The British Library

One of the many places I visited while in London was the British Library. It was one of those great fortuitous discoveries: I went out to take a short walk to recover from a 24 hour bug (long story) and happened upon the library. Of course, it wasn't really a discovery - it's on a main road next to King's Cross station - I just had no idea where it was and was surprised to come across it. Anyway, its an amazing library that has some great public (and free!) exhibits.

The library's permanent exhibit collection includes a number of illuminated manuscripts, original Shakespeare folios, original letters and manuscripts from the likes of Jane Austen and Samuel Johnson, gorgeous bound and jeweled books, and a Magna Carta. My spontaneous visit also happened to coincide with the final days of an exhibit on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the 11th century Persian poem. It was a wonderful exhibit; I've never read the whole of the poem, so I learned much from what was there. What I loved most about the exhibit, and the poem itself, was the artwork it showed that the poem has inspired throughout the centuries. The poem lends itself beautifully to being depicted through visual arts, as each of the many publications of it have done. It's a gorgeous progression of artistic styles, from the early illustrations that accompanied it, to the hold the poem took on the art deco movement, to the succession of ornately bejeweled bindings and covers. It continues to be beautifully republished today (look at the Folio Society's gorgeous recent publication of it! Alas, it is super expensive, only 1,000 were made, and it is long sold out). Here is an illustration by an artist often associated with the Rubaiyat (and many other fairy tales and stories): Edmund Dulac. I love his artwork and I think it perfectly complements the beautiful language of FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight

The Stars before him from the Field of Night,

Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes

The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light

(Artwork via Artpassions)

The Morgan Library

Because Tuesdays are my free afternoon days, today I decided to venture to the Morgan Library to see the Jane Austen exhibit I had heard about. Amazingly, I’ve never been to the Library before – it is certainly an overlooked gem. It began as J.P. Morgan’s personal collection of rare books, manuscripts, drawings, and artwork, and was given to the public by his son in the 1920s. The reading rooms that make up Morgan’s personal wing of the museum – with their massive collections of old books, dark wood shelves, plush couches, and beautifully frescoed ceilings – are a literary dream. The permanent collection boasts a Gutenberg Bible and a number of great pieces of art (I spotted a few Hans Memlings), in addition to all the rare books and illuminated manuscripts it contains. It was the special exhibit I came to see, however, and was excited to find that not only was there and exhibit on Jane Austen, but one on William Blake as well.

The Jane Austen exhibit was wonderful, featuring lots of Jane’s original letters, manuscripts, and first editions. It is always so exciting to me to see something originally from a writer or artist I admire up close, so I loved seeing her own handwriting in her copious and exhaustive letters. There was also a short documentary featuring well-known writers and artists discussing Jane and her effects on them – I especially enjoyed Colm Toibin’s (a writer I love) wish to invite Jane, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung to dinner, feed them lots of alcohol, and see what they made of each other. All the while, of course, I thought of my favorite Austen novel (Persuasion), and my favorite part of the novel (Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne). To avoid the risk of ruining the experience of the book for any unacquainted readers, I will refrain from saying more – just know that you must read Persuasion and savor your

first reading of said letter. Gosh, I love Persuasion.

The William Blake exhibit featured his many etchings and engravings – I often forget he was as much an artist as he was a poet. Engravings fascinate me. The great ones are so intricate and detailed, and to me evoke a certain kind of beauty I automatically associate with literature and poetry. I suppose it is people like Blake that are the causes of such associations – his etchings are beautiful, and of course literary. Here are the first few lines of “The Echoing Green,” from Blake’s Songs of Innocence (and his frontispiece):

The sun does arise,

And make happy the skies;


The merry bells ring


To welcome the spring;


The skylark and thrush,


The birds of the bush,


Sing louder around


To the bell's cheerful sound,


While our sports shall be seen


On the Echoing Green.

I was also happy to learn of Blake’s love for John Milton, and Blake’s poems and engravings inspired by Milton. This illustration, “The Wandering Moon,” was done by Blake to accompany Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, and features Milton in his Cambridge robes observing the moon, personified as a young woman. I just love his artwork (and poetry).

The Blake exhibit runs to January, while the Austen exhibit is until March. Go!