Brutkey

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“It takes two people to make you, and one people to die”

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," set in Yoknapatawpha County, enters US public soon. Despite 15 stream-of-consciousness narrators making it challenging, Holly at Nut Free Nerd explains why it's worth reading.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/01/it-takes-two-people-to-make-you-and-one-people-to-die/

#books #publicDomainDayCountdown

First-edition dust jacket cover of As I Lay Dying (1930) by the American author William Faulkner. Published in New York by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_Lay_Dying#/media/File:As_I_Lay_Dying_(1930_1st_ed_jacket_cover).jpg
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This month's Distributed Proofreaders (DP) Blog is a book that was a one of the special projects to celebrate DP's 25th anniversary. "Here foloweth a lytell treatyse of the beaute of women" was published around 1525.

https://blog.pgdp.net/2025/12/01/on-the-beauty-of-women/

The book at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77124

#books #literature

A woodcut "depicts a voluptuous woman wearing nothing but a fancy plumed hat and slippers, playing a lute to a jester sitting at her feet. The Latin inscription in its border, “Peccati forma femina est et mortis condicio,” can be translated roughly as, “Sin and death take the shape of woman.” - https://blog.pgdp.net/2025/12/01/on-the-beauty-of-women/
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The Visual Art and Design of Famous Writers, Part 2

By Steven Brower via PrintMag (from the archives)

https://www.printmag.com/illustration-design/the-visual-art-and-design-of-famous-writers-part-2/

Part 1 is available here:
https://www.printmag.com/design-books/the-visual-art-and-design-of-famous-writers/

#books #literature #illustration_design

This is the title page from Edward Lear's "A Book of Nonsense," published in Boston by Roberts Brothers in 1894. The page features clean, elegant typography with the title prominently displayed at the top. Below the title and author attribution is the subtitle "WITH ALL THE ORIGINAL PICTURES AND VERSES" in italics. The centerpiece is one of Lear's characteristic whimsical illustrations showing a rotund gentleman (the "Old Derry down Derry") surrounded by cheerful children and other figures who appear to be dancing or celebrating. The drawing is done in Lear's distinctive simple line-art style, full of energy and movement. Beneath the illustration is a limerick that reads: "There was an Old Derry down Derry, who loved to see little folks merry; So he made them a Book, and with laughter they shook At the fun of that Derry down Derry." The publication information at the bottom shows this is an American edition from Roberts Brothers, a prominent 19th-century Boston publishing house. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13646/13646-h/images/bookcovers/book1.gif
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Betty Boop has her moment

Fleischer Studios' Bimbo cartoons succeeded in 1930, but Betty Boop stole the show debuting in "Dizzy Dishes" singing "I Have to Have You." She starred in 100+ cartoons, undergoing makeovers due to censorship, per Emily Wishingrad.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/11/30/betty-boop-has-her-moment/

#cartoon #publicDomainDayCountdown

The caption claims that Betty Boop was indeed based on Helen Kane. This was published before the lawsuit in May. Photoplay, April 1932 This is an image from Photoplay magazine showing a side-by-side comparison. On the left is a black and white photograph of Helen Kane, a performer dressed in an elaborate ruffled costume with tiered skirts and decorative trim, posing against a curtained background. On the right is a drawing of Betty Boop in her iconic cartoon style - with her characteristic large round eyes, short curly black hair with a spit curl, and a short black dress showing her distinctive garter. The caption below reads: "Folks, meet Betty Boop (right). You'll be seeing a lot of her because she is the new animated cartoon character who is trying to cut in on Mickey Mouse's popularity. Does she look familiar to you? Now look at little boop-a-dooper Helen Kane. Helen was the cartoonist's inspiration for Betty, the first time a real life character has been used for the popular jumping comics" This is significant because it was published in April 1932, before Helen Kane filed her famous lawsuit against Fleischer Studios in May 1932, claiming that Betty Boop was an unauthorized use of her likeness and persona. The magazine's straightforward acknowledgment that Kane was the inspiration for Betty Boop provides important historical documentation of how the character's origins were publicly understood at the time. https://archive.org/details/photo42chic/page/n491/mode/2up
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“From the chintz-covered drawing-rooms… straight into hell”

Evadne Price's "Not So Quiet...Stepdaughters of War," inspired by a real ambulance driver's diary, powerfully depicts war's horrors. Lucy Scholes calls it "a shattering denunciation of the jingoism that kept the war machine turning."

