Arts & Culture | April 15, 2013

A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

From The May-June 2013 Issue

Leslie Gillis requests title and author for a book that ends, “I don’t know. I’m just a city boy myself”—in response to a question about whether flowers popping up through the snow are crocuses.

“iron filings” (March-April). Alison Harris recalled this fable about steel filings and a magnet from Extraordinary Tales by Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares (1971, edited and translated by Anthony Kerrigan; page 96). Their source, Hesketh Pearson’s The Life of Oscar Wilde (1946; page 212), credits Richard Le Gallienne’s The Romantic ’90s (1926; pages 254ff).

“thoughts of great men” (March-April). Mary Ann Brewin found no citation for this alleged Mark Twain remark, but recommended www.twainquotes.com for many other sourced comments.

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via e-mail tochapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Published in the May-June 2013 print issue under the headline “Chapter & Verse,” in the Montage section.

You might also like

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Most popular

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.

Caricature of a young man in front of red doors, wearing a green striped sweater.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Red brick building with large windows and greenery, set against a bright blue sky.

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Explore More From Current Issue

A smiling elderly man in glasses sits comfortably in a striped armchair.

Harvard Administration

Plus, veteran higher education leader Thomas Ehrlich reflects on university curricula for his 70th reunion

A smiling William C. Kirby in a suit with glasses stands outdoors, surrounded by greenery.

Editor’s Letter

The president of Harvard Magazine’s Board of Directors will step down in September.

University Hall with steps and the John Harvard statue, surrounded by trees and a grassy lawn.

University News

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.