Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, the son of Polish aristocrats. When Conrad was a child, his parents were sentenced to political exile in northwest Russia. Conrad was largely taught by his father, who introduced him to literature, but Conrad was orphaned at age 11. His maternal uncle helped him to enter …
One major area of emphasis in the Victorian and Edwardian Literature Collections is work by British women novelists. Special Collections owns first editions of beloved authors like the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot; but there is a wealth of literature by novelists who are less celebrated today but produced best-sellers in their own …
The following books are a sampling of some of the recent works of criticism acquired for the Herman Melville Collection. To find these books and others, search the library catalog for the subject “Melville, Herman” or “Melville, Herman, 1819-1891–Criticism and interpretation.” David Dowling, Chasing the White Whale: The Moby-Dick Marathon; or, What Melville Means Today. …
The United States Civil War period has inspired many writers of fiction, and has provided a rich setting for novels as diverse as Little Women, Gone With the Wind, Rifles for Watie, and The Killer Angels. Special Collections contains an array of important Civil War-related fiction, including literature by those who experienced the war firsthand …
2011 is an excellent year for literary anniversaries. One to mark in the month of June is the 200th birthday of American novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” on 14 June. Stowe was the daughter of a minister and her family was very active in education and social and religious causes. …
Speaking of Civil War-related literature, fans of Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel “Gone With the Wind” celebrated the 75th anniversary of its publication earlier this month. Special Collections owns two copies of the first edition of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, though both lack the highly collectible dust jacket. “Gone With the Wind” was made into a …
George Eliot’s famous short novel Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe was published two hundred years ago this month. Eliot wrote Silas Marner in five months, between November 1860 and March 1861. The novel is both shorter and happier in tone than her earlier novels, Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss, which were …
150 years ago this month, London publishing firm Chapman and Hall issued the first monthly part of Anthony Trollope’s Orley Farm. This novel, which concerns a forged will and the corrosive effects of guilt, quickly became a blockbuster hit among the reading public. One factor in its appeal was the illustrations, done by famed pre-Raphaelite …
Mark Twain’s life and works have received renewed attention in recent months because of the recent publication of volume 1 of his autobiography (University of California Press, 2010) and one publisher’s decision to censor the language of a planned edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Special Collections owns over 150 early and fine press …
Special Collections has recently added a number of penny dreadfuls to its Victorian Collection. The term “penny dreadful” refers to a genre of popular fiction which had its heyday in mid- to late-Victorian Britain. Penny dreadfuls were cheaply-produced, often second-rate novels issued in parts, which were consumed by working-class readers. Each part usually cost a …