Chapter & Verse

José Rigau would appreciate help in identifying the person (possibly French historian Charles Seignobos) who defined enlightened...

José Rigau would appreciate help in identifying the person (possibly French historian Charles Seignobos) who defined enlightened despotism as "All for the people, but without the people."

 

Dinsmore Murphy seeks author, work, and date for "...led onward without will of their own by their former striving."

 

Eugene Pattison asks if anyone knows a prior source for Louisa May Alcott's "saying," from Jo's Boys, "Clay represents life; plaster, death; marble, immortality."

 

"plains of hesitation" (May-June 2003). William Waterhouse found George W. Cecil's text, for a 1928 advertisement for International Correspondence Schools, in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service (GPO, 1989): "On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the Door of victory, sat down to wait, and waiting—died!"

 

"Fougère" (May-June 2003). Laurence Senelick identified Eugénie Fougère, a French singer and dancer noted for eye-catching outfits, frisky movements, suggestive demeanor, and her ragtime cakewalk "Hello, Ma Baby." She performs, wrote Gerelyn Hollingsworth, at https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(1094)).

 

"desire..." (May-June 2003). John Croke located Yeats's source in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Table Talk: "The man's desire is for the woman; but the woman's desire is rarely other than for the desire of the man" (July 23, 1827).

 

Send inquiries and answers to "Chapter and Verse," Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138.        

Most popular

Harvard Faculty Approve a Cap on A Grades

Reforms to reduce grade inflation will take effect in the fall of 2027.

Harvard Alumni and Faculty Win Six Pulitzer Prizes

Winners include Jill Lepore, Bess Wohl, Pablo Torre, and Hannah Natanson.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Explore More From Current Issue

Brick archway with a sandy base, surrounded by wooden planks and boxes in a dim space.

How the American Revolution Freed a Future Abolitionist

Darby Vassall, an enslaved child freed after the Battle of Bunker Hill, dedicated his life to fighting for liberty.

Three joyful graduates in caps and gowns celebrate together outdoors.

Your Harvard 2026 Commencement Week Guide

College reunions and Alumni Day will take place the following week

Bronze statues of three historical figures under a stylized tree in a softly lit space.

The Costly Choice Native Americans Faced

How the Revolution reshaped indigenous New England