An orangutan attacks a woman and pulls her hair in an illustration for the murder scene in Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' early 1840s. A victim lies on the floor, and a witness watches through a window.

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe: Annotated

Poe's 1841 story, arguably the first detective fiction, contains many tropes now considered standard to the genre, including a brilliant, amateur detective.
An illustration depicting two regency-era women speaking with an iMessage bubble

Is Jane Austen the Antidote to Social Media Overload?

Racking up likes and followers today resembles the nonstop friending of 19th-century England. But Austen's characters figured out how to disengage.
A paper theater

Paper Theaters: The Home Entertainment of Yesteryear

In the nineteenth century, enterprising toymakers developed a novel way to bring theater into the home.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Aldini,_Essai...sur_le_galvanisme..._Wellcome_L0023892.jpg

Will Reanimating Dead Brains Inspire the Next Frankenstein?

In recent experiments, scientists brought back cellular functions to the brains of dead pigs, recalling early galvanism.
Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Life of Forgotten Poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon

She was known as the "female Byron." So why doesn't anyone read L.E.L. anymore?
Jane Austen sketch

Jane Austen and the Value of Flaws

Jane Austen is known for self-assured heroines and love stories. But she also wrote a lot about the importance of being wrong.
Blake's "Newton"

Does Science Destroy Wonder?

Tom Wolfe's new book accidentally rehashes an age-old question: does scientific progress nullify beauty? What's the relationship between science and art?
Sir Walter Scott

What Sir Walter Scott’s Historical Fiction Reveals About the Brexit

A scholar locates early European Unionism in the works of Sir Walter Scott. How would Scott have voted in the Brexit referendum?
Francesco Hayez [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Wordsworth and the Invention of Childhood

Prior to the 18th century, children were considered little adults. It was only during the Romantic Era that the concept of childhood emerged.