Today in Bookish and Literary History, December 5

1896 Emperor and Galilean by Henrik Ibsen Norway

Emperor and Galilean was published in 1873 when Ibsen was at the height of his creative powers. He saw it as the cornerstone of his entire dramatic output.

1941 Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton UK

A Broadway hit first produced on the West End under the title Gaslight and filmed twice, Angel Street tells the story of the Manninghams, who live on Angel Street in 19th-century London. As the curtain rises, all appears to be the essence of Victorian tranquility. It is soon apparent, however, that Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife, Bella, to the brink of insanity with an insinuating kindness that masks more sinister motives.

1955 Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder US

Now, for the first time in a standalone edition, Thornton Wilder's brilliant, hilarious play which was adapted into the hit Broadway musical Hello, Dolly with an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder.

1957 Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge US

Set in the 1920s in a small town in Oklahoma, the play follows the lives of the Flood family.

1967 Pediatrician Benjamin Spock and poet Allen Ginsberg arrested in New York while protesting against the Vietnam War

1972 River Niger by Joseph A Walker US

A play in three acts by Joseph A. Walker.

1990 British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie appears in public for 1st time in 2 years after Iran called for his assassination

2023 Rebecca, Not Becky by Christine Platt UK and Catherine Wigginton Greene

In the vein of Such a Fun Age, a whip-smart, compulsively readable novel about two upper-class stay-at-home mothers—one white, one Black—living in a "perfect" suburb that explores motherhood, friendship, and the true meaning of sisterhood amidst the backdrop of America’s all-too-familiar racial reckoning.