The most significant events in the history of books on the 22nd of October 1844: Sarah Bernhardt is born. In 1900, she would become the first actor ever to portray the character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet on film. 1870: Lord Alfred Douglas is born. Most famous – or infamous – for being […]
The origins of a famous quip – in a half-forgotten work of literature This should be an easy question. Surely it was Oscar Wilde who first said, ‘I am not young enough to know everything’? It certainly sounds like one of Wilde’s witty quotations, and numerous quotation sites (see, for […]
The most significant events in the history of books on the 21st of October 1687: Edmund Waller dies. He was an important figure in the development of the English heroic couplet (perfected by John Dryden and Alexander Pope) and was at one time hugely admired, though he is now best […]