Philadelphia Gothic:
Murders, Mysteries, Monsters, and Mayhem Inspire American Fiction, 1798-1854
October 29, 2008 – April 14, 2009
Perhaps the most enlightened, genteel, urbane, and humane of American cities in the first half of the 19th century, Philadelphia spawned a literary tradition of Lurid Crime, Weird Hallucination, and theBrooding Supernatural. The Library Company’s current exhibition “Philadelphia Gothic: Murders, Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem Inspire American Fiction, 1798- 1854,” illuminates this stunning paradox.
By the 1840s, “The Quaker City” had become a byword for sheer horror! This was the work of three largely forgotten Philadelphia novelists: Charles Brockden Brown, Robert Montgomery Bird, and George Lippard. This exhibition resuscitates these writers, through first editions of their major works and oil portraits that have never before been exhibited, and puts them in the company of Edgar Allan Poe, who absorbed their themes and obsessions while he lived in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Gothic tradition in American literature.
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CLICK HERE FOR A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE GALLERY, courtesy of photographer Will Brown. |
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PODCAST: Christopher Looby, "The Paradox of Philadelphia Gothic" In the first half of the 19th century, Philadelphia spawned a literary tradition of Lurid Crime, Weird Hallucination, Brooding Supernatural, and Sheer Horror - largely the work of three forgotten novelists. This exhibition resuscitates Charles Brockden Brown, Robert Montgomery Bird, and George Lippard through early editions of their works and oil portraits never before exhibited, and puts them in the company of Edgar Allan Poe, who absorbed their themes and obsessions while he lived in Philadelphia - the birthplace of the Gothic tradition in American literature. Speaker: Christopher Looby, Professor of English, University of California at Los Angeles. |
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PODCAST: Ed Pettit, the “Philly Poe Guy”: Edgar Allan Poe and the Philadelphia Gothic Tradition An intriguing glance into the world of Philadelphia Gothic literature, where writers such as Charles Brockden Brown, George Lippard, Robert Montgomery Bird, and Edgar Allan Poe flourished. Ed Pettit, a freelance writer, book reviewer and literary provocateur, will examine the connections these writers had with one another and reveal how Philadelphia Gothic became one of the most influential sub-genres in American Literary History. Presented in conjunction with the Library Company’s exhibition Philadelphia Gothic: Murders, Mysteries, Monsters, and Mayhem Inspire American Fiction, 1798-1854. |
