I like the way Jane Austen pinned a new version on the old one. If she was to change her mind again, she at least had the old version at hand in the right spot. Very clever!
I agree with Tom. Seeing the artistic process taking place, as it were, right before your eyes enriches your appreciation of the finished article. Kafka's _Das Schloss_ would be my favourite of these three.
Great video, Tom! My favorite is the Jane Austen manuscripts and the associated pins! 📌 What a great story/insight from Dirk! (PS. I love the Babar shirt! @rowingblazers?🐘)
New subscriber here. I thought it would be Mary Shelley, but I found myself instead drawn to Kafka changes. Maybe it’s the German in me. But no matter what, it’s a real treasure to have these insights into the writings of any author. Greetings from the US 💕🐝💕
My favorite manuscript discussed was Kafka’s manuscript for multiple reasons. First, it was supposed to be destroyed so seeing it feels illicit and exciting. Second, I always have trouble deciding if I should write a story in first or third person. It’s incredibly comforting to know that even a renowned author like Kafka was just as indecisive as me. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to make such lovely long-form content. I throughly enjoyed the video.💜
I love the fact that Frankenstein has its source in ghost stories told during a storm. It makes you think about how any stories that may look grand might have their roots in the most common of acts.
Manuscripts don’t burn. Franz Kafka’s The Castle manuscript endured despite attempts to destroy it, instructing his friend Max Brod to destroy all his manuscript upon his death. Of course, his literary agent and friend Max didn’t, I do ponder that for some reason neither did Kafka himself while he was alive. I remember reading it outside the library of my college on a sunny day just days before winter holidays. I loved how urgent it felt as if Kafka had transcribed his dream/nightmare soon after waking up. How strange the world Kafka had created through which lonely K, his alter ego, transversed and bootlessly tried to accustomed himself to it. I do remember feeling this is the closest thing to a dream/nightmare and true to the spirit of it you know. I genuinely felt I am having the strangest dream right now. The book we are reading is essentially a manuscript but to peer at the source manuscript like gazing into a wellspring. I do love the other two manuscripts although for me it would The castle.
They do burn. Especially when someone want to burn them, like manuscript of polish national anthem that was burned with whole national archive and old libraries that we had in Warsaw. Almost everything burned down.
"Ordinary people" do not understand artists. They are frightened by skills that seem miraculous. They are more frightened to discover that a masterpiece was achieved by a labor of enormous effort and persistence, because this infers that greatness is attainable ... in some measure ... by everyone, and why haven't they done so?
i usually dont know what i want . but now i do know i want to hear your voice more and talk about LOTR lore :P but pls take a mic close to you bc some times go away from the mic and losing rgw vol u know
My favourite of the manuscripts has to be Frankenstein. It is my favourite novel and I love hearing anything and everything about it. For those who want a great book which goes into how Mary Shelley conceived the idea of Frankenstein from a scientific basis, please check out 'Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' by Kathryn Harkup. It is a fascinating book. I am a scientist myself, completing my honours bachelors last year and hoping to do a PhD this year, so hearing about the evolution of alchemy to natural philosophy to science as we know it today is really fascinating, especially set on the back drop of this fantastic novel and the amazing person behind its creation
It is truly impressive that the most insignificant work of Jane Austen's life has become almost the only historical record of her creative process, and therefore, it is her most important work for critics and scholars of her life. Only she could have done it.
How fascinating! I would have loved to see Austen's manuscript. The challenge of re-writing a passage in the middle of a page is real. Personally, I leave margins for just this purpose. But to simply pin a revision over the top is brilliant. Not only did you have the opportunity to see the process of art being made, but manuscripts give insight into the personalities of the artists as well. I'm sure you made the most of your visit. Like the rest of your viewers, I would have loved to have tagged along.
I think Kafka's manuscript is my favourite one that you have listed not only because of his indecision of using first or third person narration, which he eventually changes to K, but also trying to understand why he didn't want it published. It also had me thinking about my own favourite author, Terry Pratchett, who not only used a computer to create his manuscripts, which would have made it impossible to glean any insight into his thought process when making amendments, but he also ensured that the hard drive from his computer was destroyed after he past away. What stories were lost in the destruction of his hard drive. Even computerised notes of his partly formed story lines or characters could have gave some understanding how he created and developed his stories. In this modern age are modern authors less likely to have hand written manuscripts? If so what a shame.
