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A Wonder-Book For Girls And Boys
''A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys'' (1851) is a children's book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne in which he retells several Greek myths. It was followed by a sequel, ''Tanglewood Tales''. Overview The stories in ''A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys'' are all stories within a story. The frame story is that Eunice Bright, a Williams College student, is telling these tales to a group of children at Tanglewood, an area in Lenox, Massachusetts, where Hawthorne lived for a time. All the tales are modified versions of ancient Greek myths: * " The Gorgon's Head" - recounts the story of Perseus killing Medusa at the request of the king of the island, Polydectes. * " The Golden Touch" - recounts the story of King Midas and his "Golden Touch". * " The Paradise of Children" - recounts the story of Pandora opening the box filled with all of mankind's Troubles. * " The Three Golden Apples" - recounts the story of Heracles procuring the Three Golden Apples from the Hesperides' orchard, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Thomas Fields
James Thomas Fields (December 31, 1817 – April 24, 1881) was an American publisher, editor, and poet. His business, Ticknor and Fields, was a notable publishing house in 19th century Boston. Biography Early life and family He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on December 31, 1817 and named James Field; the family later added the "s". His father was a sea captain and died before Fields was three.Miller, Edwin Haviland. ''Salem Is My Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991: 281. He and his brother were raised by their mother and her siblings, their aunt Mary and uncle George. At the age of 14, Fields took a job at the Old Corner Bookstore in Boston as an apprentice to publishers Carter and Hendee. His first published poetry was included in the ''Portsmouth Journal'' in 1837 but he drew more attention when, on September 13, 1838, he delivered his "Anniversary Poem" to the Boston Mercantile Library Association. Publishin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolour, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator. Rackham's 51 colour pieces for the early American tale ''Rip Van Winkle'' became a turning point in the production of books since – through colour-separated printing – it featured the accurate reproduction of colour artwork. His best-known works also include the illustrations for ''Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens'', and ''Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm''. Biography Rackham was born at 210 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, London as one of 12 children. In 1884, at the age of 17, he was sent on an ocean voyage to Australia to improve his fragile health, accompanied by two aunts. At the age of 18, he worked as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blithedale Romance
''The Blithedale Romance'' (1852) is a novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is the third major "romance", as he called the form. Its setting is a utopian farming commune based on Brook Farm, of which Hawthorne was a founding member and where he lived in 1841. The novel dramatizes the conflict between the commune's ideals and the members' private desires and romantic rivalries. Plot summary Shortly before moving to the Communist community of Blithedale in the mid-1800s, Miles Coverdale is approached by Moodie (an apparent beggar) who asks him for a favor. Though willing, Moodie suddenly decides he will ask an older, more experienced man and departs. Miles then explains the legend of the mysterious Veiled Lady: a popular clairvoyant who recently stopped doing public shows. He leaves for Blithedale without his acquaintance Hollingsworth, who arrives later with a frail, timid girl named Priscilla. They are welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Silas Foster (a gruff, experienced farm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Newton, Massachusetts
West Newton is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Among the oldest of the thirteen Newton villages, the West Newton Village Center is a National Register Historic District. The postal ("Zip") code 02465 roughly matches the village limits. Location West Newton is located in the north central part of Newton and is bordered by the town of Waltham on the north and by the villages of Auburndale on the west, Newton Lower Falls on the extreme southwest, Newtonville on the east, and Waban on the south. Railroad Station The West Newton train stop is located near an inn (now small shops) that served as a stagecoach stop. The original station structure was destroyed in the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike, although the station itself still exists as a stop on the commuter rail. West Newton Square West Newton Square, the town center of West Newton, is home to many local businesses and venues. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Greylock
