Gifts for dog lovers who love books
If someone you know loves dogs and loves books, there is a whole shelf of literature written for them. Here are the famous dogs of fiction, a famous epitaph, and gift ideas to match.
The great dogs of literature
Dogs are everywhere in books, and many are the most loved characters in them.
- Argos, the old dog who waits twenty years for Odysseus in the Odyssey, and is the only one to recognise him.
- Toto, who goes to Oz with Dorothy.
- Nana, the Darlings' nurse, in Peter Pan.
- Bull's-eye, Bill Sikes's dog, in Oliver Twist.
- Montmorency, the terrier in Three Men in a Boat.
- Buck, the hero of The Call of the Wild.
- The Hound of the Baskervilles, who is the exception.
Byron's epitaph to a dog
In November 1808 the poet Lord Byron's Newfoundland, Boatswain, died, and Byron buried him at Newstead Abbey with a monument and an inscription. The epitaph, which Byron wrote, includes a line that is still quoted on pet memorial gifts: "Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity". It continues that the dog had all the virtues of man without his vices.
Gift ideas
- A bookish dog print. Our Literary Dogs print is a page of the great dogs of fiction, for the reader who also owns one.
- A print of the epitaph for a dog who is gone, or a dog who is very much here.
- A new copy of The Call of the Wild or Three Men in a Boat.
- A good lead and a good bookmark, bought together.
Browse the shop: Classic novels prints.
Questions
- What are the most famous dogs in literature?
- Argos in the Odyssey, Toto in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Nana in Peter Pan, Montmorency in Three Men in a Boat and Buck in The Call of the Wild.
- Who wrote the epitaph to a dog?
- Lord Byron wrote it in 1808 for his Newfoundland, Boatswain, who is buried at Newstead Abbey.