Classics

A selection of old favorites.
Little Italy, New York City, 1950s

FeatureWhat Sets Italian Americans Off From Other Immigrants?

Family and work for starters, according to a new TV documentary.

Stein in France with her longtime friend Bernard Faÿ

FeatureThe Strange Politics of Gertrude Stein

Was the den mother of modernism a fascist?

Political cartoon with Andrew Jackson

FeatureKing Andrew and the Bank

Andrew Jackson stares down the national bank and wins.

A young Eudora Welty standing against a wall.

FeatureThe Quiet Greatness of Eudora Welty

Even toward the end of her life, the writer revealed a youthful zest for life and art.

Illustration of Benedict Spinoza

FeatureWhy Spinoza Was Excommunicated

Before writing a single book, Bento de Spinoza was considered a dangerous thinker

Alexander von Humboldt

FeatureHumboldt in the New World

Journeying through South America, Alexander von Humboldt sought nothing less than "the unity of nature."

Lev Tolstoy, 1908

FeatureDone with Tolstoy

Famed translators Pevear and Volokhonsky reach another milestone.

Portrait of Carl Sandburg

FeatureA Workingman's Poet

Frankness and plain speaking made Carl Sandburg a celebrity.

Among the Waves by Ivan Aivazovsky

FeatureThe Blue Humanities

In studying the sea, we are returning to our beginnings.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

FeatureRalph Waldo Emerson

What accounts for Emerson's endurance as a writer?