As an aspiring author, I always look at the creation process of others with a spark of curiosity and a bit of fear, worrying about it being completely different from mine, or that I could accidentally "steal" from them or "contaminate" my writing (I think that usually, that's called learning, but my brain refuses to see it that way). The manuscript in this video that fascinated me the most was Kafka's, along with the moral dilemma (and the speculation I've heard asking why Kafka didn't destroy it himself; I try to imagine burning my own writing, even when it's not for anyone to see, and the answer couldn't be clearer).
Jane Austen‘s process of make changes is fascinating (and therefore my favourite of these documents) but to be fair everything about Jane Austen and writing makes me smile. Imagine seeing any of these manuscripts in person…wow. 🇦🇺
My favourite is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, because I've recently been fascinated with long winters and years with no summers (due to recent discoveries in Denmark of gold buried the same year as this occured in 536), and how this event helped in the creation of what would be one of the key origins of science fiction as a genre. Its impact on literature is immeasurable, and the historical context and the proof that this WAS in fact written by a woman, despite how it was questioned for so long! Amazing!❤
its really hard to tell wich atuhor you talked about is my favorite, as your storytelling is really, really captivating through and through, you really brought to me the joy of old books, dieffrent than the more modern books i love and collect
Just went to this exhibit today. It's great to see the handwriting of so many famous writers. Also including Wittgenstein, Ian Fleming, and first draft of Ozymandias, etc etc.
Austen was the greatest writer of her generation, one of the few that we can still read with pleasure and ease 200 years later. Six terrific novels that both span the range and plumb the depths of social norms, personal relationships, and human behavior, all while telling a great story with wit and skill. It's awing to see her manuscripts: the simple pen strokes, the choices made, the almost childlike hand -- the mind of a master at work.
Franz Kafka’s manuscript is definitely one that is haunting to glare over. You can almost feel its sentiment through by as you said peering over a young Kafka.
The context of Mary Shelley's life and upbringing has more influence on Frankenstein than a lot of people realize. Once you read it as a story about being brought into the world for reasons that aren't your own, it makes too much sense. If you have the Norton Critical edition, most of Percy's suggestions are alongside Mary's original, and it's fascinating to compare the different versions. Also the Oxford World's Classics edition of Dorian Gray has all the revised changes in the endnotes, which is where they belong IMO 😂
Thanks for your videos Tom! Seeing the manuscript of Milton was interesting. Even more interesting is Milton having gone blind in 1652 and Paradise Lost was largely dictated by his friends and daughters (see painting by Henry Fuseli) . It makes sense for it to be a mess. The mess of his writing also is reflective of the turmoil in his soul when he wrote his sonnet on his blindness (Sonnet #19: When I consider how my light is spent), and also lamented at the death of his second wife (Sonnet #23).
I like the idea of Mary’s husband Percy supporting his wife to help edit her masterpiece instead of being jealous or trying to take credit for it himself.
Hello there! Thank you for letting us know about the exhibition. I would be thrilled to be face to face with one of Jane Austen's manuscripts. From what I can see in the video her penmanship is every bit as economical, succinct, precise and neat as her books are. Thanks again!
It’s so interesting to see some of the developments of Frankenstein. I was particularly drawn to that one because I’m working on the first ever translation into Māori. I know when I work I always want people to see the final product rather than the path I took to get there, but seeing these historical manuscripts in their raw form somehow humanises these masters of literary, and instills a sense of self belief that I can still create something worthwhile even if the path I took to get there isn’t the one I first imagined.
5 months late to the party - Nevertheless, I go (maybe not surprisingly coming from a German) with Kafka's manuscripts. Not only is Kafka one of the most important and influential writers of the 20th century, his texts being quite unique, the stories about his manuscripts itself deserve to be told. Nearly everybody slightly familiar with the name Kafka knows about his wish that his unpublished work should be destroyed and how Max Brod denied it. Brod was convinced of Kafka's genius when only few others took notice. He did not only save the manuscripts from Kafka's request to be destroyed, but also rescued them from the Nazis, who undoubtedly would have burnt them, would they have gotten hold of them. Brod took them with him and his wife when they fled to Palestine. This in itself is a drama. Brod's brother as well as several members of Kafka's family died in the concentration camps. As the texts were mostly fragments (most apparent with "Amerika"), selection of text fragments and organizing them into narratives fell to Brod. This also led to quite some controversy over the decades, questioning Brod as presumptious. The stories about Kafka's manuscripts do not just provide some glance behind the curtain, they are an integral part of the perception of Kafka's work.
