THE WALRUS SAID . . . . . . . . . being a bookish blog

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

The Biblio File: images of N.E. bookstores, for bibliophiles


Carlson Turner Books & Bookbindery, Portland, Maine

David Levine on writers: Geoffrey Chaucer

David Levine (1926-2009) was one of America’s most prominent illustrators during a career that spanned decades. No less an authority than Jules Feiffer described him as "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th century,” although Levine continued to work in the early years of this century as well. Levine’s subjects included himself (above) and people from many walks of life. Authors, scribes and scribblers were a big part of the mix, as these caricatures make clear. 

Lit Toons: Cartoons with a bookish bent

Tom Gauld

First Lines: James Joyce


Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

Ulysses
James Joyce

"They say it's your birthday" - writers born on November 10



Neil Gaiman  (1960)
Oliver Goldsmith  (1728) 
W. E. B. Griffin  (1929)
Caroline Kepnes  (1976)
Vachel Lindsay  (1879)
John Marquand  (1893) 

Monday, November 9, 2026

The Biblio File: images of bookplates, for bibliophiles


David Levine on writers: T.S. Eliot

David Levine (1926-2009) was one of America’s most prominent illustrators during a career that spanned decades. No less an authority than Jules Feiffer described him as "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th century,” although Levine continued to work in the early years of this century as well. Levine’s subjects included himself (above) and people from many walks of life. Authors, scribes and scribblers were a big part of the mix, as these caricatures make clear.