literature

<p>O come, let all 4,850 of us adore him</p><p>In 1925 the Associated Glee Clubs of America put on a concert like no other. 15 choral groups, with over 850 singers in all, came together in New York&#x27;s Metropolitan Opera House to sing a program broadcast on radio across America.<br> <br>By John Mark Ockerbloom</p><p><a href="https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/25/o-come-let-all-4850-of-us-adore-him/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/25/o-come-let-all-4850-of-us-adore-him/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">everybodyslibraries.com/2025/1</span><span class="invisible">2/25/o-come-let-all-4850-of-us-adore-him/</span></a></p><p>About Adeste Fideles:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_All_Ye_Faithful" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_All_Ye_Faithful"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_</span><span class="invisible">All_Ye_Faithful</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/music/" rel="tag">#music</a></p>

<p>Book launch<br>Ali Smith: GLYPH<br>29 Jan, Portobello Bookshop, Edinburgh, &amp; online – ticketed</p><p>Ghosts don’t exist.<br>They don’t. End of.<br>Story, however.<br>It is haunting.<br>Everything tells it.</p><p>GLYPH is Ali Smith’s most soulful, playful &amp; vital novel yet, a work of lightness that goes deep to counter the forces currently flattening the modern world. Smith will be in conversation with Jess Orr.</p><p><a href="https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/events/ali-smith-glyph" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theportobellobookshop.com/events/ali-smith-glyph"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theportobellobookshop.com/</span><span class="invisible">events/ali-smith-glyph</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/alismith/" rel="tag">#AliSmith</a></p>

<p>How Colette Was Inspired By Her Many Cats</p><p>Susannah Fullerton on the French Writer’s Feline Muses</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/how-colette-was-inspired-by-her-many-cats/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/how-colette-was-inspired-by-her-many-cats/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/how-colette-was-ins</span><span class="invisible">pired-by-her-many-cats/</span></a></p><p>Books by Colette at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2065" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2065"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/2065</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/animals/" rel="tag">#animals</a></p>

<p>Becoming Beatrice</p><p>Dante adored her so much that he cast her as his guide in the Divine Comedy. But who was Beatrice Portinari?</p><p>By: Emily Zarevich </p><p><a href="https://daily.jstor.org/becoming-beatrice/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="daily.jstor.org/becoming-beatrice/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">daily.jstor.org/becoming-beatr</span><span class="invisible">ice/</span></a></p><p>Divine Comedy at PG<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1004" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1004</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>In November 1848.</p><p>William Makepeace Thackeray&#x27;s novel The History of Pendennis begins its serial publication. The publication was paused for 3 months following the author’s illness after the September 1849 part.</p><p>The History of Pendennis at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/7265" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/7265</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>In November 1850</p><p>A new edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning&#x27;s Poems is published by Chapman &amp; Hall in London, including in volume 2 her Sonnets from the Portuguese.</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21161" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21161</a><br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2002" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2002</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>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1850.</p><p>Charles Dickens&#x27;s novel David Copperfield concludes serial publication and on November 14 appears complete in book form from Bradbury and Evans in London.</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/766" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/766</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1895</p><p>Thomas Hardy&#x27;s last completed novel, Jude the Obscure is published by Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co. in London, dated 1896, on completion of an expurgated serialization under the title Hearts Insurgent in Harper&#x27;s Magazine. </p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/153" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/153</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>HAPPY PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY! And Happy New Year!</p><p>Books published in 1930 will enter the U.S. public domain, such as:</p><p>The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett: This novel introduced the world to the famous detective Sam Spade.<br>As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: A masterpiece of American literature.<br>The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie: This was the first novel to feature the beloved character Miss Marple.</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/publicdomain/" rel="tag">#publicdomain</a><br>1/</p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1748.</p><p>The first instalment of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, also known as Fanny Hill, is published anonymously by John Cleland to raise money to free himself from the London debtors&#x27; prison. It is considered by some to be the first modern erotic novel.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hill" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hill"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hi</span><span class="invisible">ll</span></a></p><p>Memoirs of Fanny Hill at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/25305" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/25305</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>Top 10 Most Read Pieces from 2025<br> <br>via <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@publicdomainrev" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>publicdomainrev</span></a></span> </p><p>It’s that time in December when we inevitably end up asking the question: what, exactly, captured people’s attention over the past year? The list below is one answer. </p><p><a href="https://publicdomainreview.org/blog/2025/12/top-10-most-read-pieces-from-2025/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="publicdomainreview.org/blog/2025/12/top-10-most-read-pieces-from-2025/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">publicdomainreview.org/blog/20</span><span class="invisible">25/12/top-10-most-read-pieces-from-2025/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/illustrations/" rel="tag">#illustrations</a></p>