Mount Greylock is a mountain located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and is the highest point in the state. Its summit is in the western part of the town of Adams (near its border with Williamstown) in Berkshire County. Geologically, Mount Greylock is part of the Taconic Mountains, which are not associated with the abutting Berkshire Mountains to the east. The mountain is known for its expansive views encompassing five states and the only taiga-boreal forest in the state. A seasonal automobile road (open annually from late May through November 1) climbs to the summit, topped by a lighthouse-like Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower. A network of hiking trails traverses the mountain, including the Appalachian Trail. Mount Greylock State Reservation was created in 1898 as Massachusetts' first public land for the purpose of forest preservation. Geography Geographically, Mount Greylock is part of an by island-like range that runs north–south between the Hoos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield’s population was 43,927 at the 2020 census. Although its population has declined in recent decades, Pittsfield remains the third-largest municipality in Western Massachusetts, behind only Springfield and Chicopee. In 2017, the Arts Vibrancy Index compiled by the National Center for Arts Research ranked Pittsfield and Berkshire County as the number-one, medium-sized community in the nation for the arts. History The Mohicans, an Algonquian people, inhabited Pittsfield and the surrounding area until the early 1700s, when the population was greatly reduced by war and disease, and many migrated westward or lived quietly on the fringes of society. In 1738, a wealthy Bostonian named Col. Jacob Wendell bought of land known originally as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrowhead (Herman Melville House)
Arrowhead, also known as the Herman Melville House, is a historic house museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was the home of American author Herman Melville during his most productive years, 1850–1863. Here, Melville wrote some of his major works: the novels ''Moby-Dick'', ''Pierre'' (dedicated to nearby Mount Greylock), ''The Confidence-Man'', and ''Israel Potter''; ''The Piazza Tales'' (a short story collection named for Arrowhead's porch); and magazine stories such as "I and My Chimney". The house, located at 780 Holmes Road in Pittsfield, was built in the 1780s as a farmhouse and inn. It was adjacent to a property owned by Melville's uncle Thomas, where Melville had developed an attachment to the area through repeated visits. He purchased the property in 1850 with borrowed money and spent the next twelve years farming and writing there. Financial considerations prompted his family's return to New York City in 1863, and Melville sold the property to his brother. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and '' Billy Budd, Sailor'', a posthumously published novella. Although his reputation was not high at the time of his death, the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival, and ''Moby-Dick'' grew to be considered one of the great American novels. Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a prosperous merchant whose death in 1832 left the family in dire financial straits. He took to sea in 1839 as a common sailor on a merchant ship and then on the whaler ''Acushnet'', but he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. ''Typee'', his first book, and its sequel, '' Omoo'' (1847), were travel-adventures based on his encounters with the peoples of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The House Of The Seven Gables
''The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England family and their ancestral home. In the book, Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement, and colors the tale with suggestions of the supernatural and witchcraft. The setting for the book was inspired by the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, a gabled house in Salem, Massachusetts, belonging to Hawthorne's cousin Susanna Ingersoll, as well as ancestors of Hawthorne who had played a part in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The book was well received upon publication and later had a strong influence on the work of H. P. Lovecraft. ''The House of the Seven Gables'' has been adapted several times to film and television. Plot The novel is set in the mid-19th century, but flashbacks to the history of the house, which was built in the late 17th centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Scarlet Letter
''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin and guilt. ''The Scarlet Letter'' was one of the first mass-produced books in the United States. It was popular when first published and is considered a classic work of American literature. The novel has inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations. Critics have described ''The Scarlet Letter'' as a masterwork, and novelist D. H. Lawrence called it a "perfect work of the American imagination".Miller, Edwin Haviland. ''Salem is my Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne''. Iowa City: Universit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Berkshires
The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that extend south into western Massachusetts; the portion extending further south into northwestern Connecticut is grouped with the Connecticut portion of the Taconic Mountains and referred to as either the Northwest Hills or Litchfield Hills. Also referred to as the Berkshire Highlands, Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and Berkshire Plateau, the region enjoys a vibrant tourism industry based on music, arts, and recreation. Geologically, the mountains are a range of the Appalachian Mountains. The Berkshires were named among the 12 Last Great Places by The Nature Conservancy. Definition The term "The Berkshires" has overlapping but non-identical political, cultural, and geographic definitions. Political Politically, Berkshire County, Mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