By John Mark Ockerbloom

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/11/29/from-the-chintz-covered-drawing-rooms-straight-into-hell/

More about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_So_Quiet:_Stepdaughters_of_War

#books #PublicDomainDayCountdown

Cover of the book Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War is a 1930 novel by British author Evadne Price writing under the pseudonym "Helen Zenna Smith". The image shows the cover of the novel Not So Quiet… by Helen Zenna Smith. The design uses a stark, graphic style in black and red on a cream background. At the top, the title is printed in large, bold, uneven lettering: “NOT SO QUIET…”, with quotation marks placed dramatically before and after. The central illustration is abstract and wartime-themed: a silhouetted rifle hangs from the left, and concentric red arcs radiate outward like shock waves or explosions. Near the bottom right, small black silhouettes suggest figures or shapes caught in the blast zone. The landscape at the bottom is a jagged black horizon, evoking a battlefield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_So_Quiet:_Stepdaughters_of_War#/media/File:Not_So_Quiet.jpg
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Explore 1,100 Works of Art by Georgia O’Keeffe: They’re Digitized and Free to View Online

https://www.openculture.com/2025/10/1100-works-of-art-by-georgia-okeeffe.html

#art

Lake George Reflection by Georgia O'Keeffe, oil on canvas
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52 Years Later, Agatha Christie’s Forgotten Final Book Remains Untouched

By Florencia Aberastury

https://www.cbr.com/agatha-christie-postern-of-fate-deserves-adaptation/

Agatha Christie at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/451

#books #literature

Illustration by Arthur Ferrier of Tommy and Tuppence from the December 1923 issue of The Grand Magazine and the first-known image of the characters. The drawing shows a stylish young couple in early-1920s fashion. Tommy stands on the left, dressed in a neat suit with a bow tie, his posture upright and confident. Tuppence stands beside him, slightly angled toward him, wearing a fashionable cloche hat and a long, elegant coat. Her expression is lively and self-assured. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_and_Tuppence#/media/File:T&T1923.jpg
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Nancy Drew and the secret of the old contract

Nancy Drew’s first four mysteries enter the public domain pretty soon. Once ghostwritten under “Carolyn Keene,” a rights dispute revealed Mildred Wirt Benson as the original author—surprising Harriet Adams, who thought her dead.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/11/25/nancy-drew-and-the-secret-of-the-old-contract/

#books #publicDomainDayCountdown

The Secret of the Old Clock (1930) front cover. Russell H. Tandy (1891 – 1963) In the foreground, Nancy Drew is depicted as a young woman with short, wavy blond hair, wearing a stylish dress. She walks in the grass at twilight, holding an old-fashioned wooden clock and examining it intently, as if searching for a hidden clue. Behind her stands a dark forest. The sky is a deep blue. Bold yellow lettering displays the title at the top, with the author credit “Carolyn Keene” beneath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_the_Old_Clock#/media/File:The_Secret_of_the_Old_Clock_(1930)_front_cover,_printing_1933B-14.jpg
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‘He was just trying to earn a few kopecks’: how newly translated stories reveal Chekhov’s silly side

With daft jokes and experimental wordplay, the first comprehensive translations of his lesser-known stories show Anton Chekhov in a new light

By Viv Groskop

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/nov/23/he-was-just-trying-to-earn-a-few-kopecks-how-newly-translated-stories-reveal-chekhovs-silly-side

Chekhov at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/708

#books #literature

Anton Chekhov in 1893. Chekhov stands outdoors in front of a wooden structure with ornate balusters. He is dressed in a long, light-colored overcoat and a dark hat, with a full beard and a calm, direct expression. Surrounding him are bare branches and foliage, giving the scene a slightly austere atmosphere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov#/media/File:Chekhov_ht.jpg
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#OTD In 1858, Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf was born.

"She published her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was awarded in 1909. In 1914, she was the first woman to be granted a membership of the Swedish Academy"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_Lagerl%C3%B6f

Books by Lagerlöf at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1717

#books #literature

Photograph of Selma Lagerlöf.