<p>Abby Morton Diaz was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1821.</p><p>Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, she became involved in the reform movements of the 19th century, particularly those related to women&#x27;s suffrage, education, and labor.</p><p>Abby Morton Diaz at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2166" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2166"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/2166</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>In November 1874.</p><p>After completing a four-year prison sentence for thefts and frauds at Waldheim, Saxony, Karl May has his first story, &quot;Die Rose von Ernstthal&quot; (&quot;The Story of Rose Ernstthal&quot;), published.</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1018" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1018"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/1018</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1910.</p><p>Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy dies of pneumonia aged 82 at Astapovo railway station, after a day&#x27;s train journey south, fleeing from his home.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tols</span><span class="invisible">toy</span></a></p><p>Books by Leo Tolstoy at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/136" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/136"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/136</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889–1982)—author, poet, film-maker, botanist, <a href="/tags/arctic/" rel="tag">#arctic</a> explorer—was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 30 May. A 🎂 🧵 </p><p>WalkHighlands shares an extract from PEAK BEYOND PEAK, describing how she tackled the Corrieyairack Pass between the <a href="/tags/cairngorms/" rel="tag">#Cairngorms</a> &amp; Loch Ness</p><p>1/4</p><p><a href="https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/peak-beyond-peak-the-unpublished-scottish-journeys-of-isobel-wylie-hutchison/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/peak-beyond-peak-the-unpublished-scottish-journeys-of-isobel-wylie-hutchison/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/p</span><span class="invisible">eak-beyond-peak-the-unpublished-scottish-journeys-of-isobel-wylie-hutchison/</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/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/hillwalking/" rel="tag">#hillwalking</a> <a href="/tags/mountaineering/" rel="tag">#mountaineering</a></p>

<p>In order to help you overcome your fear<br>of what the Chinese call the Lord of Distress,<br>I suggest you try confrontation therapy…</p><p>—Brian McCabe, “Triskaidekaphobia”<br>published in ZERO (Polygon, 2009)</p><p>Happy Friday the 13th to all who celebrate</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/fridaythe13th/" rel="tag">#Fridaythe13th</a> <a href="/tags/triskaidekaphobia/" rel="tag">#triskaidekaphobia</a></p>

<p>José-Maria de Heredia was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1842.</p><p>He published in 1893 Les Trophées comprising 198 sonnets that retrace the history of the world or depict privileged moments as well as four longer poems.</p><p>José-Maria de Heredia at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5697" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5697"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/5697</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>What was on summer reading lists 100 years ago, in 1925?</p><p>In the summer of 1925, long before podcasts, audiobooks and even paperbacks, holiday reading meant hoping a hardback fit in your suitcase.</p><p>By James Tugwell</p><p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-28/summer-reading-list-1925-human-experience-time-travel/106172974" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-28/summer-reading-list-1925-human-experience-time-travel/106172974"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-28</span><span class="invisible">/summer-reading-list-1925-human-experience-time-travel/106172974</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1918.</p><p>Wilfred Owen is killed in action aged 25, at the Sambre–Oise Canal, with only five of his poems published. News of his death reaches his parents in Shrewsbury a week later on Armistice Day. </p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/517" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/517"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/517</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>

<p>Endre Ady was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1877.</p><p>Some of his notable poetry collections include &quot;Új versek&quot; (New Poems, 1906), &quot;A Holnap&quot; (Tomorrow, 1908), and &quot;A halottak élén&quot; (At the Head of the Dead, 1918).</p><p>Books by Endre Ady at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39489" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39489"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/39489</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>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1862.</p><p>Charles Dodgson sends the handwritten manuscript of Alice&#x27;s Adventures Underground to Alice Liddell.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27</span><span class="invisible">s_Adventures_in_Wonderland</span></a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Liddell" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Liddell"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Li</span><span class="invisible">ddell</span></a></p><p><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/19002" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/19002</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>“Open Me Carefully.” Emily Dickinson’s Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson</p><p>&quot;A Look Inside the Poet’s Personal Life and the Making of Her Mythical Reclusiveness&quot;</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/open-me-carefully-emily-dickinsons-intimate-letters-to-susan-huntington-dickinson/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/open-me-carefully-emily-dickinsons-intimate-letters-to-susan-huntington-dickinson/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/open-me-carefully-e</span><span class="invisible">mily-dickinsons-intimate-letters-to-susan-huntington-dickinson/</span></a></p><p>Books by Dickinson at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/996" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/996"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/996</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>

<p>French and American writer, journalist and pianist Ève Curie was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1904.</p><p>She is best known for writing a biography of her mother, Madame Curie (1937). Ève was the only member of her family who did not choose a career as a scientist and did not win a Nobel Prize, although her husband, Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr., did collect the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 on behalf of UNICEF.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve_Curie" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve_Curie"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve</span><span class="invisible">_Curie</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>The City is of Night; perchance of Death…</p><p>James “B.V.” Thomson (1834–1882) – poet, journalist, translator, anarchist, atheist – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 23 Nov, in Port Glasgow. Best known for his long poem THE CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT, he influenced TS Eliot &amp; is seen as a progenitor of Modernism </p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="https://psychogeographicreview.com/the-city-of-dreadful-night/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="psychogeographicreview.com/the-city-of-dreadful-night/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">psychogeographicreview.com/the</span><span class="invisible">-city-of-dreadful-night/</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/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/modernism/" rel="tag">#modernism</a> <a href="/tags/tseliot/" rel="tag">#TSEliot</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1893.</p><p>Arthur Conan Doyle surprises the reading public by revealing in the story &quot;The Adventure of the Final Problem&quot;, published in The Strand Magazine, that Sherlock Holmes had apparently died at the Reichenbach Falls on 4 May 1891. </p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/834" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/834</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>