Rare editions of some of the best-known works of British literature will be on exhibit from Oct. 9 through Dec. 31 in Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“A Being More Intense: British Romantic Writers in the Rare Book Collection” will highlight works by William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John Keats.
A lecture titled “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: What Makes a Monster?” will open the exhibit. Susan J. Wolfson, a professor of English at Princeton University, will deliver the free public talk at 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 in Wilson’s Pleasants Family Assembly Room. For event information, contact Liza Terll at 962-4207 or liza_terll@unc.edu.
Wilson’s Rare Book Collection has steadily built strength in the British Romantic era –roughly, the period from the mid-1780s until about 1837, said Charles McNamara, collection curator.
“In the last 10 or 12 years, we have gone from having a few first editions to having very strong holdings,” he said. “The library’s Wordsworth collection, in particular, is poised to gain major national and international significance.”
Among the items on exhibit will be Wordsworth’s first two books, “An Evening Walk” and “Descriptive Sketches,” both published in 1793. Other rarities to be shown include multiple interpretations of Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which McNamara termed “one of the most illustrated works in English.” Visitors also will see a first edition of Shelley’s “Queen Mab,” published in 1813 and mutilated by Shelley’s own hand. Shelley was not satisfied with the work and cut away the title page and other identifying marks before allowing most of the 270 copies printed to be circulated.
“A Being More Intense” will be on view in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room on the third floor of Wilson through Dec. 31. The exhibit is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, closed Sundays and holidays.
Note:McNamara can be reached at (919) 962-1143.
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589