Saturday, June 23, 2007

From Verne to Vonnegut:

A Century of Science Fiction: an online exhibition based on the Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library, curated by Iris Snyder. This exhibition covers early works of science fiction including Thomas More's Utopia (1566) Francis Bacon's New Atlantis (1627) and
the Journey of Neils Klim to the World Underground (1741) which "follows the adventures at the center of the earth of Niels Klim, a penniless Norwegian student, after he plunges into a bottomless hole in a cave. Klim discovers exotic civilizations and fabulous creatures scattered across the underside of the earth's crust and, at the earth's center, a small, inhabited planet orbiting around a miniature sun". Other sections cover S F Magazines, "Aliens & Others", "Other Voices" (looking at African-American authors, women authors and gender issues), dystopias, "curator's choice" and there is also a short bibilography. Its an interesting site - the only downside is that the illustrations could have been larger, enabling a better appreciation of some great artwork!
www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/scifi/index.htm

Other online exhibitions available on the University of Delaware site include an exhibition on The Animal Kingdom: Six centuries of Zoological Illustration, Samuel Beckett: A Celebration, The Art of Botanical Illustration, and Ezra Pound in His Time and Beyond. A complete list is available here:
www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits.html#main2002