State Library Of Massachusetts: News Murthy's Cattage: A Biographical Dictionary Of Cats In Literature

Press release from the State Library of Massachusetts:

10/01/2021

October's Collection Spotlight!

Murthy’s Cattage: A Biographical Dictionary of Cats in Literature

Murthy’s Cattage: A Biographical Dictionary of Cats in Literature

Howard M. Chapin (Providence, RI, 1911)

This month, our Collection Spotlight features one of October’s unofficial mascots - cats! Murthy’s Cattage: A Biographical Dictionary of Cats in Literature was compiled by Howard Millar Chapin and published in Providence, RI in 1911. Within its pages are a list of cats found in literature or owned by authors. It also serves as a bit of an early nineteenth-century time capsule because it highlights authors and titles that might not be as well-known today. The pamphlet is dedicated to Chapin’s own cat, and namesake of the book, Murthy.

The pamphlet is less than a dozen pages in length and can be accessed in DSpace. And in honor of National Black Cat Day on October 27, we encourage you to search the list for some black cats - including Gavroche and Eponine, the pets of French author Théophile Gautier, who were named soon after the publication of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. There’s many more, along with other interesting cat descriptions, to be found within the pages of Murthy’s Cattage!

This press release was produced by the State Library of Massachusetts. The views expressed here are the author’s own.