blogis librorum. A blog about books. Rare books.

Legendary illustrator Hilary Knight famously brought to life the impish Eloise.  The son of two artists, Knight was born in Hempstead, Long Island. He lived next door to the public library for the first six years of his life and spent many hours among the books that later shaped his artistic style. Knight was particularly influenced by illustrators Edmund Dulac and E. H. Shepard. “These are probably my most favorite books of all,” he said. “They are so funny. Shepard’s pen-and-ink drawings [in Winnie the Pooh] are so simple and direct; he was a truly remarkable artist.  Dulac, on the other hand, was sheer fantasy. He was glamorous and exotic.”

       

Read more...

---

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of literature’s most renowned mysteries; Sherlock Holmes is on the case after a ghostly hound stalks, and perhaps kills, Sir Charles Baskerville. Written in 1901, it is now part of school curriculums and popularized in film and television. Yet despite cultural familiarity with the novel, the allegations of adultery, plagiarism, and murder that haunt its creation remain largely unknown.

     

Read more...

---

Few writers exist in isolation. Instead, most benefit from some type of support, whether from an editor, mentor, or friend. As a work grows, each individual who touches it leaves an indelible mark. The line between author and collaborator begins clearly enough, but authorship can grow murky the longer the collaboration takes place. In Lyrical Ballads, Nostromo, and The Waste Land, multiple writers shaped the final product. Yet the work of those not included in the byline has largely faded to obscurity. Today we explore a few famous cases of (potential) ghostwriting from the world of literature.

     

Read more...

---

Born in Cuba on October 15, 1923, Italo Calvino became one of Italy’s most famous writers.  He was one of a family of scientists; his parents, Mario and Eva, were botanists and his brother, Floriano, became a geologist. When Calvino returned to Italy as a young boy, he faced considerable familial pressure to pursue a life of science.

     

Read more...

---

Few modern poets have been so beloved as Edward Estlin Cummings (ee cummings), whose linguistic innovation and disregard for grammatical conventions redefined our understanding of language. Yet Cummings was much more than a poet, writing novels, essays, and plays.      

Read more...

---

This week we celebrated the birthday of Henry Graham Greene. The playwright, explorer, poet, and spy was above all one of the most widely read novelists of the 20th century.  He wrote 24 novels, nearly all of which were adapted to film. His works include The Heart of the Matter, The Power and the Glory, Brighton Rock, and The End of the Affair. Despite several nominations, Greene never won the Nobel Prize. 

     

Read more...

---