Fascinating Photographs of Famous Literary Characters in Real Life
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Though they exist in our minds in many forms – the way we conjured them up at first reading, the way they were illustrated or the way they were portrayed on screen – many of our most famous literary characters are in fact based on real people, and have “true” faces beyond any adaptation. Or at least to some extent – at least in fiction, very few characters are true carbon copies (except Kerouac’s).
After the jump, we’ve collected a few photographs of the real people behind famous literary characters to invade your memories. Click through to check them out, and since there are of course many more to add to this list, get to it in the comments.
Alice in Wonderland – Alice Liddell
Peter Pan – Michael Llewelyn Davies
Dorian Gray – John Gray
Daisy Buchanan – Ginevra King
Sherlock Holmes – Dr. Joseph Bell
Lolita and Humbert Humbert – Sally Horner and Frank LaSalle
Winnie the Pooh (and gang) – Winnie the Pooh (and gang)
Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty – Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady
Antonia Shimerdas – Annie Sadilek Pavelka
Anne Shirley – Evelyn Nesbit
The connection between the sprightly protagonist of Anne of Green Gables and Gibson Girl Evelyn Nesbit is a purely superficial one: when Lucy Maud Montgomery was imagining the character, she cut out a picture of the model from Metropolitan Magazine (with no idea who she was) and pasted it to the wall of her bedroom as the ideal physical appearance of Anne. This is who you’re supposed to be imagining, girls.
View the rest of the pictures, and descriptions, here.
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How records are made
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Gorgeous black and white photos from 1954 and 1962 of vinyl records being made, including scans of an album jacket with a description of the process.
How records are made (Voices of East Anglia, via @chris_carter_)
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Nettie Quill: 1906
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Mobile, Alabama, circa 1906
“River packet Nettie Quill”
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
View original post
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10 Literary Authors Who Illustrated Their Own Work
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit, and as a result, we’ve been blessed with all manner of new Hobbit-related media coming to fruition. Inspired by the recently published compendium of Tolkien’s artwork, The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, we decided to track down a few other literary authors who created illustrations for their works, whether published or unpublished. Though The Hobbit is arguably a book for children (and The Lord of the Rings trilogy even more arguably so), it gets a pass as a classic, and for the rest of this list we’ve been committed to leaving out children’s literature, picture books, and graphic novels – because that’s just too easy.
Click through to see our list of ten literary authors who illustrated their own works – and since a list like this can never be complete, let us know who we missed in the comments!
I enjoyed all of the choices that Emily made, some of which I had not known about previously, but this has to be my personal favourite – not only for the illustrations but for the content!
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Mee-a-ow! Or, Good Advice to Cats and Kittens
via Reading Copy Book Blog by Beth Carswell
The cover of this vintage children’s book caught my eye. You can see why: It’s an 1860 children’s book called Mee-a-ow! Or, Good Advice to Cats and Kittens by Robert Michael (R.M.) Ballantyne. Ballantyne was a 19th-century Scotsman who lived in Canada and worked for the early Hudson’s Bay Company. He was an incredibly prolific writer, and wrote right up until his death in 1894. He wrote somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90 books, primarily children’s and juvenile fiction. The book featured here is a story about some very naughty kittens who consistently get up to mischief, and a mother’s cat attempts to set them straight. It’s lovely, full of piano music and songs for children to learn, poems, beautiful colour plates, and of course the story itself. …
there is, however, a great deal more hitting by mother and crying by offspring than I am accustomed to seeing in modern-day children’s books. And I can’t help noticing that the mother cat’s beating-implement of choice is a cat-o-nine-tails.
…get it? Cat?
Images from the inside of the book are here
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Stunning Photos of Silent Hallways in Majestic European Palaces
via Flavorwire by Alison Nastasi
Some would argue that it’s not difficult to create gorgeous photographs of majestic architecture. Baroque, European masterpieces are a particularly perfect subject for the lens, featuring picturesque, lush interiors and ornate trimmings. Artist Massimo Listri’s works centre on these beautiful palaces across Europe, but there’s a twist.
Each photo is a snapshot of an empty hallway, devoid of people. Apart from the velvet ropes standing guard before historical sculptures and massive paintings, and a few other modern touches, it’s as though these vast interiors have been completely untouched for centuries. Listri’s images make us feel as though we’ve snuck into the grand palaces at night and have been quietly roaming the hallways, exploring the books, artworks, and incredible architecture around us.
Visit more of Listri’s stunning photos in our gallery to see what we mean.
And to whet your appetite …
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Dolphin giving birth
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Here’s a rare look at dolphin birth, from Dolphin Quest Hawaii at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.
Jump to 17s for the main event. (via CSM)
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