#literature

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The deaf blacksmith who married in 1576 – and the history of sign as a legal language

The medieval church’s acknowledgement that signs were equivalent to a spoken language was transformative for deaf people.

by Rosamund Oates

https://theconversation.com/the-deaf-blacksmith-who-married-in-1576-and-the-history-of-sign-as-a-legal-language-276686?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20March%209%202026%20-%203699037833&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20March%209%202026%20-%203699037833+CID_4dad2f3a225cc1558f32f04d20318006&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=The%20deaf%20blacksmith%20who%20married%20in%201576%20%20and%20the%20history%20of%20sign%20as%20a%20legal%20language

Sign language at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=sign+language

Detail of an historiated initial 'S'(sponsus) of a man placing a ring on a woman's finger. By James le Palmer / anonymous illustrator British Library Royal MS 6 E VI, fol. 104 A historiated initial S from a medieval illuminated manuscript, painted in blue, pink, ochre, and olive green. Within the curved body of the letter, two figures face each other: on the left a young man in a blue tunic, on the right a woman in a white veil and rust-coloured garment. Between them, the man places or holds a small ring, their hands meeting at the centre. Both faces are simply rendered with calm expressions. The initial is framed by a blue and pink border with a dark speckled ground filling the background behind the figures. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omne_Bonum_Royal6EVI104_Anulus.jpg

Author to revive Shakespeare club after 300 years

An author is relaunching a ladies club that once revived William Shakespeare's reputation 300 years ago.

by Alice Cunningham

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17887r0nyyo

Shakespeare at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/65

William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited An oil portrait of Shakespeare shown from the chest up against a deep red-brown background. He has a high, balding forehead with hair at the sides, a short beard and moustache, and dark eyes with a calm, direct gaze. He wears a black doublet with a plain white falling collar tied with a lace string, and a small gold hoop earring in his left ear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#/media/File:William_Shakespeare_by_John_Taylor,_edited.jpg

in 1892, Vita Sackville-West is born.

"Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as well as a prolific letter writer and diarist. She published more than a dozen collections of poetry and 13 novels during her life.... She was the inspiration for the protagonist of Orlando: A Biography, by her friend and lover Virginia Woolf."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vita_Sackville-West

Books by Sackville-West at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34850

"Sackville-West around 1915, from The Life of V.Sackville-West by Victoria Glendinning" - wikipedia
"Sackville-West around 1915, from The Life of V.Sackville-West by Victoria Glendinning" - wikipedia
"Sackville-West around 1915, from The Life of V.Sackville-West by Victoria Glendinning" - wikipedia
"Sackville-West around 1915, from The Life of V.Sackville-West by Victoria Glendinning" - wikipedia

I've been realizing how I need to start poems better. Those first few lines are where you either get the reader involved or lose the reader. My poems are like mental clay that form themselves from what may not be pretty to begin with and for some reason I expect the reader to stick around to see where it goes. But people don't think that way. You have to have those first few lines as good as the last few. It is something to try to improve this year.

@poetry
@writingcommunity






Happy International Women's Day! To celebrate it, Project Gutenberg created a new bookshelf titled Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/706

More information about these magnificent women can be foud in PG´s March Newsletter:
https://www.gutenberg.org/newsletter/

