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| Facsimile of original manuscript of "Annabel Lee" |
Poe, Edgar Allan. "Annabel
Lee." 1849. A facsimile of the original manuscript in
Edgar Allan Poe's handwriting of "Annabel Lee." During our meeting we listened to a recording
of the poem, read by Vincent Price, of the heart-rending loss of the beautiful
Annabel Lee.
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| Lady of the Lake |
Scott, Sir Walter. Lady of the Lake. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1869. Illustrated with early tipped in photos of
different lochs and scenes around Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott's poetic version of the classic enchantress of the lake
legend involves the contest among three men to win the love of Ellen
Douglas. The polished wood boards for
this book are from the famous field of Bannockburn where the Scottish King,
Robert the Bruce, defeated the English in the first war of Scottish
independence. The Lady of the Lake was adapted to silent film in 1928, starring
Benita Humas as the Lady in the Lake.
The poem is also the basis for Rossini's opera La Donna del Lago.
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| Frontispiece and title page, Lady of the Lake |
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| The Scarlet Letter |
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The
Scarlet Letter. Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin and Company, 1878. Second
edition. All edges gilt. Illustrated with an engraved frontis portrait,
29 black-and-white illustrations drawn by Mary Hallock Foote and engraved by
A.V.S. Anthony, and ornamental head-pieces are by L.S. Ipsen. A red line borders the text. The
Scarlet Letter has been adapted to film at least seven times, the first
being in 1926 starring Lillian Gish as Hester Prynne.
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| Illustration from The Scarlet Letter |
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| Jennie Gerhardt |
Dreiser, Theodore. Jennie Gerhardt. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1911. First edition, first state. Bound in green cloth with gilt titles. Dreiser's second novel, after Sister Carrie (1900). Dreiser wrote it as a social realistic novel
but after cutting it by 16,000 words, it became a love story. Jennie
Gerhardt was adapted to film in 1933, starring Sylvia Sidney as the eponymous
Jennie.
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| Pearl Cleage novels |
Cleage, Pearl. Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. First edition. Inscribed by the author on the title page.
Cleage, Pearl. Seen It All and Done the Rest. New York: Ballantine Books, 2008. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do and Seen It All and Done the Rest are two of the first six novels in a
succession of books—though not a series—in which Cleage tells stories mostly
set in Atlanta with a black woman as the central character in each story. Minor characters in one story become central
characters in another story. Each story
focuses on the love interest and romance of its main character, who Cleage seeks
to portray as a strong black woman. But
in most cases—betraying Cleage's own womanist perspective—the main character
ends up in a perilous situation and ultimately has to be rescued by her man.
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| Becky Albertalli novels |
Albertalli, Becky. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. New York: Balzer + Bray, 2015. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
Albertalli, Becky. The Upside of Unrequited. New York: Balzer + Bray, 2017. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
Albertalli, Becky. Leah on the Offbeat. New York: Balzer + Bray, 2018. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
In what has become known as the
"Simon-verse," Albertalli's first book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda tells the story of Simon and his
online relationship with "Blue," another student at his high school
who has not yet revealed his identity.
In a climactic scene, Blue finally reveals himself as a known character throughout
the story. The second book in the
trilogy, The Upside of Unrequited, follows 17-year-old Molly, a cousin of a Simon character and a self-described "prolific crusher," through
her 26 unrequited loves of the summer.
The third book, Leah on the
Offbeat, returns to Simon's high school and his best friend, Leah, as she finds
first love in the midst of senior-year angst.
Albertalli announced at the 2018 Decatur Book Festival that Leah would conclude the Simon-verse, to
the audible disapproval of the teens and young adults in the audience. Simon
vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was adapted to film as Love, Simon in 2018, starring Nick Robinson as Simon.
