First-edition cover.

George Orwell’s novel of a dystopian future, 1984, was
published on June 8, 1949. It Orwell’s ninth and final
completed book.

The novel’s all-seeing leader, known as “Big Brother,”
became a universal symbol for intrusive government
and oppressive bureaucracy.

Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal
Farm (1945).

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
(25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 
was published on this day in 1852.

The novel sold 300,000 copies within three months and was so
widely read that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in
1862, he reportedly said, “So this is the little lady who made this
big war.”

Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896)

                            Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547 – 1616)

On January 16, 1605 Don Quixote,was published. The book is
considered by many to be the first modern novel and one of
the greatest novels of all time.

Don Quixote has endured in a way that only a select few
novels could.

Over the centuries, "Don Quixote" has been translated into numerous languages and remains a vibrant part of the
literary canon today.

Statue of Miguel de Cervantes at the
harbour of Naupactus.

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)

On November 14, 1851, Moby-Dick was published. Now
considered a great classic of American literature—with
one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: “Call
me Ishmael”—the book about Captain Ahab and his
quest to catch a giant white whale was originally a big
flop.

Its author, Herman Melville was born in New York City
in 1819. As a young man, he spent time in the merchant
marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling ship in the South
Seas.

First U.S. edition.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by
American author Harper Lee. It was the 34-year-old novelist 
first novel and became an instant success after its release;
in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and
middle schools. 

Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016)

To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize a year after its
release, and it has become a classic of modern American
literature.