First Night Design | You’re a Brick, Angela! #Reblog

FROM THE ARCHIVE: 24th September 2014
The Court-Harman Girls Greeting Card School stories have always been popular and continue so to be. When I was a child, my contemporaries and I were suckers for Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s Chalet S…

Source: First Night Design | You’re a Brick, Angela!

Take care and keep laughing!

Authors for Grenfell Tower – jessicanorrie

Cuttings from the “I”, “The Guardian” and the “Evening Standard”‘ June 17th & 19th 2017

I’ve never liked tower blocks. I had a friend who lived on the 13th floor of what used to be called a “hard to let” block in east London. She loved the view from her balcony, and …

Source: Authors for Grenfell Tower – jessicanorrie

Out today in paperback: Small Town Talk – barneyhoskyns.com

If you’re interested in music, namely Woodstock, my cousin Barney’s book is the one to buy. But then I’m biased!

Faber’s UK paperback edition of my Woodstock history Small Town Talk is published today, June 1st. If The Guardian is to be believed, the book is both “fascinating” and “ent…

Source: Out today in paperback: Small Town Talk – barneyhoskyns.com

Take care and keep laughing!

William Blake’s Home – London, England – Atlas Obscura

The London townhouse where the poet created some of his most influential work has been preserved in tribute.

Source: William Blake’s Home – London, England – Atlas Obscura

Curiocity – the book | The Great Wen

Way back in 2011, I wrote this blog post about something I’d been sent in the post. It was called Curiocity and was a tiny fold-up magazine that featured arcane trivia on one side and a weird…

Source: Curiocity – the book | The Great Wen

Jane Austen and the Value of Flaws | JSTOR Daily

Jane Austen is known for self-assured heroines and Regency rakes with rapier wits. But according to Mark Canuel, there’s something else the author should be recognized for: her portrayal of the importance of being wrong. Canuel tracks Austen’s novels not as discourses on manners or marriage, but as works of art that render “errors in knowledge and conduct as objectives generally to be…

Source: Jane Austen and the Value of Flaws | JSTOR Daily

“The human mind prefers to be spoon-fed with the thoughts of others, but …” – Art of Quotation

“The human mind prefers to be spoon-fed with the thoughts of others, but deprived of such nourishment it will, reluctantly, begin to think for itself – and such thinking, remember, is origina…

Source: “The human mind prefers to be spoon-fed with the thoughts of others, but …” – Art of Quotation

Flora Annie Steel | stuartshieldgardendesign

Flora Annie Steel (2 April 1847 – 12 April 1929) was an English writer who was noted for writing books set in British India or otherwise connected to it.   Personal life She was born Flora Ann…

Source: Flora Annie Steel | stuartshieldgardendesign

On this day: the publication of Black Beauty | In Times Gone By…

1877 first edition cover.

Black Beauty, a novel by English author Anna Sewell, was first published on the 24th of November, 1877. Considered to be a story about animal rights, the book is about t…

Source: On this day: the publication of Black Beauty | In Times Gone By…

Winnie-the-Pooh: The Forgotten Connection | jamesosbornenovels

With thanks to Olga for posting the link on Facebook and to James Osborne for writing it.

Special thanks to CBC Radio for an interview that resurrected this little-known story about the origins of Winnie-the-Pooh. Here’s a summary.    Winnie-the-Pooh was born in Canada! Well, sort of. I…

Source: Winnie-the-Pooh: The Forgotten Connection | jamesosbornenovels

Take care and keep laughing!

7 Spooky Tales from England’s Haunted Castles | Heritage Calling

Scotney Castle, Kent

Many of England’s historic buildings and monuments set an inspiring backdrop for mysterious tales of paranormal activity, their rich heritage feeding into narratives passed through generations. Thi…

Source: 7 Spooky Tales from England’s Haunted Castles | Heritage Calling

The Strange Secret Behind the Tragic Deaths of Oscar Wilde’s Half-Sisters | Atlas Obscura

Thousands of women died because of the highly flammable nature of crinoline skirts. (Photo: WELLCOME LIBRARY, LONDON/CC BY 4.0)

As a literary genius and master of wit, Oscar Wilde has fascinated the world since he first started writing. There is one area of his life, however, which remained in obscurity until the 1940s, and which continues to be a mystery: The horrifying death of his half-sisters.

The existence of Emily and Mary Wilde, the illegitimate daughters of Sir William Wilde, was kept hidden from…

Source: The Strange Secret Behind the Tragic Deaths of Oscar Wilde’s Half-Sisters | Atlas Obscura

Edgar Allan Poe: Death in a Gutter | A R T L▼R K

On the 7th of October 1849 Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore, America. He was one of the world’s most renowned crime and horror writers, credited also with inventing the detective and science ficti…

Source: Edgar Allan Poe: Death in a Gutter | A R T L▼R K

Lovely Hidden Paintings Adorned the Edges of Historic Books | Atlas Obscura

While you don’t see them very often these days, fore-edge paintings were once some of the loveliest book illustrations around. Literally, they were around the edges of the book.

A fore-edge painting refers to an image painted or drawn on the closed leaves of a book. While covering the collected page edges in gold or…

Source: Lovely Hidden Paintings Adorned the Edges of Historic Books | Atlas Obscura

“Fail Better” — Samuel Beckett | First Night Design

FROM THE ARCHIVE 12th May 2013

“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Worstward Ho

As you might imagine, Worstward Ho, Bec…

Source: “Fail Better” — Samuel Beckett | First Night Design