1884 - 1885: Obiter Dicta to Marius the Epicurean.

Chronology of World, British and American Literature.

Augustine Birrell. British. 1884. Essays. Obiter Dicta. Three books of essays. “Incidental comments.”

William Dean Howells. American. 1885. Novel. The Rise of Silas Lapham. Self-reliant business man becomes wealthy, moves to Boston; embarrasses himself in attempts to be accepted by the social elite. Eventually sees himself for what he is.

Emile Zola. French. 1885. Novel. Germinal. Bitter suffering of workers in French mines. Pleads for social reform. Sympathy for the lower classes.

James Whitcomb Riley. American. 1885. Poem. “Little Orphant Annie.” Hoosier dialect. Orphant Annie tells hair-raising tales about goblins.

Walter Pater. British. 1885. Romance. Marius the Epicurean. Roman noble at the time of Marcus Aurelius. Records ideas rather than events. Drawn to Christianity.