Pages of the Past

Journey through the pages of time and let the true stories of literary maestros and pivotal moments in publishing enrich your understanding of the evolution of books, novels, and the written word across the ages.

See what happened today, or browse the whole month for more.

Yesterday
George Eliot's grave 22 December 1880: George Eliot dies. read more ...
Today
Emma by Jane Austen 23 December 1815: Jane Austen's Emma is published. read more ...
A Visit From St. Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore 23 December 1823: ‘Twas the night before Christmas read more ...
Tomorrow
William Makepeace Thackeray 24 December 1863: William Makepeace Thackeray dies. read more ...

Browse this month, or select a different month. Simply click on the showcased years for each day in this calendar and reveal the literary tapestry of the past.

List View
< December 2024 >
SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
118871887Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson first appear 218021802Jane Austen receives a proposal 318941894Robert Louis Stevenson dies 418781878Bram Stoker marries 518701870Alexandre Dumas dies 619331933Obscenity ban on Ulysses is lifted 18821882Anthony Trollope dies 719951995Seamus Heaney is awarded the Nobel Prize
819001900Margaret Mitchell is born 918161816Harriet Westbrook Shelley dies 18541854The Charge of the Light Brigade is published 1017681768The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published 18841884The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is first published 1117301730Voltaire’s tragedy Brutus premieres 1218891889Robert Browning dies 1317841784Samuel Johnson dies 1418951895On Our Selection first published
1519321932Edna O’Brien is born 1617751775Jane Austen is born 19011901The Tale of Peter Rabbit is first published 1718731873Ford Madox Ford is born 18 1918431843A Christmas Carol is published 2018121812Grimm’s Fairy Tales is first published 18171817Northanger Abbey is published 2119401940F. Scott Fitzgerald dies
2218801880George Eliot dies 2318151815Emma is published 18231823'Twas the night before Christmas … 2418631863William Makepeace Thackeray dies 2517711771Dorothy Wordsworth is born 19391939Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears 2616061606King Lear is first performed 2718961896Carl Zuckmayer is born 2818791879The Tay Bridge in Scotland collapses
2918121812Maria Branwell marries Patrick Brontë 3018651865Rudyard Kipling is born 3118551855Giovanni Pascoli is born