Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Books

Odysseus and Polyphemus (1896), by painter Arnold Böcklin, depicts Odysseus and his men escaping from the island of the Cyclops.

‘Odyssey’ Translator Emily Wilson Is Starting Over After Calling Christopher Nolan’s Blockbuster Film ‘Abysmal’

Nearly a decade after her acclaimed first translation was released, Wilson is taking a fresh approach to Homer’s ancient Greek epic

The fragments shed light on Guernsey's literary culture during the late medieval period.

Cool Finds

These Medieval Manuscript Fragments Were Reused as Parchment, Inadvertently Preserving Them for Centuries

Recently discovered on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, the pages include Bible passages, poems, plays and other texts. They were repurposed as book bindings during the 16th and 17th centuries

Dolly Parton in 1978

Dolly Parton Was One of the Biggest Stars in the History of Country Music. She Wanted to Be Remembered as a Songwriter

After growing up in poverty, she became famous for her legendary songs, big heart and larger-than-life style. But the iconic musician insisted that “the songs lead to everything else”

The statue was unvelied on August 14.

A New Statue Honors ‘Moby-Dick’ Author Herman Melville in the Massachusetts City Where His Whaling Adventures Began

The 7.5-foot-tall bronze artwork stands in the heart of historic New Bedford, the 19th-century whaling port that inspired the author’s famous 1851 novel

The Smithsonian holds a nugget, above, thought to have been discovered by James Marshall in 1848.

When a Carpenter in California Found a Nugget of Gold, It Started a Rush Toward Nothing Less Than the Modern World

A new book by historian Nathaniel Philbrick makes the case that James Marshall’s 1848 discovery set in motion events from the Civil War to the rise of Silicon Valley

"Kiama Library" is stamped on the book's title page.

Cool Finds

This Library Book Was 150 Years Overdue. Fortunately for the Man Who Just Returned It, Librarians Won’t Be Enforcing a $20,000 Late Fee

“The Antiquities of Athens” had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is “an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)”

Jacques Pépin

One of the Most Important Cookbooks of the 20th Century Is Celebrating 50 Years. What Made Its French Author So Special in American Kitchens?

With instructions and images explaining how to carve vegetables and deconstruct a lamb, “La Technique” by Jacques Pépin became a how-to guide and an inspiration for countless cooks and food lovers

When did summer "beach reads" become a part of our culture? Book historian Donna Harrington-Lueker takes us back to mid-19th-century leisure.

The History of the Beach Read, From 19th-Century ‘Moral Debasement’ to BookTok

The still-popular genre got its start 150 years ago, when publishers profited off the rise of travel in the United States during an otherwise slow publishing season

Adam Francis Plummer began this diary in 1841 while enslaved in Prince George's County, Maryland. After his death, his daughter Nellie Arnold Plummer continued the diary.

This 19th-Century Diary Written by an Enslaved Maryland Man Is a Crucial Record of His Life and Family History—and the Only One of Its Kind Found in the United States

Adam Francis Plummer’s chronicle is believed to be the country’s sole known example of a multigenerational journal begun by an enslaved person. It’s now on view at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

Actor Paul Newman lounges on a pool table reading Star Warriors in this ALA READ campaign poster. 

Vintage ‘READ’ Posters Adorning Libraries and Classrooms for Decades Go on Auction as the American Library Association Turns 150

Taylor Swift, Serena Williams and famous fictional characters lent their iconic faces to encourage people to pick up a book

Mushroom clouds from atomic bombs over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) 

The Lost Memoir of a Hiroshima Survivor Was Rediscovered. Now, It Will Be Published as a Book and Adapted for Film

Nearly 80 years ago, Kiyoshi Tanimoto documented the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing during World War II. His manuscript was recently found in a U.S. library

A 1488 edition of the Odyssey, photographed by Naomi Wenger

The ‘Odyssey,’ One of the World’s Oldest Stories, Gets a Modern Spin With A.I.-Generated Audiobook Narration by the Voice Clone of an Oscar Winner

Meanwhile, other actors are pushing back against the use of artificial intelligence in creative projects, including through a new “human consent” registry tool

In 1847, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey were published together in three volumes.

The First Edition of Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Contained Incorrect Page Numbers, Missing Punctuation and Three Misspellings of the Word ‘Heights’

The haunting story set against the Yorkshire moors would become one of the most renowned novels of the 19th century. Now, a rare first-edition copy is heading to auction

None

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Every Generation of Teenagers Redefines Pop Culture Through Its Favorite Music, Fads, Movies and Trends

When new government policies allowed kids more time to grown up, the teenager was born. And every decade or so, they’ve changed the ways they entertain themselves … and everyone else

Michael Twitty’s technique for preparing okra soup evokes West African cooking traditions. His recipe includes a broth—either chicken or beef—that takes about an hour or two to create. Onions, garlic, tomatoes and other vegetables, and herbs such as thyme and sage add flavor. It is garnished with parsley.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

There Was No American Regional Cuisine Until One ‘Virginia Housewife’ Thought to Compile a Diverse Collection of Recipes

Mary Randolph, an in-law of the Jefferson family who was influenced by enslaved cooks and traditions of European immigrants, didn’t change Southern cooking with her 1824 cookbook … she originated it

None

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Moment of Divine Inspiration Helped Melvil Dewey Bring Obsessive Order to the Infinitely Disorganized Stacks in the Library

The Massachusetts student let his mind wander during a Sunday sermon and created the decimal-based system that greatly simplified the search for any book you were looking for.

The author and abolitionist, surrounded by silhouette renderings of vignettes from her vivid, world-changing novel.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Harriet Beecher Stowe Wrote a Work of Fiction That Seemed So Real That It Changed the History of the Country

To fight against slavery, the author collected true stories then picked up a pen and distilled them into “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

Robinson Theater, Richmond, Virginia, 2013. Opened 1937, architect Edward Francis Sinnott Sr., original seating capacity 597.

In a Plea to Preserve Them, One Photographer Has Captured 1,200 American Movie Theaters and Counting

For more than 40 years, Benita VanWinkle has photographed vintage movie houses in all 50 states

The subject of this portrait is often identified as Mary Boleyn.

History Remembers Mary Boleyn as the Scandalous ‘Other Boleyn Girl.’ New Research Debunks the Myths Surrounding the Tudor Mistress

Sylvia Barbara Soberton’s latest book challenges the perception of Anne Boleyn’s sister as “promiscuous, intellectually incurious and unambitious”

Comic book artist Jack Kirby smokes a pipe at San Diego Comic Con, August 1973

Jack Kirby Was a Kid From the Lower East Side Who Became the ‘King of Comics’ and Made Superhero Mythology. Now, New York City Has Named a Street After Him

The artist who co-created Captain America and other iconic characters is being honored in the neighborhood where he grew up

Page 1 of 87