Literature

Mark Bryant describes the life and works of Abu Abraham, the Observer’s first ever political cartoonist.

Richard Cavendish provides an overview of the life of Daphne du Maurier, who was born on May 13th, 1907.

Robin Evans examines the connections between language, culture and national identity in 19th-century Galicia.

Cartoon historian Mark Bryant looks at the origins of the satirical magazine that has attracted a generation of outstanding cartoonists.

Mark Bryant describes how the Daily Mail nearly became the first national daily in Britain to feature large political cartoons on its front page, fifteen years before Dyson’s huge drawings appeared in the Daily Herald.

The famous French author Alexandre Dumas never let fact get in the way of a good story: his ability to spin a yarn made his books instant bestsellers. But, having unravelled the stories behind two of Dumas’ most famous works, Roger Macdonald presents a startling solution as to the true identity of the Man in the Iron Mask.

Peter Morton reminds us that, a century before Adrian Mole, there was Charles Pooter.

George Orwell’s ‘fairy story’ on the USSR was politically inconvenient in 1945. Opinions on Animal Farm were soon revised, but its targets – and its author – are easily misunderstood.

A Dictionary of the English Language was first published on 15 April 1755.

Dorothy Wordsworth died on January 25th, 1855, aged eighty-four.