literature

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

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

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104d

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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309d

#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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309d

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

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289d

#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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290d

#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)

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286d

#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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308d

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

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278d

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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275d

#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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284d

#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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284d

"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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284d

"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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowers%27_Houses

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276d

#OTD in 1892.

George Bernard Shaw's first play Widowers' Houses has its first performance, at the Royalty Theatre in London under the auspices of the Independent Theatre Society. The author is booed.

This is one of three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898. The other plays in the group are The Philanderer and Mrs. Warren's Profession.

Books by Bernard Shaw at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/467

G Bernard Shaw

Frederick H. Evans - National Portrait Gallery: NPG P113

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

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276d

#OTD in 1812.

Leigh Hunt is tried and convicted of libel for calling the Prince Regent "a violator of his word, a libertine over head and ears in debt and disgrace" in The Examiner on March 22.

Original files (with links) are available at @internetarchive

Books by Leigh Hunt at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3612

The Examiner 1812-12-06: Iss 258
Publication date 1812-12-06

https://archive.org/details/sim_examiner-a-weekly-paper-on-politics-literature-music_1812-12-06_258/page/n11/mode/2up

The Examiner 1812-03-22: Iss 221
Publication date 1812-03-22

https://archive.org/details/sim_examiner-a-weekly-paper-on-politics-literature-music_1812-03-22_221/mode/1up

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

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276d

"Was that, then, the way we do things? "Not knowing"— was that the way the most profound things happened? ... Was the secret of never escaping from the greater life the secret of living like a sleepwalker?"
The Passion According to G.H.

~Clarice Lispector (December 10, 1920 – December 9, 1977)

Uma coletânea de contos de Clarice Lispector (1920-1977), publicada em julho deste ano nos Estados Unidos com o título "The complete stories", entrou na lista dos 100 melhores livros de 2015 feita pelo jornal americano "The New York Times". A editora Rocco planeja publicar a versão nacional de "The complete stories" em abril de 2016. O título da versão nacional ainda não foi definido. Clarice Lispector nasceu em Tchetchelnick, na Ucrânia. Seu nome de batismo era Haia. Ela se mudou com a família para o Brasil em 1922 e aqui ganhou o nome de Clarice. Em sua lista de melhores do ano, o "New York Times" escreve que "a brasileira foi uma das verdadeiras [vozes] autênticas da literatura latino-americana". O jornal cita como exemplos desses "inovadores" o argentino Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), o mexicano Juan Rulfo (1917-1986) e o também brasileiro Machado de Assis (1839-1908).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_(novel)

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254d

"It is equally a fault to believe all men or to believe none."

#OTD in 1817.

Walter Scott's historical novel Rob Roy, written from this spring, is published anonymously by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh, while a shipload of copies is carried from Leith to London for simultaneous publication there by Longman.

Rob Roy at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/7025

Title page of Walter Scott's Rob Roy, 1st edition.

The title page of the first edition of Walter Scott's Rob Roy, published in 1817, reflects the typographical conventions of early 19th-century book design. It is simple and elegant, featuring the book's title, Rob Roy, prominently displayed in bold typeface near the top. Below the title, Scott is credited as the author, though he initially published his novels anonymously, often referring to himself as "the Author of Waverley."

The page includes the publisher's information—Archibald Constable and Co., based in Edinburgh—and the date of publication, 1817, typically at the bottom of the page. The layout is symmetrical, with ample margins and no elaborate illustrations or ornamentation, emphasizing clarity and function. The lack of visual embellishments aligns with the literary focus of the era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace#

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277d

"Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait."

In December 1869.

Publication of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace complete in book form concludes. It is printed in Moscow and sold by the author on subscription. Portions of an earlier version, titled The Year 1805, were serialized in The Russian Messenger from 1865 to 1867 before the novel was published in its entirety in 1869.

War and Peace at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/2600

Front page of War and Peace sixth volume, first edition, 1869 (Russian)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_Cub%27s_Handbook

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277d

In December 1917.

The first of many editions of Robert Baden-Powell's The Wolf Cub's Handbook is published.

The Wolf Cub's Handbook, in various editions, remained The Boy Scouts Association's official handbook for Wolf Cubs until The Chief Scout's Advance Party Report of 1966 recommended that less emphasis be placed on the Jungle Book theme and renamed its Wolf Cubs program as Cubs.

