The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1135

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Mary Anning Clay Lane

A twelve-year-old girl from Lyme Regis made a historic discovery while selling seashells to tourists.

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1136

© Ballista, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Living Past Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

High above the roof of the Amazonian rainforest, Professor Challenger sees something that eerily reminds him of home.

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1137

From the Benaki Museum, Athens, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Lost Innocence St Bede of Jarrow

In the fourth century, Britain’s Christians acquired a taste for watering down the mystery of their message.

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1138

By William M. Vander Weyde (1871–1929), via George Eastman House Collection and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: No known copyright restrictions.

Beginner’s Luck Mark Twain

As proof that ‘Providence protects children and idiots’, Mark Twain recalls his first taste of ten-pin bowling.

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1139

© Nowaqowski, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Love at First Bite P. G. Wodehouse

Sam felt that his epic romance might have started more promisingly.

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1140

© Trevor Littlewood, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Last Commandment Cynewulf

Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf imagines the farewell between Jesus and his Apostles, forty days after his resurrection.

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