“Choose love not in the shallows/but in the deep.”-Christina Rossetti (died on 12/29/1894)
Christina Rossetti, portrait by her brother
“Let everything happen to you/Beauty and terror/Just keep going/No feeling is final.”-Rainer Maria Rilke (died on 12/29/1926)
Rainer Maria Rilke by Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1906
“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”-Eden Phillpotts (died on 12/29/1960)
Eden Phillpotts by Frederic Taber Cooper, 1912
Theodore Dreiser died on 28 December 1945. He was seventy-four.
A grumpy Theodore Dreiser looks like he wants to cut you. 1917.
“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.”-Theodore Dreiser
KNOWN FOR:
Emily Brontë died on 19 December 1848.
The Brontë Sisters by Branwell Brontë. Emily is in the middle.
“Shall Earth no more inspire thee, Thou lonely dreamer now?”-Emily Brontë
*Wuthering Heights
“I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”-Noël Coward (born on 12-16-1899)
Noël Coward, circa 1914
“Impropriety is the soul of wit.”-W. Somerset Maugham (died on 12-16-1965)
W. Somerset Maugham
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775.
Jane Austen. 16 December 1775-18 July 1817.
“Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.”-Jane Austen
Fanny Burney
Portrait of Fanny Burney by her cousin, Edward Burney, circa 1784-1785
CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens
REASON: Is it possible to get through winter without pulling out a volume of Dickens? What a desperate, weary, chilly world his characters inhabit! It is enough to make the pages freeze mid-turn.
“Bleak, dark, and piercing cold, it was a night for the well-housed and fed to draw round the bright fire, and thank God they were at home; and for the homeless starving wretch to lay him down and die. Many hunger-worn outcasts close their eyes in our bare streets at such times, who, let their crimes have been what they may, can hardly open them in a more bitter world.”-Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
If you missed My Top Six Cold Weather Writers, go here.
For Honorable Mention: Christina Rossetti, go here.
Thanks to Tom Gething for reminding me that Charles Dickens deserves a place on my list!
BAS BLEU
Bas Bleu is my favourite stop for smartly bookish gifts (and incredibly well-curated reading material). I’ve been a dedicated fan for a decade. Haunt their site for a few minutes, and you’ll understand why!
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Reading Woman Wall Calendar. $14.99. Image from Bas Bleu.
Shakespearean Insults T-Shirt. $24.95. Image from Bas Bleu.
Dictionary Cat Print. $13.95. Image from Bas Bleu.
DETAILS:
FIRST STOP: EDWARD GOREY HOUSE STORE
SECOND STOP: JANE AUSTEN GIFT SHOP
THIRD STOP: OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
FOURTH STOP: THE READER’S CATALOG
FIFTH STOP: THE LITERARY GIFT COMPANY
“Let your fiction grow out of the land beneath your feet.”-Willa Cather (born on 12/7/1873)
Willa Cather, 1912
“If you write to impress it will always be bad, but if you write to express it will be good.”-Thornton Wilder (died on 12/7/1975)
Thornton Wilder’s very serious looking Yale graduation photo, 1920
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 