It's really difficult to pick a favourite one out of these three options! They all survived via very different circumstances, and it's an honour to still be able to access them and to be able to follow the writing process behind these authors' literary works. I'd love to come face to face with all of them! I think I'd go with the Frankenstein script because it proves that Mary Shelly actually wrote the novel that would invent a whole new genre and did not have to live in anyone's shadow.
Its got be Kafka. I remeber reading it at school and thinking What madeness never the less no other book make me whant to read more.Greeting Form Bolivia
Absolutely extraordinary. I would love to see every one of the manuscripts you mentioned. Kafka and Jane Austen are two of my favorite authors but in this case, being able to see the proof that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and to see how Percy lended his hand, is the most exciting. Milton’s writing would’ve excited me to no ends too! Oh how I wish I were in the UK to be able to see such wonders! Thank you for this glimpse!
I'm glad the Kafka manuscript survived, thankfully Brod had the foresight not to burn it. It seems to be a common feeling among authors that works they have left behind should die with them, even Virgil wanted the manuscript of the Aeneid burned. Luckily it wasn't.
While I think Kafka’s death wish should have been honored….as a reader, I cannot deny the impact of his works had on me. I don’t think fame was what Kafka was after, but rather a kindred spirit. His writing, his handwriting, is seeped in loneliness, irony, self-hate, and hopelessness….but that’s just my cursory impression. It makes me want too reread his work and delve deeper into finding out about “K.”
Although all three have fascinating and poignant aspects, I think my favorite is Mary Shelley's. It opens up their personal and professional partnership to see him editing her as the writer she was. She grew up in an intellectual household, reading her father's 1200 books. She authored several novels and exquisite travel writing. I once fell in love with the fact that each of them wrote a version of Cenci in Italy, his a lyrical play and hers a novel. To see their hands in each other's work dispels the Romantic myth of the inspired individual on the snowy cliff, of course, but it's how art really happens. As anyone there that night in Geneva would tell you!
What I enjoyed about seeing all of them but especially Jane Austen's, is how much editing and review really goes into writing a good story. I end up hating a lot of my own first drafts, and it can be discouraging. Knowing that such great authors reworked so much of their writing makes me see making necessary edits in a much more positive light. While i am sure some writers have instant genius it is clear that for many great writers it is hard work! Respect.
All of those manuscripts are fascinating but my favourite has to be Mary Shelleys. Frankenstein is my favourite book of all time and the story of how this story was written contributes to why I love it so much.
I'm going to be difficult & discuss the first drafts of two novelists who aren't featured in this exhibit. First is Tolstoy, whose drafts of Anna Karenina (I am told) are marked-up galley proofs: he rewrote as the book was going to press -- which is an expensive way to compose a book, but as a wealthy Russian aristocrat he could afford this. The other is Jack Kerouac, who submitted his manuscript for On the Road as typed out on a roll of teletype paper. He was definitely going for the experience of a spontaneous composition. When editor as his publisher looked at it, the first response was "But how is this to be edited?" Kerouac responded with shock & took the typescript back. He was so insistent that the book be published *exactly* as he wrote it, that when he found a copy editor changed all of the abbreviations he used for states -- e.g. he preferred "Flagstaff, AZ" over "Flagstaff, Arizona" -- that he used his allotted number of corrections to the printer's gallery to change them all back. I don't know where one could view the original author's copy of these books.
Just saying...there is the giant's skeleton held still? by the Hunterian museum ( next to LSE ). Poor guy paid for burial at sea but Hunter paid more for the bones..... which have since proved useful ( invaluable?) in genetic studies. Do we honour the wishes of folk who are now dead? Only if we want to.
If Kafka had wanted his work destroyed, he could have done the job himself. It is a way of saying, I'm not responsible for this. Same for Vergil and the manuscript of the Aeneid. Luckily for all of us of course
The "year without a summer" was caused by the eruption of Mt Tambora the year before. The cloud of ash traveled around the globe, reducing sunlight sufficiently to cause crops to fail, and snow to fall in July in New England. That monstrous volcano led to the creation of Frankenstein.
