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Literature

Clockwise from top left: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover, James A. Garfield and Ulysses S. Grant

One Was a Teenage Diplomat. Another Was a Nuclear Engineer. Here’s How Eight Presidents Made Their Mark Outside of the White House

From Abraham Lincoln’s patent to James A. Garfield’s geometry proof, learn how these 19th- and 20th-century commanders in chief shaped their legacies beyond politics

The original scroll of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, up for auction in March, is 121 feet long.

You Can Buy Jack Kerouac’s Early Draft of ‘On the Road,’ Which He Typed on a 121-Foot-Long Scroll

The author taped pages together so he wouldn’t need to load paper into his typewriter. The original scroll of the Beat Generation classic is expected to fetch up to $4 million at auction

A guest follows along during the 25-hour-long reading of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick; or, the Whale at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. 

250 Places to Celebrate America

Fervent Fans of ‘Moby-Dick’ Flock to This Massachusetts City to Read the Book Cover to Cover

Once the whaling capital of the world, New Bedford remembers Herman Melville’s literary masterpiece with an annual reading marathon

William Zachs stands before the Henry Raeburn and Alexander Nasmyth portraits, now on display together at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Cool Finds

The Mystery of the Missing Robert Burns Painting Has Finally Been Solved—After 200 Years of Searches and Seances

The portrait of the renowned Scottish poet vanished without a trace in 1840. Since then, scholars and sleuths alike have been strategizing about how to get it back

Dimitris Economou returned this copy of Harry the Dirty Dog 36 years after his parents checked it out.

Cool Finds

A Little Boy’s Library Book Was Due in 1989. Thirty-Six Years Later, He Realized His Parents Had Never Returned It

After finding “Harry the Dirty Dog” at his dad’s home in Greece, Dimitris Economou brought it back to the library in Virginia where his family had checked it out more than three decades earlier

Portraits of Oscar Wilde taken in New York in 1882

Oscar Wilde’s Portraits, Poems, Letters and Manuscripts Head to Auction 125 Years After His Death

Other rare items, available for purchase in February, include illustrations, theater programs, telegrams and newspapers

Inside Idiom, which uses mirrors to provide the illusion of infinite length

Trending Today

You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague

Officials are managing an influx of tourists coming to see “Idiom,” a seemingly infinite tunnel of books by the artist Matej Krén, at the Municipal Library

The volume was one of 2,000 copies printed during the original 1865 run of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Lewis Carroll’s Personal Copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ Returns to Its ‘Spiritual Home’ in Oxford

The book has been donated jointly to Christ Church and the Bodleian Library, which are both part of the University of Oxford

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Happy Public Domain Day to All Who Celebrate! You Can Now Use Betty Boop, Nancy Drew and ‘The Maltese Falcon’ for Free

On January 1, 2026, copyrights will expire for comics, books, movies, musical compositions and other creative works from 1930, as well as sound recordings from 1925

The protagonist of Louisa May Alcott's “A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True,” embarks on a journey much like Ebenzer Scrooge's in A Christmas Carol.

A Forgotten Louisa May Alcott Story Showcases the Author’s Twist on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

Written in 1882, “A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True,” covered many of the same themes as Dickens’ classic, albeit with a different audience in mind

A letter from Jane Austen to her sister, Cassandra, discussing the publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813

Jane Austen’s Letters Are the Closest We Can Get to Her. What Do They Reveal About the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Author?

This year marks the English novelist’s 250th birthday. Her hundreds of surviving letters—both real and fictional—offer valuable insights into her imaginative wit and enduring appeal

Panel one of the Ketton mosaic, which was discovered in 2020 by a farmer's son

New Research

Historians Say This Rare Mosaic Found on a British Farm Depicts Scenes From a Long-Lost Account of the Trojan War

New research suggests that the illustrations may have been based on “Phrygians,” a tragedy by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, rather than the “Iliad”

The Poseidon Adventure debuted in theaters 53 years ago. This stupendously implausible work of fiction grew from the fertile soil of fact, drawing inspiration from the RMS Queen Mary's tendency to tilt dangerously.

Based on a True Story

How a Near-Shipwreck on a Luxury Ocean Liner Inspired ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ and a Decade of Disaster Movies

Paul Gallico was on board the RMS “Queen Mary” when it almost capsized in 1937. The haunting experience shaped his best-selling 1969 novel and its 1972 film adaptation

Jane Austen's second novel, Pride and Prejudice, was published on January 28, 1813.

Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Was Initially Rejected by a Publisher. It Later Became One of the World’s Most Beloved Novels

The British author wrote six novels, but it’s her second published book that has resonated the most in the 250 years since her birth in 1775

Visitors look at Library of Us, an installation by British artist Es Devlin, during Miami Art Week.

This Artist Put 2,500 of Her Favorite Books in a Massive Rotating Library on Miami Beach

The 20-foot-tall installation, titled “Library of Us,” featured titles that hold personal meaning for British artist Es Devlin—who invited visitors to sit on nearby benches and read

A savanna in western Maharashtra, India

Ancient Literature Suggests India’s Savannas Are Much Older Than Previously Thought

Plant species mentioned in texts from the past 800 years hint the wooded grasslands of western India have been there since ancient times, pushing back on the narrative that they are remnants of long-gone forests

Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes in director Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, a Focus Features release that arrives in theaters on November 26.

Based on a True Story

The Real History Behind ‘Hamnet’ and the Tragically Short Life of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway’s Only Son

A film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as the Bard and his wife, imagines the lives of the Shakespeare family in fantastical and heartbreaking fashion

Hall's Croft, the home of Susanna Shakespeare from 1613 to 1616

Car Backs Up Into Home Where Shakespeare’s Daughter Lived, Causing Serious Damage

Hall’s Croft, once the residence of Susanna Shakespeare, is now in stable condition as experts assess the repairs that will be required

Harper Lee's best-known work, To Kill A Mockingbird, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

You Can Now Read Eight Previously Unseen Short Stories by Harper Lee, the Famed Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Released this week, “The Land of Sweet Forever” includes stories the author wrote in the years before her debut novel became an instant classic in 1960

Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster from the classic 1931 horror film Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein,’ the Titular Scientist Laments His Nightmarish Creation. But the Real World Can’t Get Enough of His Monster

In the two centuries since the Gothic novel’s publication, the English writer’s tale of a science experiment gone wrong has captivated audiences around the world and taken on a life of its own

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