Today in Bookish and Literary History, January 19

 1714 Crisis by Richard Steele - UK

1829 Faust, Part 1 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Germany

This new translation, in rhymed verse, of Goethe's Faust--one of the greatest dramatic and poetic masterpieces of European literature--preserves the essence of Goethe's meaning without resorting either to an overly literal, archaic translation or to an overly modern idiom. It remains the nearest "equivalent" rendering of the German ever achieved.

1893 The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen - Norway

First performed in 1892, this psychological drama is one of the great Norwegian playwright's most symbolic and lyrical works. The drama explores the insecurities of an aging architect, Halvard Solness, who suspects that his creative powers have diminished with age. Solness finds strength of purpose in his involvement with Hilda — his muse, inspiration, and ardent believer in his greatness — but their association leads to a conflict between heroic myth and complicated reality.

2021 Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit by Mark Leyner - US

A "shamelessly funny" (Kirkus) and utterly original new novel from Mark Leyner about a father and his intense and devout relationship with his daughter and with alcohol.

2021 The Divines by Ellie Eaton - UK

Suspenseful, provocative, and compulsively readable, The Divines explores the tension between the lives we lead as adults and the experiences that form us, probing us to consider how our memories as adults compel us to reexamine our pasts.

2021 The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard - UK

The acclaimed author of The Talented Ribkins deconstructs painful African American stereotypes and offers a fresh and searing critique on race, class, privilege, ambition, exploitation, and the seeds of rage in America in this intricately woven and masterfully executed historical novel, set in early the twentieth century that centers around the black servants of a down-on-its heels upper-class white family.

2023 For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie - Scotland

An astounding debut, both epic and intimate, about grief, trauma, revelation, and the hidden lives of women - by a major new talent

• Winner of the Scottish Book Awards - First Book of the Year

2024 The Days Before Tomorrow by Mark Hass - US

In this moving, coming-of-age novel set in the heart of Eastern Europe during the years between the World Wars, a random act of violence by local anti-Semitic thugs casts Wolchi, a trusting and superstitious teenage boy, and Leja, his bookish but independent older sister, on a life-changing journey through a world gone mad.