CANCELED: Anne Rice
Due to illness, Anne Rice has canceled her upcoming book tour, including a stop at the Free Library that was scheduled for Friday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. If you have already purchased tickets for this event, please note that we are currently processing refunds for the face value of your tickets, less the handling fee. Thank you for your understanding and patience throughout this process. Email or call with questions.
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RELATED: PHILADELPHIA – More than a century after its first publication in 1897, Dracula remains the ultimate horror story, with countless film adaptations and literary spin-offs. Each fall, the Rosenbach Museum & Library – home of Bram Stoker’s original research notes and outlines for Dracula – plumbs the depths of its collections to present the annual Dracula Festival, a week-long series of events inspired by Stoker’s classic novel and the iconic figure. The all-encompassing Dracula Festival, running from October 22 – October 29, includes a display of Stoker’s working materials, a Hands-On Tour of the Dracula notes, a gallery talk on monsters in the work of artist and author Maurice Sendak, and reading and book signings with historians Leslie Klinger and Elizabeth Miller. The festivities will culminate in the 6th annual Dracula Parade with Spiral Q Puppet Theater on October 25. (A full schedule of events follows below.) The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for children under 5. For more information, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.
Bram Stoker’s working notes for Dracula will be on display in the library from October 14 – November 3, and can be seen on a guided tour of the historic house. Visitors are also invited to take a hands-on look at Stoker’s research notes, outlines, and other working papers through the festival themed Hands-On Tour The Growth of Stoker’s Dracula (Oct. 22, 25, 29). On October 25, the tour will be accompanied by Elizabeth Miller, who has published extensively on Dracula and recently co-annotated and transcribed Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula with Robert Eighteen-Bisang. The book’s foreword is written by Michael Barsanti, former Associate Director of the Rosenbach Museum & Library, and features the first ever printing of all 124 pages of Stoker’s original notes. A book signing will follow Miller’s lecture. In addition to The Growth of Stoker’s Dracula, the Rosenbach will also offer Sleuths and Spies (Oct. 8, Dec. 10), a Hands-On Tour exploring Dracula as a novel of detection.
On October 22, vampire enthusiasts are invited to a reading and book signing with Leslie Klinger, author of The New Annotated Dracula, who will present his exhaustive research into Bram Stoker’s claim that Dracula was based on historical fact.
In the gallery talk Monster’s Ink: The Bogeymen in Sendak’s Closet (Oct. 29), Patrick Rodgers, consulting curator of There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak, will discuss artist Maurice Sendak‘s relationship to scary and threatening creatures which lurk throughout his books, from goblins, devils, giants, angels, griffins, gorgons and the odd haunted forest. The Dracula Parade around Philadelphia’s historic Rittenhouse Square neighborhood will be held on Saturday, October 25, beginning at the museum at 5:30pm. An artistic production of Spiral Q Puppet Theater and the Rosenbach, this classic Halloween event continues to grow each year. In 2007, over 300 participants paraded through Rittenhouse Square, led by Spiral Q’s larger-than-life characters from Dracula including howling wolves, swooping bats, and a spooky 15-foot-high head of Nosferatu. Revelers of all ages are encouraged to dress in costume.
Schedule of Events:
Dracula notes on display in the Library
Tues. October 14 – Mon. November 3
How did Irish theater manager Bram Stoker create one of the most memorable literary characters of all time? See for yourself as we display selections from Stokers working notes for Dracula as part of Dracula Festival 2008.
Dracula Festival Hands-On Tour, Sleuths and Spies
Wed. October 8 and Wed. December 10 at 3:00pm
The game is afoot! In this hands-on tour we’ll ferret out some of the detective stories lurking in the Rosenbach’s collection, from the Mystery of Edwin Drood to an original Sherlock Holmes manuscript. We’ll examine the evidence for Dracula as a novel of detection, find out how Deadwood Dick turned sleuth, and get our hands on Conrad’s Secret Agent. All Hands-On Tours are free with museum admission. Tours are limited to six guests, ages 8 and up. No RSVP required.
The New Annotated Dracula
Reading and book signing with author Leslie Klinger
Wed. October 22 at 6:00 – 7:30pm
Dracula has gripped readers since its first publication in 1897. While the book has been studied by scholars in virtually every academic discipline, none have accepted the author Bram Stoker’s declaration that the work was based on historical fact. In his new book Klinger examines all of the evidence, both internal and external, including contemporary travel books, scientific texts, Victorian encyclopedias, as well as Stoker’s notes for the narrative and the original manuscript itself (the document is owned by a private, anonymous collector, and Klinger is one of only two researchers to have seen it in recent years). Klinger is also the author of the best-selling The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. The event is free with museum admission. To RSVP, call (215) 732-1600 or email fdawson@rosenbach.org.
Dracula Festival Hands-On Tour, The Growth of Stoker’s Dracula
Wed. October 22, Sat. October 25, and Wed. October 29 at 3:00pm
How much did Bram Stoker know about vampires? About Transylvania? How much that we think of as traditional vampire lore was his own invention? How did his concept of Dracula change during the seven years he worked on the novel? Would we still be talking about this today if he’d stuck to his original idea and written about Count Wampyr from Styria? Tours are limited to six guests, ages 8 and up. No RSVP required. All Hands-On Tours are free with museum admission. Join Rosenbach staff for a hands-on look at Stoker’s research notes, outlines, and other working papers.
The October 25 Hands-On talk will be accompanied by Dracula expert Elizabeth Miller, who recently co-annotated and transcribed Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula with Robert Eighteen-Bisang. This Hands-On tour is not limited and will be presented as a seated lecture. To RSVP, call (215) 732-1600 or email fdawson@rosenbach.org.
6th Annual Dracula Parade
An artistic production of Spiral Q Puppet Theater at the Rosenbach
Sat. October 25, Kick-off at 2010 Delancey Street at 5:30pm
Don’t miss this classic Halloween event! Hordes of howling wolves, swooping bats, and larger-than-life characters from the novel Dracula will gather in front of the Rosenbach before setting out on spooky saunter around Rittenhouse Square. Costumes encouraged. Ghoulish fun for everyone!
Gallery Talk, Monster’s Ink: The Bogeymen in Sendak’s Closet
Wed. October 29 at 6:00pm
Let’s face it, Maurice Sendak is most famous for his monsters. But Sendak’s relationship to scary and threatening creatures goes way beyond the Wild Things. Goblins, devils, giants, angels, griffins, gorgons and the odd haunted forest lurk throughout his books. Meet some of these bogeymen face-to-face in this gallery talk, and find out where they come from in history, art, and Sendak’s own imagination. This gallery talk will be led by Patrick Rodgers, Consulting Curator for There’s A Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak. Gallery talks for the exhibition are held once a month. Read on to find others! The gallery talk is free with museum admission. To RSVP, call (215) 732-1600 or email fdawson@rosenbach.org.
ABOUT THE ROSENBACH
The Rosenbach Museum & Library seeks to inspire curiosity, inquiry, and creativity by engaging broad audiences in exhibitions, programs and research based on its remarkable and expanding collections. The museum was founded by legendary book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother and business partner Philip. With an outstanding collection of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, and art, the Rosenbach is a museum and world-renowned research library, set within two historic 1865 townhouses, that reflects an age when great collectors lived among their treasures.