Bill Bryson, the laureate of the Blackpool landlady, the slightly damp mattress, and the ominous stain on the bedroom ceiling, was yesterday appointed watchman over all such treasures.
PG Wodehouse frequently located his aristocratic characters at Blandings Castle, somewhere in Shropshire. The search for the stately home has preoccupied Wodehouse fans ever since.
They were hidden in cupboards, drawers and crannies - 300 books stolen from the public library. But why did she take them? And could she really read tea leaves? John Sutherland remembers.
The final Mughal ruler of Delhi was a mystic, poet and calligrapher. But the art of his reign would have been lost but for an eccentric Briton. William Dalrymple reports