A Lively Mind Jane Austen at 250

Jane Austen's 250th birthday is December 16th, which makes her a fellow Sagittarius like myself. I had the pleasure to visit the wonderful exhibit at my favorite, The Morgan Library and Museum. Here are a few of the items on display. It was a very crowded exhibit, which was nice to see, She is such a world treasure, I was not surprised! 

The Morgan Library and Museum 

225 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

The Morgan Library & Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:30 am to 5 pm, and Friday from 10:30 am to 8 pm.

Closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

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Charles Dickens and The Spirit of Christmas

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate today! I thought it would be fun to share this great exhibit from The Morgan Library of Charles Dickens. It is really magical this time of year! I hope you enjoy! 

During his life, Charles Dickens (1812–1870) acquired the kind of celebrity accorded only to international film stars today. That status was secured with the publication of A Christmas Carol, one of the most beloved holiday stories of all time—and one of the Morgan’s greatest literary manuscripts. Its immediate success in 1843 led to four equally popular Christmas novellas in as many years. Catapulting the author out of his study and onto the reading circuit in 1853, its universal popularity also had major consequences for Dickens.

Charles Dickens and the Spirit of Christmas assembles, for the first time, all five manuscripts of Dickens’s Christmas books—A Christmas Carol (1843), The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man (1848)—to explore the genesis, composition, publication, and reception of A Christmas Carol, and its impact on Dickens’s life. This exhibition explores the personal and socio-political sources of inspiration for A Christmas Carol, Dickens’s method of composition, and the motivations behind writing one of the most famous, enduring, and widely adapted stories in all of literature. 

This exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of Dickens’s famous reading tour of the United States in 1867, and will thus examine his later career as a performer. His public readings of A Christmas Carol, which he began in the 1850s, played a pioneering role in what is now commonplace in the marketing of fiction:  the reading tour. Among the unexpected and unintended consequences of the success of A Christmas Carol was Dickens’s decision to devote enormous energies to his public readings.

How cool to see an original book of The Christmas Carol! 

This was glorious to see in person. Just glorious!! 

The Charles Dickens Museum would be a great place to visit, don't you think? 

Loved this edition of the book 

The day I visited, the Morgan Library was having a Charles Dickens and the Spirit of Christmas tour. It was pretty fantastic! I loved seeing everyone in costume! 

I enjoyed the Dickens tour with a Morgan Burger which is always so good, I think one of the best in the city! 

I hope you all have a joyous holiday with your family and friends! 

Charles Dickens and the Spirit of Christmas

November 3, 2017 through January 14, 2018

The Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 685-0008 

Fax: (212) 481-3484

Hours 

The Morgan Library & Museum and the Morgan Shop are open

Tuesday through Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Morgan closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

Closed Monday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

Admission 

$20 Adults 

$13 Seniors (65 and over)

$13 Students (with current ID)

Free to members and children 12 and under (must be accompanied by an adult)

Admission is free on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission to the McKim rooms only (Mr. Morgan's Library, Study, Rotunda, and Librarian's Office) is free during the following times: Tuesday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m to 6 p.m.

Admission is not required to visit the Morgan Shop, Morgan Dining Room, and Morgan Café.

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I’m Nobody! Who are you? The Life and Poetry of Emily Dickinson

The Morgan Library has become one of my favorite places. I just love the small size of it, and the architecture of the building. It is becoming my second favorite museum to The Met in New York City!  

These are some photos from the other side of the museum, which are just so gorgeous! 

Can you imagine walking through those gates to the inside of your home? 

The gorgeous original exterior of the McKim building 

Edward Clark Potter's Assyrian lionesses guard the stairs to the McKim building, 1906 

From The Morgan Library Website: 

One of the most popular and enigmatic American writers of the nineteenth century, Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) wrote almost 1,800 poems. Nevertheless, her work was essentially unknown to contemporary readers since only a handful of poems were published during her lifetime and a vast trove of her manuscripts was not discovered until after her death in 1886.  

Often typecast as a recluse who rarely left her Amherst home, Dickinson was, in fact, socially active as a young woman and maintained a broad network of friends and correspondents even as she grew older and retreated into seclusion. Bringing together nearly one hundred rarely seen items, including manuscripts and letters, I’m Nobody! Who are you?—a title taken from her popular poem—is the most ambitious exhibition on Dickinson to date. It explores a side of her life that is seldom acknowledged: one filled with rich friendships and long-lasting relationships with mentors and editors.  

The exhibition closely examines twenty-four poems in various draft states, with corresponding audio stops.  In addition to her writings, the show also features an array of visual material, including hand-cut silhouettes, photographs and daguerreotypes, contemporary illustrations, and other items that speak to the rich intellectual and cultural environment in which Dickinson lived and worked. The exhibition is organized in conjunction with Amherst College.

 How very cool to see her handwriting! 

This exhibit is actually on view until May 28, 2017, and I would highly suggest a visit. It is a wonderful exhibit of one of the greatest poets of our time.

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street
New York, NY 10016

Hours 

The Morgan Library & Museum and the Morgan Shop are open

Tuesday through Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To be assured not miss a post, sign up for each one to be emailed to you HERE. Be sure to check for your Feedburner confirmation email, or your subscription will not be processed. Your email is not sold or shared with anyone. Thank you so much for visiting! 

Would be thrilled if you gave me a follow here: 

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