Images

The Plays of William Shakespeare, oil on canvas painting by Sir John Gilbert, 1849. Dahesh Museum of Art, New York.

A house belonging to John Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the likely birthplace of William Shakespeare. Photo by Flickr user John in July 2007.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest surviving work of epic literature, originating in Mesopotamia with its earliest Sumerian poems composed around c. 2100 BCE, during the period of early city-states in southern Mesopotamia. Centered on Gilgamesh...

As part of Herod the Great's building program, with the temple located at the eastern foot of Herod's Harbor and the northwestern unbridgable entrance, the diameter route of its causeway would have expedited the movement of goods and military...

The cabinet of US President James K. Polk in the White House dining room, by John Plumbe, Jr., c. 1846. Bottom row, left to right: Attorney General John Y. Mason, Secretary of War William L. Marcy, President Polk, Secretary of the Treasury...

A daguerrotype of US President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah Childress Polk, probably taken by John Plumbe Jr., circa 1848-49. James K. Polk Presidential Museum.

Portrait of First Lady Sarah Childress Polk (1803-1891), wife of US Pres. James K. Polk, oil on canvas by George Dury, 1883, after an original painting by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1846. White House, Washington, D.C.

Official presidential portrait of James K. Polk (served 1845-1849). Oil on canvas by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1858. White House, Washington, D.C.

James K. Polk (1795-1849) as Speaker of the US House of Representatives (1835-1839). Artwork by Charles Fendrich, printed by Peter S. Duval, 1838. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

A campaign banner for the Democratic Party candidates of the US Presidential Election of 1844: James K. Polk (left) and his running mate George M. Dallas (right). Lithograph with watercolor by Nathaniel Currier, 1844. Library of Congress...