August marks the 150th anniversary of the first appearance of Elizabeth Gaskell’s beloved novel Wives and Daughters. Gaskell published the novel serially in the beginning in the August 1864 issue of the literary magazine The Cornhill, accompanied by illustrations by George du Maurier. Sadly, Gaskell died of a sudden heart attack in November 1865 before …
July marks the 200th anniversary of the first appearance of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, Waverley. Scott had already found great success with his poetry, such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805) and Marmion (1808), but Waverley was a runaway bestseller. It was first published in an edition of 1000 copies, which sold out …
May marks the 150th anniversary of the first appearance of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend. It was the last complete novel published during the author’s lifetime, and was serialized in monthly parts between May 1864 and November 1865. Dickens was still working on the novel on June 9, 1864, when the South Eastern Railway train …
Part VI: Richard Harding Davis (1864-1916) April 18 is another literary anniversary! Journalist and author Richard Harding Davis was born 150 years ago today. His parents were both writers; his father was a Philadelphia newspaper editor and his mother Rebecca Harding Davis was a prolific 19th century (though today, largely forgotten), novelist. Richard Harding Davis …
Part V: Mrs. Henry Wood (1817-1887) Friday, Jan. 17 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Victorian author Ellen Wood, who wrote as Mrs. Henry Wood. Her teen years were marred by a spinal curvature which kept her confined to her bed. At the age of 22, she married and moved to France, where …
Part III: Gene Stratton-Porter This week marks the 150 anniversary of the Indiana-born author Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924). Her interest in nature led her to a career in writing and photography for nature magazines. Stratton-Porter published a dozen novels as well as books of poetry and nature writing. Her novels, especially Freckles (1904) and A Girl …
A brief sampling of literary works by women authors that have recently been added to Special Collections’ holdings: Victorian and Edwardian Literature Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, first British edition (Vault 823 W88vo 1915) Elizabeth Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers (Victorian 823 G212sy 1863) Amelia B. Edwards, My Brother’s Wife (Victorian 821 Ed955my 1855) American Rare …
Darcymania officially began to afflict readers two hundred years ago when an anonymous lady author published her second novel in January 1813. Since then, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has enchanted generations of readers, with a number of high-profile television and film adaptations winning over modern fans and introducing the novel to new devotees. Janeites’ …
Part 1: Eden Phillpotts Sunday, Nov. 4 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of prolific English writer Eden Phillpotts. He wrote novels, plays, essays, short stories, children’s literature, and stage and radio plays. Phillpotts’ most famous books chronicle the county of Devon in England, particularly the Dartmoor region. Special Collections owns a very interesting …
The library’s new exhibit,Voices of the Civil War, features a number of famous literary works from the Rare Book Collections to tell the story of the American Civil War — from Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. One significant item on exhibit is a first …