Behold, he cometh with tines; and every eye shall see him, they also which pierced (but also scooped) with him.

Edinburgh Spork Company ad, 1935

#OldWeirdScotland

Scottish scientist Mary Somerville was born #OTD in 1780.

During her long life, she occupied an important place in the physical sciences. Her books brought readers up to date with subjects ranging from astronomy & anthropology to microscopy & geology. She introduced the English-speaking world to Laplace’s celestial mechanics, wrote an outstanding survey of physical geography, & elucidated the common bonds between the sciences @ a time when they were being carved up into distinct disciplines. 1/

Irish anarchist and modernist poet Lola Ridge was born 150 years ago today. In 1918, Ridge gained considerable notice with her long poem, The Ghetto, first published in The New Republic. She published 61 poems from 1908 to 1937 in such leading magazines as Poetry, New Republic, The Saturday Review of Literature and Mother Earth. She wrote and published four more books of poetry through 1935, and single poems into 1937.

Lola Ridge at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1449

#books #poetry #literature

Alexandre Dumas père, one of the most prolific and most popular French authors of the 19th century died #OTD in 1870. Close to the Romantics and turned towards the theater, he first wrote a successful vaudeville and historical dramas. A prolific writer, he then turned to historical novels such as the Musketeers trilogy, or Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, La Reine Margot and La Dame de Monsoreau. The authorship of some of his works is disputed.

Alexandre Dumas at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/492

#books

Les Rougon-Macquart. La Conquête de Plassans. Manuscrit autographe et dossier préparatoire.

By Émile Zola (2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902)

Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8555840h/f9.image.r=NAF%2010280.langFR#

#books #literature #manuscript