Atheist, Radical, Poet

Unused design for Shelley's Ghost exhibition at the New York Public Library

Proposed banner for Shelley's Ghost exhibition at the 
New York Public Library. Unused.

The Funeral of Shelley by Louis Édouard Fournier, 1889
A romanticised view (painted much later) of Shelley's friends burning his body on the beach in Italy after he drowned.(Walker Gallery, Liverpool) We used this as a mural in the show.

Shelley's water-damaged pocket copy of Sophocles' Tragedies, with him when he drowned.
Its about 3 x 5 x 2" thick as I recall. Perhaps if he had tossed this brick he would have had a chance...

Presumption-- "a new Romance of peculiar interest"
The 1823 playbill for the stage version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

"Mr. T. P. Cooke in the Character of the Monster"
—an early portrayal of the monster before he acquired neck bolts

Design for one the specially created letterpress keepsakes with quote from Shelley.
They chose not to print this one...
Shelley self-published The Necessity of Atheism at age 19. It got him kicked out of Oxford.

Four letterpress keepsakes with quotes from Shelley (designed by Doug and me!)
that were ultimately produced.
Free for the taking at Shelley's Ghost

The ghost of Shelley's Ghost...
proposed banner treatment, unused.

Proposed banner for Shelley's Ghost exhibition at the
New York Public Library. Unused.

Cover and inside cover for the brochure

The exhibition Shelley's Ghost has finally opened at the New York Public Library—
Doug Clouse, Barbara Suhr and I worked for months on the design for this show!

I had detailed some of my early thoughts and background inspiration in a post when I had just started the project:

a small but significant exhibit at the New York Public Library on the life of Romantic poet and early hipster Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822)....The show is related to but quite different from Oxford University/Bodleian Library's Shelley's Ghost exhibit and catalog. Some of the items in the show will come from Oxford, but a majority will be pulled from the NYPL’s Pforzheimer Collection, one of the premier collections in the world for the study of English Romanticism.

So please stop by the main library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street and take a look. It's in the Wachenheim Gallery on the main floor. You'll find:

• the book Shelley had in his pocket when he drowned (see above)
• handwritten manuscript pages from Frankenstein
• Harriet Shelley’s last letter before she drowned herself
• bits of Shelley’s skull 
• an illustrated cast of characters (just how were all those Marys, Janes and Claire related anyway!) 
• free letterpress keepsakes we created for the show, expertly printed by Coeur Noir press in Williamsburg
• and, as they say, much, much more

We were encouraged to incorporate theatrical flourishes into the show's design... Perhaps to the surprise/dismay/delight of Shelley scholars! Let me know what you think. All comments (and constructive criticism) welcome.