Weekend Spill: The New York Public Library’s New Yorker Centennial Exhibit
Note: Additional photographs have been added (and will continue to be added) to yesterday’s Spill post about the opening reception for “Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration” at The Society of Illustrators
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And now onto what will surely be a fun exhibit at The New York Public Library…
From this article found at The City Life Org, A Century Of The New Yorker To Open At The New York Public Library we finally have more information about what to expect to see at The NYPL’s soon-to-open (February 22, 2025) celebration of The New Yorker‘s 100th anniversary:
The prospectus forThe New Yorker (1924);
Original artwork for the first issue of The New Yorker by Rea Irvin (1925);
W.H. Auden’s handwritten draft of “Refugee Blues” (1939);
John Updike’s handwritten assignments for Talk of the Town (1940s);
Original signed art by Helen Hokinson (1941): [EN: if the below drawing is the Hokinson on exhibit — it’s included in a Time Out piece on the exhibit — the 1941 date is incorrect. It appeared in The New Yorker, Feb 19, 1938, p. 27]
The New Yorker type identification and style guide (1981);
Correspondence between William Shawn and John Hersey related to “Hiroshima” (1946);
The typescript draft of “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, with revisions and deletions by William Shawn (1965);
Hannah Arendt’s original typescript manuscript of “Eichmann in Jerusalem” (1963);
Cynthia Ozick, “The Fallibility Rag,” poem dedicated to New Yorker grammarian Eleanor Gould (1987);
A mock-up of the first New Yorker website and other 21st-century artifacts; and
Original film featuring current and recent writers, editors, and staff exploring the history, legacy, and future of The New Yorker.
Dorothy Parker’s manuscript list of “Unattractive Authors Whose Work I Admire”;A memo from Katharine White to Harold Ross about discontent among administrative staff (1944);Vladimir Nabokov’s copy of 55 Short Stories from The New Yorker (1949), with his handwritten grades for each story;
Twin typewriters used by Lillian Ross and William Shawn;Reader responses to James Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in my Mind” (1962)
Saul Steinberg’s caricature of Tina Brown (1990s);
Kara Walker’s preparatory drawings for “Quiet As It’s Kept,” the 2019 cover honoring Toni Morrison;
Kadir Nelson’s “Say Their Names,” an interactive cover revealing the ongoing violence inflicted on Black Americans (2020).
Select objects will be accompanied by an audio experience featuring New Yorker writers and editors, including Kevin Young, Françoise Mouly, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Mary Norris, and Deborah Treisman, among others.
