Topic

Literature & Books

A collection of 24 issues

From Victorian Luggage to Modern Lingo: The Origin of the Portmanteau

The term 'portmanteau' describes blended words like 'smog' and 'brunch,' but it originally named a two-part traveling suitcase. Lewis Carroll coined its linguistic meaning in 1871, when Humpty Dumpty compared a blended word to a suitcase with two meanings packed inside.

Satan in Watercolour The Divine Tragedy of William Blake

Visionary artist William Blake reimagined Satan for John Milton's 'Paradise Lost.' Rejecting the monstrous devil of tradition, Blake painted a figure of sublime, melancholic beauty. His watercolours explore the tragic grandeur of the fallen archangel, challenging simple notions of good and evil.

Error 451: How the Internet Protests Censorship with a Nod to Ray Bradbury

Beyond '404 Not Found' is a code with a story: 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons. It signals that content is blocked not by a glitch, but by a legal demand. Its number, a direct homage to Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451,' makes it a transparent, albeit quiet, act of protest against censorship.

The 'Overgrown Stuntman' Who Won Over James Bond's Creator

Ian Fleming, James Bond's creator, initially dismissed Sean Connery as an 'overgrown stuntman,' lacking the refinement he envisioned for 007. Yet, Connery's commanding performance so captivated Fleming that he rewrote Bond's history, giving him a Scottish heritage in tribute to the actor.

The Sunrise That Lied: The Real Story Behind Grieg's 'Morning Mood'

Grieg's 'Morning Mood,' widely seen as the soundtrack to a Norwegian sunrise, was actually composed for Henrik Ibsen's play *Peer Gynt*. The iconic music accompanies a scene where the protagonist wakes up alone in the Moroccan desert, not a serene Scandinavian fjord.

Abandoned Thrice: The Brutal Childhood That Forged Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn, a celebrated writer of ghost stories and Japanese folklore, endured a brutal childhood. Born in Greece to an Irish father and Greek mother, he was abandoned first by his father, then his mother, and finally by the great-aunt who raised him, leaving him destitute and alone.

Mother Carey's Chickens: The Ghostly Birds and the Sea Witch Who Claimed Drowned Sailors' Souls

Mother Carey, a feared sea witch in 18th-century folklore, personified the cruel ocean. Her storm petrels, known as "Mother Carey's chickens," were believed to be the souls of drowned sailors, warning of her wrathful storms. Her name, from Latin "Mater Cara," is a grimly ironic title.

From the Printer's Drawer: The Real Story Behind 'Uppercase' and 'Lowercase'

The terms 'uppercase' and 'lowercase' are literal descriptions from the era of printing presses. Printers stored their large capital letters in a wooden type case placed above the case holding the smaller, more frequently used letters. The 'upper' and 'lower' cases gave the letters their names.

Before Moby Dick, There Was Mocha Dick: The True Story of the Legendary White Whale

Herman Melville's Moby Dick wasn't pure fiction. It was inspired by Mocha Dick, a real, colossal white sperm whale who battled whalers off Chile in the early 19th century. This legendary creature was a terror and a marvel, a symbol of nature's untamable power.