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Literature

Richard Halliburton in Hong Kong.

The Last Adventure of Richard Halliburton, the Forgotten Hero of 1930s America

Seventy-five years ago, the idol of America’s youth set out on what would be his final journey

As Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "Paris is a moveable feast." Here's how to explore the City of Lights on his terms.

Europe

A Guide to Hemingway’s Paris

From writing haunts to favorite bars, follow the ex-pat author’s steps through Paris

A room furnished according to Poe's "The Philosophy of Furniture" for a 1959 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum

Edgar Allan Poe, Interior Design Critic

What scared the author of ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’? Bad design.

Have patience, says this bouquet of two roses and two carnations.

Cool Finds

Send Your Valentine a Secret Message in the Language of Flowers, Updated for Modern Lovers

Certain flowers had well-understood meanings back in Victorian times, and now a London startup is trying to revive floriography for current times

The Holmes of BBC/Masterpiece's Sherlock, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, uses a mnemonic device straight out of ancient Greece—the mind palace.

The Secrets of Sherlock’s Mind Palace

The BBC/Masterpiece sleuth employs a memory technique invented by the ancient Greeks

Hustle through America’s Huckster History with a Smithsonian Curator as Your Guide

A blow by blow of the flimflams and tales of hustlers throughout history, art and literature

The cottage rented by Edgar Allan Poe from 1846 until his death in 1849, located in Poe Park in the Bronx.

When Edgar Allan Poe Needed to Get Away, He Went to the Bronx

The author of ‘The Raven’ immortalized his small New York cottage in a lesser-known short story

Place des Vosges in Paris. The location of Victor Hugo's apartment for 16 years.

Victor Hugo: Acclaimed Author, Unknown Furniture Designer

The apartment once occupied by the author of Les Miserables is now a museum dedicated to his life and to 19th century Paris

From an illuminated manuscript circa 1350s

Cool Finds

Not All the Knights of the Round Table Were White

The storytellers assumed we’d be sharp enough to pick up on their hints that Sir Morien was black. Turns out, we’re not

A Book’s Vocabulary Is Different If It Was Written During Hard Economic Times

Books published just after recessions have higher levels of literary misery, a new study finds

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Copyright Law Kept These Famous Works From Entering the Public Domain This Year

Here is a list of books, movies, music & scientific research that would have entered the public domain today had the 1978 copyright law not been passed

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From the Editor

From the Editor

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Why Shakespeare is Julie Taymor’s Superhero

For the renowned director of the screen and stage, the Bard is a fantasy and a nightmare

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Discussion

Discussion

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Spotlight

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As Long As Books Have Existed, Invisibility Has Been a Dream

We just have to look to literature to learn that there’s always been a real danger to the prospect of being invisible

The little death in Venice: Casanova was forced to flee his beloved home town twice (the San Cassiano Canal).

Who Was Casanova?

The personal memoir of history’s most famous lover reveals a misunderstood intellectual who befriended the likes of Ben Franklin

Ellen "Nelly" Ternan, in 1870, was a figure lost to history.

Dickens’ Secret Affair

Biographer Claire Tomalin’s literary sleuthing revealed the untold story of the famed author’s “invisible woman”

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The Story of the Decade

The future may look bleak for many Americans, but hope is always just around the corner

Kenko had little trouble living with the idea that things were getting worse. "The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty," he wrote.

The Timeless Wisdom of Kenko

A 14th-century Japanese essayist’s advice for troubled times runs the gamut from quirky to prescient

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