7 Comments
User's avatar
Ruth Scurr's avatar

Please add 400 years since John Aubrey’s birth in 1626… should be at least no.5 on your list?

Henry Oliver's avatar

Oh my god yes one of my favourites

James Black's avatar

I hadn't heard of John Aubrey until I read Roberson Davies' THE REBEL ANGELS earlier this month. I will have to give him a try.

Dana Gioia's avatar

Let's not forget the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi who was not only a great religious figure but also the first poet in modern Italian literature. He was, that is, the first poet to write in the language of common people.

Henry Oliver's avatar

Excellent!

Maximus Stetich's avatar

I kindly disagree about Bacon being a great prose writer. To quote Florio: he stinks

Double ID's avatar

We don’t just celebrate anniversaries of books📚, but also the moments when ideas became detachable from convenience. Bacon, Swift, Smith didn’t give us comfort. They trained us to see 👀 where comfort abandons us.

People prize stories they feel.

These thinkers give us tools to think through what we feel. That’s why they matter more than the applause they get.

Nice work.👏

-Double🆔️