distributed Proofreaders' blog this month is about another Edgar Allan Poe book at PG: "The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe."</p><p><a href="https://blog.pgdp.net/2025/11/01/nevermore/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="blog.pgdp.net/2025/11/01/nevermore/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">blog.pgdp.net/2025/11/01/never</span><span class="invisible">more/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe from 1849.

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157d

<p>Naomi Mitchison (née Haldane, 1897–1999) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 1 Nov, & saw almost every day of the <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a>. A hugely influential writer, with 80+ books—poetry, politics, historical novels, <a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#ScienceFiction</a>, <a href="/tags/fantasy/" rel="tag">#Fantasy</a>, <a href="/tags/childrensliterature/" rel="tag">#ChildrensLiterature</a> & more—to her credit</p><p>A 🎂🧵 </p><p>“She liked to challenge, she liked to shock, she liked to deliver the unexpected, she liked to experiment”</p><p>—Jenni Calder looks at Mitchison’s life & work</p><p>@litstudies <br>1/9</p><p><a href="https://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/09/25/naomi-mitchison/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/09/25/naomi-mitchison/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">dangerouswomenproject.org/2016</span><span class="invisible">/09/25/naomi-mitchison/</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></p>

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1y

<p>"Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity."<br>Phase the Fifth: The Woman Pays, ch. XLIII</p><p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1891.</p><p>Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles is serialized in expurgated form in the weekly illustrated newspaper The Graphic (London); in November the first (unexpurgated) book edition is published in London.</p><p>Tess of the d'Urbervilles at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/110" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/110</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Tess d'Urbervilles : a pure woman.

Faithfully presented by Thomas Hardy. - London : James R. Osgood : McIlvaine and Co., 1891. - 263 p. . Frontespizio

Hardy, Thomas - Available in the BEIC digital library and uploaded in partnership with BEIC Foundation.

"He jumped up from his seat... and went quickly toward the desire of his eyes." 1891 illustration by Joseph Syddall.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Illustration for The Graphic, 5 September 1891. 1891 illustration by Joseph Syddall for Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

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158d

<p>Halloween Stories</p><p>Why are Victorians the default haunted house, what do ghosts have to do with the imagination, and why do we like to be scared?</p><p>By The Editors</p><p><a href="https://daily.jstor.org/editors-picks-halloween/?utm_source=mcae&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jstordaily_10302025" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="daily.jstor.org/editors-picks-halloween/?utm_source=mcae&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jstordaily_10302025"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">daily.jstor.org/editors-picks-</span><span class="invisible">halloween/?utm_source=mcae&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jstordaily_10302025</span></a></p><p>Halloween at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=halloween" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=halloween"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje</span><span class="invisible">cts/search/?query=halloween</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

A Thrilling Hallowe'en." (Three black cats flying through the air with Jack-o-lanterns.

It depicts three black cats are shown flying through the air, their fur bristling and tails arched as if caught mid-leap or magically soaring. Each cat is accompanied by or carrying a glowing Jack-o’-lantern, the carved pumpkins casting a warm, orange light that contrasts with the dark background.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22A_Thrilling_Hallowe%27en.%22_(Three_black_cats_flying_through_the_air_with_Jack-o-lanterns).jpg

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158d

<p>Bite or Flight: Ranking Classic Vampire Strengths and Weaknesses</p><p>Different vampires have different rules — how do your favorites measure up?</p><p>By Rachel Ayers</p><p><a href="https://reactormag.com/bite-or-flight-ranking-classic-vampire-strengths-and-weaknesses/?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-99fqCNMVtcqKqAkA1ONHzCKSXZ5VFE-zyuzhkXiiLOrSszvIwpWINCTJ8BBH22k4EUayigArmR-mY2uet0UDTIvpoLYw&_hsmi=387512835&utm_content=387512835&utm_source=hs_email" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="reactormag.com/bite-or-flight-ranking-classic-vampire-strengths-and-weaknesses/?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-99fqCNMVtcqKqAkA1ONHzCKSXZ5VFE-zyuzhkXiiLOrSszvIwpWINCTJ8BBH22k4EUayigArmR-mY2uet0UDTIvpoLYw&_hsmi=387512835&utm_content=387512835&utm_source=hs_email"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">reactormag.com/bite-or-flight-</span><span class="invisible">ranking-classic-vampire-strengths-and-weaknesses/?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-99fqCNMVtcqKqAkA1ONHzCKSXZ5VFE-zyuzhkXiiLOrSszvIwpWINCTJ8BBH22k4EUayigArmR-mY2uet0UDTIvpoLYw&_hsmi=387512835&utm_content=387512835&utm_source=hs_email</span></a></p><p>The Vampyre by Polidori at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

