Literature

Boo! Telling ghost stories on Christmas was a tradition for hundreds of years. Here, Marley's ghost surprises Ebenezer Scrooge in an illustration from the first edition of the classic tale.

Why Do People Tell Ghost Stories on Christmas?

Christmas ghost stories are a tradition going back much farther than "A Christmas Carol"

Photo of Olivia de Havilland (left), Leslie Howard (center) and Vivien Leigh (right) from Gone With The Wind.

Why Do We Love Period Dramas So Much?

Gone With The Wind, the highest-grossing period drama ever, premiered on this day in 1939

Some of the performers are circus-trained, adding authenticity to the aerial acrobatics displayed.

“Call Me Ishmael” Is the Only Melville Tradition in This Innovative Presentation of “Moby Dick”

Visceral, kinesthetic, cinematic, aural and psychological, Arena Stage’s new show about the 19th-century novel is a 21st-century experience

Abraham Ortelius created the world's first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, or "Theater of the World," in 1570. Shakespeare, who famously wrote that "all the world's a stage," was doubtless influenced by the maps that flourished during his lifetime.

How Maps Shaped Shakespeare

An exhibition in Boston delves into historical maps to show how the Bard saw the wider world

The Best Books About Science of 2016

Take a journey to the edge of human knowledge and beyond with one of these mind-boggling page-turners

The Typos on This Dead Sea Scroll Don't Mean It's Fake

When the Dead Sea copper scroll was unveiled, doubts were quickly raised about its authenticity. For one thing, it was riddled with spelling errors

Caedmon’s lofty slogan was “A third dimension for the printed page.”

The Christmas Tale Spoken Record That Launched the Audiobook

Narrated by Dylan Thomas, the album would go on to sell 400,000 copies

James Welch is featured on today's Google home page in honor of his birthday.

Google Makes Ledger Art to Celebrate Legendary Native American Author James Welch

In an exclusive interview with Smithsonian.com, artist Sophie Diao talks about what inspired today's Google Doodle

A legal rumpus threw the author's epic book collection into question.

Legal Dispute Over Maurice Sendak’s Epic Book Collection Gets Wild

A legal rumpus has concluded—but have concerns about the author's legacy only just begun?

L.M. Montgomery published articles, short stories and poems over 500 times in her lifetime.

New Digital Collection Unveils the Other Stories of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Creator

<i>KindredSpaces</i> brings together kindred spirits interested in the life and legacy of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Argentinians look on as Marta Minují's 1983 Parthenon of books is removed with a crane. The artist will recreate her installation on a grander scale in Germany next year.

An Artist Is Building a Parthenon of Banned Books

More than 100,000 books will become a monument to intellectual freedom in Germany next year

The original Frankenstein didn't create a bride for his creature–and with good scientific reason.

Scientists Find That Frankenstein’s Monster Could Have Wiped Out Humanity

Thank goodness his creator never finished his proposed girlfriend

Portrait thought to be Christopher Marlowe

What to Know About Shakespeare's Newly Credited Collaborator Christopher Marlowe

Textual analysis convinced the editors of <i>The New Oxford Shakespeare</i> to make Marlowe a co-author on the "Henry VI" plays, parts 1, 2 and 3

The Curious George series has sold 10,000 times the initial print run.

When Curious George Made a Daring Escape From the Nazis

The authors of the children's book series fled wartime France with the manuscript tied to their bikes

John Cohen photographs a young Bob Dylan playing his guitar and harmonica in New York City in 1962.

Five Things to Know About Bob Dylan

When it comes to awards, the times are a' changin'—and now the iconic musician is a Nobel laureate

The Countess of Computing was the daughter of the Princess of Parallelograms.

Five Things to Know About Ada Lovelace

The “Countess of Computing” didn’t just create the world’s first computer program—she foresaw a digital future

This book of Grimm's Fairy Tales is entirely written using words with one syllable.

Channel Childhoods Gone By With This Digital Archive of Victorian Children’s Books

From nursery rhymes to religious lectures, this digital archive shows how kids read in a bygone age

H.G. Wells was one of the first science fiction writers.

The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True

Born 150 years ago, H.G. Wells predicted, and inspired, inventions from the laser to email

Oscar Wilde spent two years in what was then called Reading Gaol.

A British Jail Is Paying Artistic Tribute to Oscar Wilde, its Most Famous Inmate

Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei and others envision what it's like to be <i>Inside</i>

George Richmond made this chalk portrait of Brontë when she was 34 years old.

Visit the Manuscript of 'Jane Eyre' in New York

The handwritten novel is in the United States for the first time—along with an exhibition of artifacts from Charlotte Brontë’s brief and brilliant life

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