Hundreds of incredible treasures and curiosities — spanning over 4,000 years of history — will be open to the public at an upcoming exhibit at the New York Public Library’s iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue.
From Jefferson’s handwritten copy of The Declaration of Independence to a lock of Beethoven’s hair, “The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures” is bound to attract all seeking the unique.
The exhibit, so named for $12 million donor Leonard Polonsky and his foundation, is expected to open on September 24. Tickets to the exhibition — which is free — will be available beginning on Aug. 23, the library announced Monday.
The exhibit will be a permanent fixture in the library’s Gottesman Hall, which has just been newly restored and renovated featuring 250 objects that have changed the course of history.
The objects were handpicked from its personal collection of over 45 million rare books, artwork. manuscripts, maps, newspapers and more that it has amassed over the last 126 at its research centers, NYPL said.
Objects include: [...]
● Charlotte Brontë’s traveling writing desk (Patrick Reilly)
More Brontëana on
Book Riot as it recommends 'The 5 best libraries to see in Cambridge'.
#5. Katharine Stephen Room, Newnham College
It would be remiss of me to write an article like this and not include my own college library somewhere in the roundup. I won’t say too much, as I’ve already previously written up a virtual tour.
I will, however, go into a little more detail about the Katharine Stephen room, which houses our rare books collection. Named after an old Principal of Newnham who was also the cousin of Virginia Woolf, it was built in 1982 and achieved Grade II listing in 2018. It carries over 6,000 rare books and manuscripts, such as 16th century Shakespeare editions, original 1700s copies of Tatler, and more. I was also particularly surprised to go in once and see that it contains, in a small glass case, a ring with the braided hair of Emily and Charlotte Brontë. (Namera Tanjeem)
This contributor to
Book Riot is prepared to perish upon this bookish hill:
Hill #5: Edward Rochester did not deserve Jane Eyre, and most romantic heroes don't deserve the women they conned into marrying them, either.
I said what I said. Jane Eyre deserved better than Rochester; even Jean Rhys thought so, and she wrote a whole damn book about how Bertha Mason nee Antoinette Cosway was wronged. MOST women in literature — and in life — deserve better than the “romantic” heroes who lie, cheat, and otherwise dissemble or worse in order to convince a lady to marry him. I recognize that mending this would make many books a whole lot shorter. I also recognize that the underlying point is generally not that the hero lied, but that he acknowledges and grows from his mistakes — something humans of any gender are generally somewhat reluctant to do. The fantasy fulfilled is growth, not marriage or sex.
And yet. We deserve better. (Tika Viteri)
We may deserve better in real life but as far as fictional stories are concerned Jane Eyre is definitely more than we deserve.
AnOther interviews writer Dominique Barbéris about her latest novel,
Un Dimanche à Ville-d’Avray, and we think she has a deeper understanding of Rochester as a creation.
DS: You reference Jane Eyre a lot in the novel, particularly the now legendary love affair between Jane and Mr Rochester. The protagonist seems to be longing for a passion like that, or for a romantic experience like theirs. Why do you think people are always so drawn to these stories; to these unattainable ideals?
DB: I love Jane Eyre for its literary qualities. But I have to admit, I also love it because of Rochester. He’s a fascinating character for women and it’s not surprising: he is a man created by a woman, so he corresponds to what women are waiting for. I think we need these stories to lead us from despair. It is similar to Wuthering Heights and the Brontë sisters: their lives were so terrible, they needed literature as a way to cope with it. But they didn’t just dream about love, they dreamt about the landscape, they dreamt about the night. Sometimes language is so powerful it can help you open up and escape the world you’re living in. Most of my books speak about boredom and the way people try to escape from it. (Dominique Sisley)
Enid Grace Parker: Who are the writers you were most influenced by over the years?
S.G.: JK Rowling, Jodi Picoult, Charlotte Brontë, and LM Montgomery. I love reading their stories because of the way they showcase strong female protagonists who were fuelled by their own ambitions and passions.
Reading their stories, relating to their characters, and watching them as they overcame their obstacles and embarked on exciting adventures of their own, made me feel that I could do the same — that I could do anything I put my mind to, no matter how far away or impossible the goal may seem.
Clarín (Argentina) tells the story of the Honresfeld Collection.
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