Sir John Suckling, poet and inventor of cribbage, was born on 10 February 1609.
Sir John Suckling by Anthony van Dyck, 17th century.
“I prithee send me back my heart,/Since I cannot have thine;/For if from yours you will not part,/Why, then, shouldst thou have mine?”
The literary Gods certainly favoured the 7th of February, at least during the 19th century. Charles Dickens, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Sinclair Lewis were born on that day. Impressive, right?
Charles Dickens and His Characters by William Holbrook Beard. Birth year: 1812.
“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder. Birth year: 1867.
“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
Sinclair Lewis, 1914. Birth year: 1885.
“Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.”
Austrian artist Gustav Klimt died on 6 February 1918. He was fifty-five.
A few of his paintings:
Der Park by Gustav Klimt, 1909-1910.
Marie Hennenberg by Gustav Klimt.
Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, circa 1899.
The artist:
Gustav Klimt.
“True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”-Gustav Klimt
Truman Capote Quote
Gertrude Stein was born on 3 February 1874.
Gertrude Stein by Félix Vallotton, 1907.
“It will come if it is there and if you will let it come.”
“Let me listen to me and not to them.”
“Nothing is really so very frightening when everything is so very dangerous.”
“A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.”-James Joyce (born on 2 February 1882)
Gene Kelly (died 2 February 1996)
Langston Hughes was born on 1 February 1902.
Langston Hughes by Carl Van Vechten, February 1936.
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”-Langston Hughes
“It takes a heap of loafing to write a book.”-Gertrude Stein
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, was born on 27 January 1832.
Lewis Carroll, 1863. We probably don’t want to know what he was thinking.
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
A Mad Tea-Party by Sir John Tenniel.
Happy birthday to my lifelong favourite actor, Paul Newman! He would have been eighty-nine today.
Paul Newman in 1954.
“If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”-Paul Newman
What is your number one Paul Newman flick?
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 