Books by Robert Baden-Powell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2144

Cover of The Wolf Cub's Handbook by Robert Baden-Powell, first published in 1916

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dorrit#

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277d

In December 1855.

Charles Dickens publishes the first instalment of Little Dorrit, which continues to appear into 1857.

Little Dorrit was published in 19 monthly instalments, each consisting of 32 pages with two illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne whose pen name was Phiz. Each instalment cost a shilling except for the last, a double issue which cost two shillings.

Little Dorrit at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/963

Cover of serial, "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens

#books #literature #poetry

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277d

In December 1914.

Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky, who writes under the pen name "Guillaume Apollinaire", enlists in the French Army to fight in World War I and becomes a French citizen after an August attempt at enlistment is rejected.

Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early 20th century, as well as one of the most impassioned defenders of Cubism and a forefather of Surrealism.

Books by Apollinaire at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6075

Photograph of Guillaume Apollinaire in spring 1916 after a shrapnel wound to his temple.

Apollinaire, wearing a military uniform, might appear seated or standing in a composed but slightly weary posture. His head is likely bandaged due to the shrapnel wound he sustained while serving as a soldier. The bandages emphasize the physical scars of war while also symbolizing the poet's enduring spirit amidst adversity.

His expression might convey a mix of stoicism and introspection, with his intense eyes reflecting his poetic sensibility and his experiences on the battlefield.

Du coton dans les oreilles

[première page]

Tant d'explosifs sur le point vif !
Ecris un mot si tu l'oses ?
Les points d'impact dans mon âme toujours en guerre
Ton troupeau féroce crache le feu
Ô Mégaphone
[écriteau]

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55569

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

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283d

#OTD in 1898.

Moscow Art Theatre's first season opens with a double bill of Emilia Matthai's Greta's Happiness and Carlo Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn. The successful and influential Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull by Chekhov (its Moscow première), would open on 29 December 1898.

The Russian actor and director Constantin Stanislavski in a production of Goldoni's Locandiera in 1898.

In this image, Stanislavski is dressed in an elaborate 18th-century costume reflective of the play's setting—a richly embroidered jacket, breeches, and a wig styled in the fashion of the period.

This image encapsulates his early experiments with realism, which would later form the foundation of his influential acting system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Death-Scene

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283d

"O Day! he cannot die
When thou so fair art shining!
O Sun, in such a glorious sky,
So tranquilly declining;..."

#OTD in 1844.

Emily Brontë writes the poem "A Death-Scene". It was published in 1846 in a book collecting poetry by Brontë and her siblings.

Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1019

#books #literature #poetry

Portrait of Emily Jane Brontë by Patrick Branwell Brontë.

Emily is dressed in plain, dark Victorian attire, with a high-collared dress that suggests her preference for simplicity over adornment. The muted color palette of the portrait adds to the somber yet striking impression she gives. Over time, this painting has become iconic, capturing the aura of mystery that surrounds Emily Brontë’s life and work. Branwell’s artistic style, while somewhat unpolished, imbues the portrait with an emotional depth that reflects his intimate knowledge of his sister’s character.

Edited 283d ago

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283d

#OTD in 1851.

The French coup d'état of 1851 prompts Victor Hugo to be a leader of an unsuccessful insurrection against it. He is forced into exile, initially to Brussels, then Jersey, from which he was expelled for supporting L’Homme. He finally settled with his family at Hauteville House in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, where he would live in exile from October 1855 until 1870.

Books by Victor Hugo at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/85

Charles Hugo - Victor Hugo on the Rock of the Exiles.

The photograph titled Victor Hugo on the Rock of the Exiles, taken by Charles Hugo, is a striking visual representation of the legendary French writer during his period of exile on the Channel Islands. The image captures Victor Hugo standing or seated on a rugged rock formation, overlooking the sea, symbolizing his defiance and resilience during his years away from France.

Hugo is typically depicted wearing dark, heavy clothing suitable for the windy, coastal environment. His demeanor is contemplative, with his gaze fixed on the horizon, evoking a sense of introspection and strength. The wild, untamed landscape around him complements the romantic and rebellious spirit of Hugo’s personality and his works.

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/73042

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306d

#OTD in 1928.

Radclyffe Hall's novel The Well of Loneliness, published by Jonathan Cape in London, is tried and convicted on the grounds of obscenity under the Hicklin test, after a campaign against it by James Douglas in the Sunday Express.