Arts & Books Mixed Bag 15 Trivia Quiz

Answer: 14th

He was born Durante degli Alighieri in Florence in 1265, although he is generally known simply called "Dante". He began working on the epic poem now widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature sometime around 1308 and finished it only shortly before his death in 1321.

Answer: Auric

Published in 1959, Ian Fleming's seventh novel featuring James Bond was originally entitled "The Richest Man in the World". Fleming often named his characters after people he knew, and the antagonist in this novel was no different -- an architect named Ernõ Goldfinger had designed his house in Hampstead.

The character's first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning "gold" -- the chemical symbol for gold is "Au". Auric Goldfinger was voted as the most sinister Bond villain in a 2003 poll, out-eviling the likes of Doctor No, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Max Zorin and Emilio Largo.

Answer: Spanish

Juan Ruiz was born sometime around 1283 in a village near Jaén, which was then part of al-Andalus (or Muslim Spain) and is now the capital of the Andalusia region in south-central Spain. He is also known as the "Archpriest of Hita" and is best-known for his massive and episodic, ribald poem "Libro de Buen Amor" ("The Book of Good Love").

Answer: Cambridge University

Although the name suggests that Sharpe's fictional college may be based on Peterhouse, the oldest of the 31 Cambridge colleges, it is reputedly based on Cambridge's Pembroke College, the author's alma mater, or neighboring Corpus Christi College. Clues to the location of Porterhouse as described in the novels places it somewhere between Peterhouse and Pembroke.

Answer: Jane Austen's "Emma"

Published in 1815, "Emma" was the fourth of Jane Austen's novels and the last one published before her death in 1817 (both "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" were published posthumously the following year).

Examining the problems faced by women living in Georgian/Regency England, "Emma" follows the story of the somewhat spoiled 20-year-old Emma Woodhouse and misconstrued romance. George Knightley is Emma's older friend and critic whilst Harriet Smith is her young and unsophisticated friend.

Answer: Edith Wharton

Born Edith Newbold Jones in New York NY in 1862, Edith Wharton's first novel, "The Touchstone" was published in 1900. "The Age of Innocence", her twelfth novel, earned her the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and she was nominated for the Nobel Literature prize three times in the late 1920s.

The alternatives are three more female winners of the Pulitzer Fiction award: Willa Cather won in 1923 for "One of Ours", Edna Ferber in 1925 for "So Big", and Pearl Buck in 1932 for "The Good Earth".

Answer: David Copperfield

First published in serial form in 1848-49, Dickens' eighth novel is usually known simply as "David Copperfield" and is widely considered to be the most autobiographical of the author's works. Besides the title character, this novel introduced many of Dickens' best-known creations: Mr Micawber, Betsy Trotwood, Uriah Heep and Mr Tungay, for example.

Answer: Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was born in 1803 in the commune of La Côte-Saint-André near Grenoble in southeastern France. His most ambitious work, written in 1830, has the full title "Symphonie Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un artiste ... en cinq parties" ("Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts"). With parts for a total of 90 instruments, this piece required a larger orchestra than any other symphony written at the time. Berlioz's 90-minute Requiem, written in 1837, is another work that also calls for a very large orchestra.

Answer: Sir Edwin Landseer

Born Edwin Henry Landseer in London in 1802, he was something of a prodigy, staging his first exhibition at the Royal Academy at the age of just 13. Knighted in 1850, Landseer's paintings of animals, particular horses, dogs and stags (the 1851 work "The Monarch of the Glen" is perhaps the best known) an be found in major galleries around the world.

It is for the sculpted lions that lie at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, though, that he is probably best remembered.

Answer: Artemis

Usually depicted as a huntress, carrying a bow and arrow, Artemis was also the Hellenic goddess of the wilderness, childbirth and virginity, and the protector of young girls. Diana is her Roman equivalent.

Of the alternatives, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and is queen of the underworld; Selene is the sister of Helios and is goddess of the dawn; and Hestia, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, is the virgin goddess of the hearth.