Though the mention of Ithaca, New York, may not immediately make one think of that giant of 20th century literature, James Joyce, there is a compelling connection between that city's fine Cornell University and this legend of letters. The Joyce Collection came to Cornell via the generosity of one of its alumni, William G. Mennen, who had the foresight to purchase dozens of Joyce's manuscripts and...

For those unfamiliar with the story of David Pendleton Oakerhater, this website from the Oklahoma State University Library features a digitized collection of correspondence and photographs from the great-granddaughter of Oakerhater's friend and sponsor, Mary Burnham. Oakerhater was a "Cheyenne warrior who became the first Oklahoman to be added to the Episcopal Church's calendar of saints." In...

The British Library is well known for its many fine exhibits, and this particular one dealing with the world of Hans Christian Andersen is no exception. This online exhibit is designed to complement the in situ exhibit that is at the Library until October 2005, and has been generously supported by the Kingdom of Denmark and the Bikuben Foundation. Visitors may want to begin by looking through a...

During his days as a clerk for the federal government in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne began crafting some of his most notable works. The Hawthorne in Salem site celebrates his life and times in this very unique place. Created by the North Shore Community College in nearby Danvers, the site offers up an interactive timeline of dates from Hawthorne's life. Visitors can browse through...

Ernest Hemingway was a red-blooded man of letters, and one of the 20th century's most celebrated and demonized writers. In 1968, Mary Hemingway arranged to have his papers donated to the Kennedy Library. Over the past several decades, materials related to Hemingway's long career have continued to become part of this very extensive collection. The Kennedy Library has created this specific page to...

While many writers have to wait decades, if not centuries, after their death to receive critical or commercial success, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was lucky to achieve both during his lifetime. Born in Portland, Maine in 1807, he was a figure of national prominence by the 1850s, and a much-beloved professor at Harvard. Recently, the Maine Historical Society created this fine tribute to the man and...

Do you know Poe? Edgar Allen, that is. The Library of Virginia and The Poe Museum do, and they are inviting visitors to learn more about the man, the myth, the legend here at this collaborative exhibition website. Four icons greet the visitor: a raven, a swinging blade, a hot-air balloon, and a sinister looking cat. Clicking on the raven takes visitors to the "About the Man" area. Illustrated by...

The John Paul Getty Museum has a wonderful two part digitized exhibition of illuminated manuscripts from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. These manuscripts are from the Netherlands and Belgium which were important centers of manuscript production and they "were created for an international clientele of princes, dukes, cardinals, bishops, and wealthy burghers." The exhibition offers...

Noted editor and literary critic Margaret Anderson once referred to the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven as "perhaps the only figure of our generation who deserves the epithet extraordinary." The future Baroness was born Else Hildegard Ploetz in 1874 and she came to the United States in 1910. After her husband committed suicide, Else become a part of the Greenwich Village artist milieu, where...

The Hoosier State has produced its share of well-known authors, including Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, and James Whitcomb Riley. This remarkable project from Indiana University digitized the three-volume reference work, "Indiana Authors and Their Books," which covers the years from 1816 to 1980 and contains approximately 7,000 author entries. The project was made possible via funding from...