This day marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. During the last two centuries, Jane Austen has become a household name. Austen and her modest-sized collection of works has enjoyed a vibrant presence in both academia and western culture, from quotes on magnets and clothing to movie adaptations and sequels to her novels. Austen’s name is equally as at home in highbrow literary essays and criticism as it is in contemporary periodicals meant for mass consumption, such as the …
literature
The Premiere of Sherlock Holmes What better way to ring in the New Year than with the premiere of the latest series of the BBC’s Sherlock? The hype generated by this latest iteration of the famed ‘consulting detective’ is far from unprecedented. From the first appearance of the sleuth at 221B Baker Street, audiences have been glued to the page and eager for more. Sherlock Holmes first graced the pages of Beeton’s Christmas Annual in the 1887 printing of A …
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Rudyard Kipling, journalist, poet, and novelist, was born in Bombay (now called Mumbai) on 30 December 1865. To celebrate the day of his birth, here is a newspaper review of a lecture that Kipling gave to The Royal Geographic Society in 1914 on the subject of travel (one of Kipling’s specialist subjects) .
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Samuel Smiles, author of Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct, was born in Edinburgh on 23 December 1812. To mark the day, here is a very interesting newspaper review (from 29 December 1859) of his most famous book, ‘Self-Help’, which was published in late November 1859. The Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette – Thursday 29 December 1859 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000360/18591229/019/0004 Edinburgh Evening News – Tuesday 19 April 1904 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY …
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Thomas Penson De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1859 – he was 74. To mark the day, here is a newspaper obituary of De Quincey that was published two weeks after his death. Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 23 December 1859 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000180/18591223/036/0006 Manchester Times – Friday 08 August 1890 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000504/18900808/030/0005
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Anthony Trollope, author of the ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’, died in London on 6 December 1882 – he was 67. Trollope was the inventor of the post-box, or rather perhaps a leading campaigner for the idea of establishing a post-box, in the UK – it’s a matter of ongoing debate regarding whether he actually invented the post-box. Whatever, the post office and postal system was certainly a major muse on his writing. Here is a detailed newspaper obituary of Trollope that was published just …
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Everyone always says that they’ll be D’Artagnan! Alexandre Dumas, author of classic novels such as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, died in Villers-Cotterets, Aisne, on 5 December 1870 – he was 68. Here is a fascinating newspaper obituary of Dumas – that was published just 12 days after he died – and also a sketch of the great writer that was published in ‘The Graphic’ newspaper. Tamworth Herald – Saturday 17 December 1870 Image © THE …
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The brilliant English crime writer, Agatha Christie, disappeared on 3 December 1926, following a row with her husband, Archie. After a massive man hunt (or rather woman hunt) lasting ten days, Mrs Christie was found at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she had registered under the nom de plume, ‘Mrs Teresa Neele’ of Cape Town. Agatha Christie never explained anything about her sudden sabbatical – so it remains a mystery. Here are two newspaper stories: the first story reports on the disappearance of the …
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Jack London (aka John Griffith Chaney), author of Call of the Wild and White Fang, died at Glen Ellen in California on 22 November 1916 – he was 40. To mark the day, here is a detailed newspaper tribute to Jack London that was published the day after he died. The Liverpool Echo – 23 November 1916 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19161123/025/0005
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‘Give us also the right to our existence’ At Bow Street in London on 16 November 1928, Miss Radclyffe Hall’s novel, ‘The Well of Loneliness’, found itself in the dock on a charge of obscenity. The powers-that-be had decided that they did not like the novel’s ‘unnatural offences’ – hence the decision to prosecute. The magistrate eventually decided that the book was obscene and ordered that it be destroyed. Here is a newspaper story that reports on this famous literary …