Love the peer review seen in the Frankenstein manuscript. Worth mentioning that stylometric analysis also suggests that Mary Shelley is the primary author.
Always love these stories, how something is made. Noting is ever in a perfect form at first. Knowing these great artists are human and have drafts is reassuring. I really like Mary Shelly works. There is a letter from Lord Byron to John Murray in May 15th, 1819. He states that Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein. But people thought she did not write it, is crazy to me.
Surely Charles Lamb, as a poet, would have understood poetry as an iterative and constantly incomplete process. I understand the romantic urge to treat poetry as divinely inspired and fully formed, but surely a practising poet couldn't have believed this...
I think the manuscript of Mary Shelly is my favourite of the three. Not only for the paramount task, as a young woman in a male dominant domain. But the philosophical implications in Frankenstein.
It's awful because two! of these manuscript's stories have hit me home. Mary & Percy Shelly's reminded me of a much older time when I, as a little child, would silently sneak into my dad's room where he'd be working on an essay or some other work and tiptoe my way to his computer desk where, at a close enough point, he'd feel too guilty to kick me out for being disruptive (he used to be easily annoyed; even by footsteps). I'd make it, he'd notice (I think he always noticed), and I'd bring up a plastic kitchen chair that sat (and still sits) conveniently in the corner of his room and would stare into his computer screen, either laughing whenever I understood a funny word he had used; and laughing even more when He started laughing at my own laughter 😭. Or I'd sit in silence, admiring sentences I couldn't translate into the lexicon of a young child but remained in that childish innocent awe because of how 'complex' they looked. Jane Austen's had that same effect, I think the sentence you repeated that goes: "Peer over the shoulder of an artist and watch them as they work" sets these fireworks of memories aflame If you could read in Arabic, you should definitely look at some of his essays & short stories posted in his personal blog on Facebook titled "Dr Munir T. Shawagfeh." You might even catch sight of a little free poem I had written about Palestine that he had posted!
This is genuinely amazing. To see the process is quite an incredible opportunity. I tend to think of works of art as fully formed. As if it just came out of the end of the author’s pen. To see the words scratched through and replaced is quite inspiring. I was particularly excited to see Frankenstein. Given that Mary Shelley was so young makes the work even more impressive.
Ok, I have to say that I loved the part about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein the best. Of course, few people would be able to credit that a woman, young, wrote a literary masterpiece. I love that the exhibition had both the F manuscript and the Percy notebook, and in their own writing. Wow 👌 proof positive. That is new information to me. That is very, very cool.
The one library in the world I have dreamed of visiting is the Bodleian library in Oxford. Alas I cannot travel for health reasons. Thank you for your videos they are so compelling.
They’re all interesting, but I think my favorite is the Frankenstein manuscript. I think it’s a bit misogynistic for people to have thought Percy Shelley actually wrote the novel, and here we have definitive proof that it was Mary’s creation.
John Milton is one of my favorite English authors. I find his manuscript very interesting, as I wonder how he had to change his creation process after he went blind. Having to use amanuenses must have been frustrating for both Milton and his scribes. I’ve read that he would mentally compose 20 lines of Paradise Lost each night, and recite the lines in the morning to be written down. I wonder how much this change in process altered the final product of Paradise Lost. Speaking of manuscripts, I had an English professor who strongly disagreed with Milton’s authorship of the discovered De Doctrina Christiana manuscript. Discovering the definitive authorship of this manuscript is extremely important, as it informs us regarding the contested theological intent of Paradise Lost, especially concerning Milton’s view on Arianism. Thank you for the wonderfully informative video!
I’ve really enjoyed this video, as well as your entire channel. So much knowledge is a gift for bibliophiles. Mary Shelley has long been a favorite of mine. When I was a child it was a fun fact to me that she and I share the same birthday. As I grew older, I could closely identify with the Monster from Frankenstein. I had a disfiguring accident as a child and suffered some abuse from my peers about it. This brought me closer to realizing that pain in life is a common, shared experience and no matter how alone one might feel, we are all kindred spirits in the Human Experience.
As someone with an undergraduate degree in English Lit, I find myself fascinated with Mary Shelley's proof of authorisation. I feel the thought processes of the creators of such beautiful works such as Frankenstein gives the a richer depth to the work. It would've been a shame if the original worked manuscripts had been destroyed.
