Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Jane Austen at the Morgan Library


Spending the weekend with "Emma." Reading "Mansfield Park" in bed.

"You could bring a person to bed, and that would be nicer in some respects, but not as fully satisfying," thLING_ERROR_1">e novelist Colm Toibin explained in "The Divine Jane: Reflections on Austen."

The video was part of a Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library, which I finally visited on Friday night. Hearing Toibin on screen, I couldn't help but think I'd met my match. Is this a person who appreciates Jane Austen even more than I do? (In any case, he appreciates "Mansfield Park" much more. I could have understood if he would have said "Pride and Prejudice," but never "Mansfield Park"! Hehehe.)

The exhibit was small but fascinating. It included many of Austen's personal, handwritten letters (I believe the library has the largest collection of Austen letters anywhere), and several were "crossed letters," which I found extremely interesting. In order to save money on expensive paper and postage, she would continue her text perpendicularly over what she had already written.


Several old volumes of her books were on display as well, highlighting three of the primary illustrators of her novels. And I even learned a little bit: Marvel Comics released a "Pride and Prejudice" comic last year, which I now must find!

This is what I love about New York. I never would have planned a visit to a city around an exhibit like this, but here it is anyway, in my own backyard.

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