An illustration of a book standing up.

Book

An illustration of a book standing up.

A book and some plants.

Book and plants

A book and some plants.

A pile of books in a field, under the sun.

Books

A pile of books in a field, under the sun.

Image from the story, <em>The Castaways</em>. Jake seated himself on a coil of hope and reasoned with Ben Clark.

Castaways

Image from the story, The Castaways. Jake seated himself on a coil of hope and reasoned with…

Image from the story, <em>The Castaways</em>. Ben held the oars while Jake poised the spear for a cast.

Castaways

Image from the story, The Castaways. Ben held the oars while Jake poised the spear for a cast.

Image from the story, <em>The Castaways</em>. Jake seized Ben by the shoulders to prevent him from swimming for the boat.

Castaways

Image from the story, The Castaways. Jake seized Ben by the shoulders to prevent him from swimming…

"The next evolution is presented in Euripides. He is less ideal than his predeccesor, but truer to nature. His drama is more of a reality. He takes his stand in the midst of human life as it is. His language is the language of the people. The heroes of his plays are more possible than those of Sophocles. They are redeemed with weaknesses, touched with folly, stained with tears. He has more variety in his action, greater freedom, more surprises and vicissitudes."&mdash;Ridpath, 1885

Euripides

"The next evolution is presented in Euripides. He is less ideal than his predeccesor, but truer to nature.…

A group of boys with flyers in hand.

Flyers in Hand

A group of boys with flyers in hand.

A girl with glasses reading a book.

Girl Reading a Book at a School Desk

A girl with glasses reading a book.

An illustration of a girl sitting on a bench while reading a book.

Girl Sitting on Bench Reading a Book

An illustration of a girl sitting on a bench while reading a book.

A girl squinting at a book.

Girl squinting

A girl squinting at a book.

Hector, from Homer's Iliad, dressed in armor.

Hector

Hector, from Homer's Iliad, dressed in armor.

French poet and novelist.

Victor Hugo

French poet and novelist.

In the short story Ulysses, the king makes a demand.

I Demand Your Blood and Your Lives

In the short story Ulysses, the king makes a demand.

John Milton, famous English poet.

John Milton

John Milton, famous English poet.

An owl perched on a book, with a branch in the background.

Owl and Book

An owl perched on a book, with a branch in the background.

"Edgar Allan Poe, the son of a Baltimore gentleman and an actress, Elizabeth Arnold, was born in Boston, January 19, 1809. He was left an orphan when three years old, and was adopted by a wealthy merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who gave him his own name for a middle name. Poe was well educated by his foster father and sent to the University of Virginia, but he was an ungovernable, wayward youth, keenly intellectual, brilliant, and restless. He ran into debt, enlisted in the army under an assumed name, published a small volume of poems, was for a while at West Point, and finally, thrown on his own resources, became editor of one magazine after another, married a mere girl, and came under the strong sane influence of her mother. He died finally in poverty and degradation, October 8, 1849, but he had written poems and tales which the world will not let die."&mdash;Scudder, 1897

Edgar Allan Poe

"Edgar Allan Poe, the son of a Baltimore gentleman and an actress, Elizabeth Arnold, was born in Boston,…

A girl sitting on a bench reading a storybook.

Reading

A girl sitting on a bench reading a storybook.

Mark Twain illustrating an Italian newspaper as saying a cop in a theater of opera in Wallace, Indiana, had willed to expel a spectator which continued to smoke in spite of the prohibition, who, spalleggiato by his friends, manifold revolver shots.

The Revolveration in Theatre

Mark Twain illustrating an Italian newspaper as saying a cop in a theater of opera in Wallace, Indiana,…

The scene where Silas finds Eppie in the novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans).

Silas Finds Eppie

The scene where Silas finds Eppie in the novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans).

A line from The Temptest by William Shakespeare. The woman, Miranda, uses this line.

I'll Be His Surety

A line from The Temptest by William Shakespeare. The woman, Miranda, uses this line.

The scene where Tom cuts Maggie's hair in The Mill on the Floss by George Eliiot (Mary Ann Evans).

Tom and Maggie Tulliver

The scene where Tom cuts Maggie's hair in The Mill on the Floss by George Eliiot (Mary Ann Evans).