"He has not one redeeming defect" - comment on William Gladstone by Benjamin Disraeli who died on this day in 1881.

Disraeli and Gladstone.

 In the Horncastle Bookshop, books on the history of 19th century Britain are many and varied. The bookshop building, in the 19th century, housed a disreputable 'beer-house' ( see Jabberwock Books - History ).

"I believe movies are the most powerful medium for change on earth. They are also a powerful medium for institutionalizing complacency, oppression and reaction. Steven's feeling about Gone with the Wind was so different from mine that when he said he considered it 'the greatest movie ever made' I felt the only appropriate response would be to faint" - Alice Walker, who was awarded the Pulitzer prize for "The Color Purple", on this day in 1983. Poetry by Alice Walker . Our cinema book list. At the Horncastle Bookshop, books on the cinema can be found in our new premises adjoining the original shop.

"The people of the United States are proud of the honourable conduct of our military. And I am proud to lead such brave and decent Americans." - George Bush, speaking on this day in 2003. We have a large and rapidly changing selection of books on current events in the Horncastle Bookshop, including books on the conflict in Iraq.

"Did you know his works have been translated into 145 languages, or that Chairman Mao was such a fan that he put Andersen's stories on the syllabus of every school in China ?" - Michael Booth in Just As Well I'm Leaving, an account of travels in the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen, who was born on this day in 1805.

"Why ! had he been stiffe, proud, startcht & retired, as other formal Doctors are, he had known no more than they." - John Aubrey on William Harvey, who was born on this day in 1578.

" But all the world understands my language" - Franz Joseph Haydn, born on this day in 1732 (and died on the same day in 1809).

"Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness, the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living." - Sean O'Casey - born on this day in 1880.

"This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room." - Virginia Woolf - died on this day in 1941.

"The wisest fool in Christendom" - Henry IV of France, describing King James I, who died on this day in 1625.

"Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is." - Paul Erdos - born on this day in 1913.

N is a number. A portrait of Paul Erdos. 

In the Horncastle Bookshop there are many books that set out to reveal the aesthetics of Mathematics.

"Nostalgia is not what it used to be" - Simone Signoret - born on this day in 1921.

Simone Signoret: The Star as Cultural Sign . The Horncastle Bookshop stocks books on various aspects of cinema.

"If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" - William Morris - born on this day in 1834. Thinking Hands: The Power of Labour in William Morris is an interesting recent study of Morris’s thought. In addition to books on Arts and Crafts, the Horncastle Bookshop always has a variety of books on Interior Decoration, Fashion and all kinds of Design.

"At every hour of every day, I can tell you on which page of which book each schoolchild in Italy is studying." - Benito Mussolini, who founded the Italian Fascist Party on this day in 1919.

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul." - Goethe - died on this day in 1832.

"Rident stolidi verba Latina  (Fools laugh at the Latin language)." - Ovid - born on this day in 43BC. A good introduction to the beauty of the Latin language is Carmina Latina: A Songbook of Latin Poetry, which includes an audio-cassette of readings from Ovid and other poets. Books in Latin are always available at the Horncastle Bookshop.

"Some folk are wise, and some are otherwise." - Tobias Smollett - born on this day in 1721.

"unworthy of the poet's corner of a country newspaper. He is all blood, dirt and sucked sugar-stick" - W.B. Yeats on Wilfred Owen - born on this day in 1893. At the Horncastle Bookshop, books by and about the poets of the 1st World War are always on the list of books we want to buy, as, of course, is any book by or about Yeats.

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness." - Lhama Dhondrub, the 14th Dalai Lama, who fled from Tibet to India on this day in 1959.

“When the tea is brought at five o’clock,
And all the neat curtains are drawn with care,
The little black cat with bright green eyes
Is suddenly purring there.”

- Harold Monro - died on this day in 1932. He is remembered for founding the Poetry Bookshop as well as for his own writing. See - Strange Meetings: Poems by Harold Monro. 

"Hatred of domestic work is a natural and admirable result of civilization." - Rebecca West - died on this day in 1983.

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." - Albert Einstein - born on this day in 1879. As well as our online science and religion lists, we have, on both subjects, many more books at the Horncastle Bookshop.

"Every man, when he comes to be sensible of his natural rights, and feels his own importance, will consider himself as fully equal to any other person whatsoever" - Joseph Priestley, investigator of de-phlogisticated air, born on this day in 1733. A good outline of Priestley’s work is available in John Malone’s