Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
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By James Gillray (1756-1815), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
In the days of King James I, Thomas Coryat visited Italy and came home with an affected Continental habit: eating with a fork.
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© Garry Knight, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.0.
A London barrister indulges in courtroom theatrics to win a case, but it turns out that not everything is as it seems.
From the Cleveland Art Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
On the day that Manfred, Prince of Otranto, expected his son Conrad to marry the Marquis of Vicenza’s daughter, grotesque tragedy struck.
By Thomas William Ogilvie McNiven (1792-1870), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Robert Browning, aboard ship in sight of Gibraltar, reflects on the momentous events in British history that have happened nearby.
By Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
After Oliver Goldsmith’s landlady lost patience with her cash-strapped tenant, Dr Johnson took charge and a literary classic entered the world.
By Martin M. Lawrence (1808-1859), via the Library of Congress. Licence: No known restrictions.
Shortly before the American Civil War, an attack by pro-slavery militants on the city of Lawrence prompted John Brown to try to clean up Kansas.