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Literature

A legal rumpus threw the author's epic book collection into question.

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Legal Dispute Over Maurice Sendak’s Epic Book Collection Gets Wild

A legal rumpus has concluded—but have concerns about the author’s legacy only just begun?

L.M. Montgomery published articles, short stories and poems over 500 times in her lifetime.

Cool Finds

New Digital Collection Unveils the Other Stories of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Creator

KindredSpaces brings together kindred spirits interested in the life and legacy of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Argentinians look on as Marta Minují's 1983 Parthenon of books is removed with a crane. The artist will recreate her installation on a grander scale in Germany next year.

Cool Finds

An Artist Is Building a Parthenon of Banned Books

More than 100,000 books will become a monument to intellectual freedom in Germany next year

The original Frankenstein didn't create a bride for his creature–and with good scientific reason.

New Research

Scientists Find That Frankenstein’s Monster Could Have Wiped Out Humanity

Thank goodness his creator never finished his proposed girlfriend

Portrait thought to be Christopher Marlowe

Cool Finds

What to Know About Shakespeare’s Newly Credited Collaborator Christopher Marlowe

Textual analysis convinced the editors of The New Oxford Shakespeare to make Marlowe a co-author on the “Henry VI” plays, parts 1, 2 and 3

The Curious George series has sold 10,000 times the initial print run.

When Curious George Made a Daring Escape From the Nazis

The authors of the children’s book series fled wartime France with the manuscript tied to their bikes

John Cohen photographs a young Bob Dylan playing his guitar and harmonica in New York City in 1962.

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Five Things to Know About Bob Dylan

When it comes to awards, the times are a’ changin’—and now the iconic musician is a Nobel laureate

The Countess of Computing was the daughter of the Princess of Parallelograms.

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Five Things to Know About Ada Lovelace

The “Countess of Computing” didn’t just create the world’s first computer program—she foresaw a digital future

This book of Grimm's Fairy Tales is entirely written using words with one syllable.

Cool Finds

Channel Childhoods Gone By With This Digital Archive of Victorian Children’s Books

From nursery rhymes to religious lectures, this digital archive shows how kids read in a bygone age

H.G. Wells was one of the first science fiction writers.

The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True

Born 150 years ago, H.G. Wells predicted, and inspired, inventions from the laser to email

Oscar Wilde spent two years in what was then called Reading Gaol.

Cool Finds

A British Jail Is Paying Artistic Tribute to Oscar Wilde, its Most Famous Inmate

Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei and others envision what it’s like to be Inside

George Richmond made this chalk portrait of Brontë when she was 34 years old.

Cool Finds

Visit the Manuscript of ‘Jane Eyre’ in New York

The handwritten novel is in the United States for the first time—along with an exhibition of artifacts from Charlotte Brontë’s brief and brilliant life

For sale: a home with a bookish past.

Cool Finds

You Could Own F. Scott Fitzgerald’s House

Live in the Victorian rowhouse where a career was born

"Shotgun Seamstress"

Cool Finds

The New York Public Library’s Radical Zine Collection Is Now on Display

Check out pamphlets from people like Noam Chomsky and Mumia Abu-Jamal

Celebrate 50 Years of International Literacy Day With the British Library

Butterflies, rabbits and Shakespeare: there’s something for everybody

The Chandos portrait is the only-known painting of Shakespeare made during his lifetime.

Cool Finds

Cleaning This Portrait Could Change the Way Historians See Shakespeare

The only portrait of the Bard made while he was alive might be getting touch-ups

Is it disrespectful to sell a literary great’s remains—or is the stunt worthy of Capote himself?

Trending Today

Love Truman Capote? Buy His Ashes

Is the sale of Capote’s earthy remains a gauche publicity stunt or an act worthy of the audacious author?

The lone Lorax tree in Scripps Park, La Jolla.

Visit the Original Lorax Tree in Dr. Seuss’s San Diego

Check out these Seuss-related sites in Theodore Geisel’s adopted hometown

This musical score, in Jane Austen's handwriting, is one of nearly 600 Austen family musical treasures available in an online archive.

Cool Finds

Jane Austen’s Music Collection Is Now Online

Play piano like a Darcy with nearly 600 Austen-approved tunes

A fireplace at Melford Hall.

Cool Finds

These Beatrix Potter Illustrations Were Found Tucked Inside a Mansion’s Books

The children’s book author found inspiration on vacation

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