English Companion Ning Group

Blake wrote and sketched in this notebook, which came into his possession after his brother's death in 1787, for 30 years. The closely-filled pages give a fascinating insight into Blake's compositional process, allowing us to follow the genesis of some of his best-known work, including: A Poison Tree, Infant Sorrow, London, The Tyger, The Sick Rose, and The Chimney Sweeper.

Over 1,000 items, including manuscripts, printed works, and portraits of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), the leading American poet of the 19th century.

This digital facsimile presents every page of a small, delicate maquette that Jean de Brunhoff created in 1930 or 1931 as he drafted the first book in the Babar series. The maquette, an extraordinary handmade booklet complete with cover and endpapers, text and illustrations, is the prototype for Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant.

The original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The manuscript is the handwritten version of the stories presented to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.

The History of England is an early work of Jane Austen. She completed the composition in November 1791 when she was just 15 years old. Jane Austen's History is a lively parody which makes fun of the standard schoolroom books of the time. Declaring herself to be a 'partial, prejudiced and ignorant Historian' she cites works of fiction, such as Shakespeare's plays, as historial authority and includes references to her own family and friends. Jane's older sister Cassandra illustrated the text with imaginative portraits of the English monarchs

The Morgan Library & Museum is pleased to present the only surviving manuscript of Paradise Lost, Book 1. This epic poem is considered Milton's greatest artistic achievement and one of the finest works of the human imagination. Acquired by Pierpont Morgan in 1904, it is the most important British literary manuscript in the collection. The 33-page manuscript has been temporarily disbound, providing an opportunity to see more of its pages than ever before. Also in this presentation are first editions of Paradise Lost printed in England and the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and a rarely seen miniature portrait of the poet.

The Internet Shakespeare Editions has high quality facsimilies of Shakespeare's Folios and Quartos available for viewing online. You may view the books in their entirety, page by page. The site includes facsimiles and transcriptions of Folio 1, Folio 2, Folio 3, and Folio 4, and many Quartos available online.

Digitial images from the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The page image are available in 3 sizes and can be easily read online.

Through the integration of EtherPad into TokBox users can talk about changes to a document while enacting those changes at the same time.

Use the time-slider on Etherpad to see students' writing process. Very cool!

This article appears in the Holt Elements of Literature Sixth Course: Essentials of British and World Literature text alongside Beowulf and an excerpt from John Gardner's Grendel. It is a good companion piece for Beowulf.

In the midst of all of the "uproar" over the President's planned speech to school kids on Tuesday, I keep thinking about what all of this says about schools, about what they are for, and about the perception that a lot of people in this country have of them.

Access to digital books addressing writing and speaking across the curriculum.

Podcasts with interviews with some of the world's greatest writers.

Podcasts with interviews with some of the world's greatest writers

Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success