Photo by _HealthyMond . on Unsplash

Austen Fans, Modern Belief, and Environmental Politics

New books and scholarship from Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, and the University Press of Colorado.
A person looking at a map, holding a pen

Ten Poems about Travel

Poetry about all kinds of travel—from grand adventures to family vacations—by Elizabeth Bishop, Rita Dove, and more.
A plate from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, by Maria Sibylla Merian

The Metamorphosis of a 17th-Century Insect Artist

Maria Sibylla Merian's work in the natural sciences was overlooked for centuries. Now a rare butterfly has been named in her honor.
Release, by Marco Cianfanelli and Jeremy Rose.

Nelson Mandela’s Lasting Image

Since his death in 2013, Nelson Mandela has achieved icon status. Why is his image so ubiquitous, reproduced everywhere from tourist kitsch to high art?
Front cover of "The Boys of New York" v.11 no.561

The Periodicals That Shaped American Boyhood

Nineteenth-century “story papers” gave boys stories they liked, while also encouraging readers to contribute their own material and tell their own stories.
Two deer in the woods at night

Photography Changed Americans’ Ideas about Nature

Many of our ideas about nature, wildlife, and conservation have their roots in the birth of nature photography.
duck billed platypus

Our Best Stories of 2018

Victorian librarians, Mister Rogers, queer time, and Jane Austen's subversive linguistics, oh my!
Cyclorama in South End Boston, 1964.

Cycloramas: The Virtual Reality of the 19th Century

Immersive displays brought 19th-century spectators to far-off places and distant battles. The way they portrayed history, however, was often inaccurate.
Jarena Lee

Jarena Lee, The First Woman African American Autobiographer

Jarena Lee was the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1836, she published her autobiography.
Illustration from "The Nights of Straparola" (1894)

The Invention of the Passive Fairy Tale Heroine

European fairy tales featured bold, independent female characters—until the Reformation forced shifts in cultural attitudes towards women.