Born #OTD

"Art is the expression of man’s pleasure in labor"
William Morris, born #OTD in 1834

This is how we validate eBOoks on a Mac at Hesperus:
hesperus.press/blogs/news/e...

To everyone 'monitoring the situation' #readabookmonth

Five Motives for Writing What I Believe

Five Motives for Writing
open.substack.com/pub/joycecar...

Born #OTD

Born on this day #OTD, Gary Oldman's doppelgänger

Born #OTD

Born on this day #OTD

Born on this day #OTD

Born on this day #OTD (?)

Emily Dickinson (1862)

In Japanese, the word philosophy is 'Tetsugaku' (哲学):
'gaku' meaning science/study and 'tetsu' meaning wisdom
==> 'study of knowledge'

But it used to be translated during the early Meiji period as Ki-Tetsugaku, where 'ki' (希) means to seek
==> 'study of seeking wisdom'

Merry Christmas 🎅🏻

Another beautiful word play with 'fraud', in greek being 'Metis' (close to Outis)

Also Polyphemus = many voices (or loud voices)

I’m curious to see how it handles the Cyclops episode.

When the Cyclops Polyphemus asks Ulysses his name, he replies Outis, Greek for “Nobody”

Later, when blinded, Cyclops cries out: “Nobody is killing me by fraud.”

There is poetry in Homer that will be hard to rival on screen

A Song Bewailing the Time of Christmas,
So Much Decayed in England

from 1624

Full text: shakespeareauthorship.com/xmas/

Sweet article by Robert McCrum with a sweeter Oscar Wilde quote: www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

🇺🇸 Literacy 2024

-54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th grade level

-Low levels of literacy costs the US up to 2.2 trillion per year

-US ranks 36th in literacy

www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025-li...

Interview: Fisher the Bookseller Explains How Bookstores Decide Which Books to Sell The ins and outs of how books are bought and sold in bookstores

Interview: Fisher the Bookseller Explains How Bookstores Decide Which Books to Sell
open.substack.com/pub/counterc...

Happy Publication Day!

Those that for claps do write [...]
A man should seek great glory, and not broad.

To John Donne by Ben Jonson

‘It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others—and less trouble.’

Mark Twain, born #otd

🚨 Autumn Budget incoming!

Austerity and cuts don’t fix the economy — they make it worse

The 2025 updated edition of 'Who Needs More Cuts?', with a foreword by ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, lays out a better path for Britain 🇬🇧

For preorders:
🔗 hesperus.press/products/who...

"What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life?"
Adam Bede author Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was born on this day in 1819 #OTD

We now accept USDC stablecoin as payment!

If you think crypto’s about to collapse, what better way to exit the markets than by spending it on good books?

Link 🔗 : www.hesperus.press

Born #OTD

Bookstores - Japanology Plus | NHK WORLD-JAPAN *First broadcast on October 9, 2025 The number of bookstores in Japan is decreasing, but both major chains and independent stores are finding creative ways to attract book lovers. We look at the next ...

Really cool to see the different kinds of independent bookshops in Japan.

(Spoiler: some charge admission, others offer beds—or beer!)

Bookstores | NHK WORLD-JAPAN Shows www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...

Born #OTD Jane Helen Findlater

Born #OTD