The Lilly Library

In January I had the chance to visit the Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana. Oh my goodness that places is a bibliophile's dream! I toured the building and checked out the current exhibit on Ross Lockridge, Jr. (the author of Raintree County). I liked the space and was glad I visited but wasn't impressed. Then as I was making my way back to the entrance a staff member asked if I wanted to see some of the collections. They took me through a locked door and proceeded to bringing out a dazzling collection of literary gems.

I saw a 1477 edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (top left corner of photo), a tiny series of books each the size of my thumbnail (top right), Syvia Plath's hair (eww, bottom left) and drawings and cards from her childhood and a drafts of Vonnegut's novels with his notes and edits (bottom right.)

I was completely blown away! The librarians brought out one items at a time and I was given gloves to wear before I could touch some of them. I was like a kid in a candy shop.

The absolute highlight for me was a 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare's complete works (see above). Not only did I get to see it, I got to turn every single page and read my favorite passages from Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing. It was heaven! I had no time limit so I just sat there slowly reading through some of my favorite pieces of literartue in an edition published only seven years after the author's death.

Anyway, if you are going to be in Indiana for any reason I would highly recommend making a sidetrip to Bloomington for this incredible library!  

Photos by moi (except the one I'm in).

Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets

  

While I was in DC a couple months ago my friend and I found ourselves with a couple extra hours before seeing Coriolanus at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. We decided to explore the National Portrait Gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian. In addition to some beautiful artwork we found a special exhibit that was closing later that month.

The Poetic Likeness exhibit featured portraits of famous modern American poets paired with their own words. There were busts and paintings, photographs and drawings of poets like Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, and Robert Frost. Here’s a brief description from the exhibits’ brochure.

“In the twentieth century, American poets created a literature that was both responsive to history as they experienced it and linguistically inventive in a manner that influenced writing worldwide. Whereas previously American poetry was largely derivative branch of British verse, by the beginning of the 1900s it was poised to declare its independence as a distinctive literary tradition.

Poetic Likeness charts the biographies and careers of the major voices of American poetry in the twentieth century, drawing significantly on the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Poets who are considered particularly inventive and influential – the makers of modernism – are given a cluster of portraits to signal their importance. But all the poets represented in this exhibition are delightful in the variety and inventiveness of their writing. Their work deserves reading and rereading, both on its own merits and also as evidence of poetry’s essential role in creating modern American culture.”

The exhibit was wonderful. I love it when two forms of art can meet in such a fascinating way. It was all the more enjoyable because we had unintentionally stumbled upon it.  Poetry has never been my literary strong suit, but it’s something I continually try to appreciate and learn more about. I love that this exhibit took a specific interest in how poetry is woven into the fabric of our country and it’s one more way that we have developed our own identity as a young nation.

Photos by moi.