Mental Floss

BOOKS

























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Shakespeare’s cultural position is pretty secure. He doesn’t need to be rescued from obscurity. Yet certain plays tend to dominate bookshelves, stages, and classrooms, leaving many others largely unread and unperformed.

Susan Harlan
Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

On this date in 1789, Boston bookseller Isaiah Thomas and Company published The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature, which is generally considered to be the first American novel.

Erin McCarthy