Maria Gaetana Agnesi. Line engraving by E. Conquy after M. Longhi. A line engraving portrait ofMaria Gaetana Agnesi shown bust-length within a softly shaded oval vignette. She has powdered or light curly hair loosely styled, small drop earrings, and wears a fur-trimmed garment over a light dress with a ribbon bow at the shoulder. Her expression is composed and direct. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/pmfug8sg
A portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales. Depicted person: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne – English aristocrat, prolific writer, and scientist. By George Kellaway A stipple or line engraving portrait of a woman shown from the chest up against a densely cross-hatched dark background. She has long, loosely curled hair falling to her shoulders, a small decorative crown or coronet at the top of her head, and wears a pearl necklace and a low-cut dress with a draped sash. Her expression is placid and direct. The caption below reads Margaret, D. of Newcastle. The engraver's name Kellaway sc. appears at lower right. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Margaret,_D._of_Newcastle_(4670217).jpg
A portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales. Depicted person: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne – English aristocrat, prolific writer, and scientist. By George Kellaway A stipple or line engraving portrait of a woman shown from the chest up against a densely cross-hatched dark background. She has long, loosely curled hair falling to her shoulders, a small decorative crown or coronet at the top of her head, and wears a pearl necklace and a low-cut dress with a draped sash. Her expression is placid and direct. The caption below reads Margaret, D. of Newcastle. The engraver's name Kellaway sc. appears at lower right. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Margaret,_D._of_Newcastle_(4670217).jpg
Maria Gaetana Agnesi. Line engraving by E. Conquy after M. Longhi. A line engraving portrait ofMaria Gaetana Agnesi shown bust-length within a softly shaded oval vignette. She has powdered or light curly hair loosely styled, small drop earrings, and wears a fur-trimmed garment over a light dress with a ribbon bow at the shoulder. Her expression is composed and direct. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/pmfug8sg
Mary Somerville [Fairfax]. Lithograph after J. Phillips. A lithograph portrait of Mary Somerville shown from the chest up, in early 19th-century dress. She has elaborately styled curly hair piled high with ringlets framing her face. She wears a ruffled white lace collar and a dress with feathered or fur trimming at the shoulders, fastened with a circular brooch. Her expression is calm and self-possessed, her gaze slightly averted. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/mraqxra2
Mary Somerville [Fairfax]. Lithograph after J. Phillips. A lithograph portrait of Mary Somerville shown from the chest up, in early 19th-century dress. She has elaborately styled curly hair piled high with ringlets framing her face. She wears a ruffled white lace collar and a dress with feathered or fur trimming at the shoulders, fastened with a circular brooch. Her expression is calm and self-possessed, her gaze slightly averted. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/mraqxra2
A portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales. Depicted person: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne – English aristocrat, prolific writer, and scientist. By George Kellaway A stipple or line engraving portrait of a woman shown from the chest up against a densely cross-hatched dark background. She has long, loosely curled hair falling to her shoulders, a small decorative crown or coronet at the top of her head, and wears a pearl necklace and a low-cut dress with a draped sash. Her expression is placid and direct. The caption below reads Margaret, D. of Newcastle. The engraver's name Kellaway sc. appears at lower right. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Margaret,_D._of_Newcastle_(4670217).jpg
Mary Somerville [Fairfax]. Lithograph after J. Phillips. A lithograph portrait of Mary Somerville shown from the chest up, in early 19th-century dress. She has elaborately styled curly hair piled high with ringlets framing her face. She wears a ruffled white lace collar and a dress with feathered or fur trimming at the shoulders, fastened with a circular brooch. Her expression is calm and self-possessed, her gaze slightly averted. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/mraqxra2
Maria Gaetana Agnesi. Line engraving by E. Conquy after M. Longhi. A line engraving portrait ofMaria Gaetana Agnesi shown bust-length within a softly shaded oval vignette. She has powdered or light curly hair loosely styled, small drop earrings, and wears a fur-trimmed garment over a light dress with a ribbon bow at the shoulder. Her expression is composed and direct. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/pmfug8sg

What Oral Histories Reveal About Women’s Pursuit of Economic Independence

What does independence really mean for women? Through oral histories spanning generations, ‘We Do Declare’ explores how access to money, credit, and opportunity shaped women’s lives and the economic freedom that makes true independence possible.

by Rachel F. Seidman

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-american-womens-history-museum/2026/03/02/we-do-declare-womens-voices-on-independence/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Mary Wollstonecraft at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/84

Title page of the book Memoirs and Posthumous Works of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Vol. 1 by Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin A title page from a small 18th-century printed book on cream paper, text centred in varying type sizes: Memoirs and Posthumous Works of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. Below a ruled line: Dublin: Printed by Thomas Burnside, for J. Rice, 111, Grafton-Street. 1798. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67847/pg67847-images.html