The Vampyre by John William Polidori - Il vampiro sorte dal nulla.

The engraving depicts a dramatic nocturnal scene set in a graveyard:

On the left, a vampire figure rises from a tomb, holding a torch. His expression is intense and predatory, suggesting he has emerged from the grave to prey upon the living.

To the right, a bearded man in flowing robes gestures toward him, possibly representing a holy or moral authority attempting to repel or banish the creature.

In the foreground, a young woman lies unconscious or asleep, her pale face and limp posture indicating vulnerability—she is likely the vampire’s intended victim.

Surrounding them are tombs and weeping willows, contributing to the eerie, gothic atmosphere.

The Italian caption below translates roughly to:
“The vampire, driven by the fever of the grave, rises above the sleeping Miss Aubrey... but he does not reach her; a celestial power drives away the shadow of this infernal being, compelling him to abandon his prey.”

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Vampyre_(Polidori)#/media/File:The_Vampyre_by_John_William_Polidori_-_Il_vampiro_sorte_dal_nulla.jpg

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1947. The Diary of a Young Girl is published.</p><p>The book was written while Anne Frank was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944, & Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Anne's diaries were retrieved by Miep Gies & Bep Voskuijl. Miep gave them to Anne's father, Otto, the family's only survivor, just after the World War II was over.</p><p><a href="https://www.annefrank.ch/en/diary" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.annefrank.ch/en/diary</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Frank in May 1942, two months before she and her family went into hiding.

Unknown photographer - Anne Frank, 1942

The last known photograph of Anne taken in May 1942, taken at a passport photo shoot. (Photo collection Anne Frank House, Amsterdam. Public Domain Work)]

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158d

<p>Look who has come knocking for Halloween...</p><p>Fascinating and most informative, this detailed and deeply researched biography draws on previously unavailable correspondence to present a fuller picture of the life of Edgar Allan Poe.</p><p><a href="https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/10/31/book-review-edgar-allan-poe-a-life/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/10/31/book-review-edgar-allan-poe-a-life/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/</span><span class="invisible">10/31/book-review-edgar-allan-poe-a-life/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#BookReview</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/edgarallanpoe/" rel="tag">#EdgarAllanPoe</a> <a href="/tags/eapoe/" rel="tag">#EAPoe</a> <a href="/tags/biography/" rel="tag">#Biography</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/goth/" rel="tag">#Goth</a> <a href="/tags/gothic/" rel="tag">#Gothic</a> <a href="/tags/horror/" rel="tag">#Horror</a> <a href="/tags/halloween/" rel="tag">#Halloween</a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p>

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158d

<p>Someone was playing the piano when suddenly<br>there they were standing in the room.<br>They would not sing or speak or tell their names.<br>Their skull faces blankly shifted round<br>as if they were studying us implacably…</p><p>—Iain Crichton Smith, “Halloween”<br>first published in the TLS (1982)</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/halloween/" rel="tag">#Halloween</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

Halloween
Iain Crichton Smith

Someone was playing the piano when suddenly
there they were standing in the room.
They would not sing or speak or tell their names.
Their skull faces blankly shifted round
as if they were studying us implacably.

“Yokels”, one thought. “Rustics”, thought another;
and truly they had trudged in out of the rain
with their masks, tall and white and bony-looking.
“Macbeth”, someone said, and someone “Hamlet”.
Or perhaps at least the “Elegy” by Gray.

The rain drummed on the roof and they were gone
in their muddy boots, squelching past cowering doors.
We looked at each other. It was graveyard time
as our black ties on our white shirts might say.

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