EXHIBITIONS
Current Exhibition:
 
Literary Lives:
The World of Francis Steegmuller and Shirley Hazzard
March 24, 2010 to January 31, 2011
Literary Lives: The World of Francis Steegmuller & Shirley Hazzard is a celebration of two extraordinary writers. Both long-time New York Society Library members, Steegmuller (1906-1994) and his wife Shirley Hazzard, a trustee of this institution since 1974, have led lives marked by international literary achievement. The exhibition, the first ever devoted to this remarkable couple, traces the course of their stellar careers.
Shirley Hazzard is one of the world's most gifted and acclaimed writers. She has written eleven books, including the novels The Bay of Noon,
The Transit of Venus, and
The Great Fire (which in 2004 won the National Book Award for Fiction and the Miles Franklin Literary Award). Her critically acclaimed non-fiction includes
Defeat of an Ideal: A Study of the Self-Destruction of the United Nations,
Greene on Capri: A Memoir, and
The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples. Francis Steegmuller, whose pioneering work on Flaubert, Cocteau, and de Maupassant brought him acclaim, was a respected literary scholar and translator. He was highly praised for his 1957 translation of Gustave Flaubert's
Madame Bovary. It is less well known that Steegmuller was also a mystery writer whose pen names were David Keith and Byron Steel. For his contribution to French literature, Steegmuller received the French Légion d'honneur.
This exhibition, the third to be held in the Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery at the New York Society Library, showcases books by Hazzard and Steegmuller, including editions from the private collection of Shirley Hazzard. It also features a great variety of photographs, manuscripts, correspondence and Library ephemera. The world of Francis Steegmuller and Shirley Hazzard has been defined by high civility, grace and an enduring dedication to literature. We hope Literary Lives contributes to their lasting legacy.
Past Exhibitions:
In 1980, Alice Gore King donated 588 letters to the Houghton Library at Harvard University. The letters had been written by Edith Kermit Roosevelt to Miss King's mother, Marion King, between 1920 and 1947. Mrs. Roosevelt was the wife of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. Marion King was, for almost fifty years, a staff member at The New York Society Library. This treasury of letters documents the little-known friendship between the President's wife and the Librarian.
This exhibition marks the first time this relationship and correspondence have been displayed in public. The letters and accompanying materials offer a unique view of an influential First Lady's literary tastes and opinions and a touching story of a friendship stretching through a tumultuous period of American history.
Shelf Life
Works in Brass by Christopher Hewat
November 6, 2008 to March 31, 2009
Shelf Life: Works in Brass showed the beautiful books made of brass by artist Christopher Hewat.
His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Addison Gallery of American Art, and the Princeton University Art Museum, as well as in private and corporate collections.
The Library Moves Uptown
A Celebration of 70 Years at 79th Street: 1937-2007
December 15, 2007 to November 1, 2008
The Library Moves Uptown took viewers back to the early days in the Library's new home
with a selection of classic books originally published in 1937,
along with memorabilia about the move such as letters and newspaper clippings,
and photographs and documents on the important political and cultural events of the year in New York City and beyond.
Bringing Home the Exotic
European as Foreigners: 1670-1840
April 9, 2007 to December 1, 2007
Bringing Home the Exotic profiled travel and exploration books by men and women from Western Europe who visited India, the Middle East, Tibet and other distant places.
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