Coming to New York any time soon? Head on down to the Morgan Library at 225 Madison Avenue for an entire exhibit devoted to Jane Austen, including her letters, illustrated early volumes of her books, and an original manuscript. The exhibition concludes with a documentary film, The Divine Jane, which features interviews with authors and critics about Austen’s impact on fiction—and is available online for viewing, though I’m not sure if it’s US-only.
The exhibit will be at the Morgan through 14 March 2010, so you’ve got time to stop by. And if you’re not coming to New York, there’s an online exhibition, too, which includes the documentary, selected images – including the Austen manuscript – and some of the images from the exhibit.
Thanks to Janice for the heads up. I’m definitely going to try to get to the Morgan Library soon – if you’ve been, how was it?
This looks amazing, I’ve never been to New York but this would be a good reason to go. I’m surprised so many of her papers are here instead of in England. I watched the video and now I really want to go.
However, as an ex-library student I flinched when I saw Siri Hustvedt handling her papers. Auugh!
Me too! I was surprised that they didn’t make her wear gloves or have the papers in some sort of protective covering.
This does look like a wonderful exhibit and I wish I were going to New York while it’s there. I would definitely visit. I’m well acquainted with my own awe of Austen I am but I’m always amazed, and extremely pleasantly so, when I hear how the great minds view her and her works. Love Beckett referring to her as The Divine Jane. Indeed.
The video was wonderful too—loved Cornel West, the awesome Fran Leibowitz, really all of the commenters. I’m off to think of who I would seat Austen next to at a dinner party besides not my father in law.
Thanks for posting.
I’ll be going…probably on 1/20 to check out the Emma lecture/preview. Thanks so much for the link!
OMG, I desperately want to go! 🙂
I’ve been on an Austen kick recently… rereading her books, sequels, and modern retellings.
Must make plans to attend 🙂
Grrr, I was all psyched to go on Dec. 6th and bring my daughters—they’ve got ‘family activities’ to go along with the exhibit that day (including country dancing!)—but my youngest has not one but TWO Nutcracker performances that day at Lincoln Center. Wonder if we could squeeze in a couple of hours between performances?!
Thanks for the link—I will definitely get over there at some point!
Wow. This is so cool. I won’t be able to make it out to NYC, but the online exhibition was lovely. I especially liked reading her handwriting along with the audio. What a treasure. Thanks so much for posting about it.
Am headed to NYC next week -weeeee! Thanks for the tip – will be sure to see the exhibit.
I saw in New York this week and saw the exhibit—it’s fabulous! I got chills looking at her letters and spent a long time staring at each one trying to decipher the handwriting. Also loved the children’s instructional conduct book complete with paper dolls and the London sights board game. Great to work into a book!
It is standard practice in manuscript libraries today to not require gloves for handling paper in good condition. Clean hands are the best way to go. In general, gloves make people more clumsy which is the last thing you want when handling rare material. Thanks for the post!