Love the Mary Shelley story, and as of now I have a different destination if I had one chance to travel in time: to that Lake Geneva mansion in 1816 to eavesdrop on these 4 telling ghost stories. (It used to be, of course, watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel :) )
It's a tough choice, but I think I'd like to see the manuscript of Frankenstein close up to consider Mary Shelley's original word choices and ponder whether any of them were better than Percy's suggested replacements!
We really live in a different world, don't we? As I am writing my own book, you have now made me wonder what will become of what I write if for no other reason than for my children. You see, I write everything... or rather type... into my phones notebook. When I am waiting for coffee, waiting at the doctors, sitting up in bed in the middle of the night because of my unrelenting insomnia, it's all on my phone. Things are deleted on an extremely regular basis. I own some beautiful fountain pens; maybe I should ink them up and get to writing the old fashion way. It might be a powerful artistic force igniting new imaginations. Which is my favourite you ask? It will always be Jane Austen!
I am deeply conflicted about Kafka's work not being burned as requested. A few years ago, I was practicing painting hummingbirds, and I tore out the ones I didn't like and threw them into the trash. My boyfriend, (now husband) pulled them out and kept them. I know they're substandard work, I see all the flaws and know that I can, and have, done better work since. I argued that since they were MY work, I was the only one who could decide their fate and I wanted them in the trash because I want the work that other people see to NOT be substandard and flawed. In response to this, he framed them and hung them up on the wall in our living room. I stopped fighting with him about it, he can have them, and I've since done much better work that he also framed and hung. So I empathize with Kafka who didn't want his work to be read, but I'm also quite grateful that we have it To say I'm conflicted is an understatement
I remember studying Persuasion in college and comparing the published ening with her older manuscript version. How I wish I could read Wentworth’s letter again for the first time. To me, this is the greatest example of revision done right.
Lamb is like a fan seeing their favorite actor up close and being disappointed. Such unrealistic expectations come out of hero worship. "Never meet your heroes" I guess that old proverb is a good idea for people like Lamb.
Seems rather naive of Lamb to expect perfection in a manuscript to me. I agree with Tom that seeing the genius at work is fascinating! I've long been interested in the Percy / Mary story so I really enjoyed this look at the Frankenstein manuscript. I have yet to read Polidori's The Vampyre, which was also inspired during that visit, but I do plan to get to it at some point.
Definitely, Mary Shelly's manuscript showing that young rampant creativity in collaboration or confrontation to the points and comments of the more experienced writer, trying to control the wild horse. Also, a bit of consideration for Kafka's wish, choosing another author rather than him.
Most bibliophiles would scoff at Lamb’s absurd reaction. As you say, to have a chance to set eyes and even gloved hands on the actual working copy of such an extraordinary manuscript would be fascinating, personally illuminating and would open up for any serious reader possibly never before conceived insights into the author’s thinking, the alternate choices in passages or words, their very psychology and genius- who knows what secrets revealed in such things! Also, what a lesson about literary creation and ownership of ideas. After death, works become the property of humanity, wishes be damned. Also, who would ever want the horrifying responsibility for carrying out such an awful task as destroying a potentially priceless body of work. I couldn’t imagine trying to defend the act in the face of public scrutiny, certain to forever after be known as a scoundrel, a criminal and surely a possible liar with tyrannical or jealous motivations enacting some hideous final assault on a great artist by the attempted assassination or erasure of their life’s work lol. Kafka’s writing reveals so much of the personal struggle he had with himself that it is not difficult to imagine that he would make such a request, but still, what an awful thing to ask of someone. Great video.
It's almost impossible to choose one from among these brilliant writers, but I shall choose Jane Austen because her pins foreshadow the great American short story writer Eudora Welty who revised with pins, too--more than one hundred years later and across an ocean! 🙂
As a science fiction reader since I was a kid, I'd have to go with Shelley, but Kafka's is so poignant. When someone wants their work destroyed, it's invariably out of despair and a deep sense of hopelessness that no one would ever want to read it anyway, brought about by a grinding life of alienation. I like to think that Kafka would be confused, stunned, and maybe even allow a little hope into his heart if he were alive now and learned that actually, a LOT of people feel the same as he did and could also see themselves in K, and he wasn't as alone as he'd thought.
I find it interesting to see how the sausage is made. I find Frankenstein to be such a seminal work. It could be marked down as one of the first if not the original recognizable horror, thriller, mystery and Sci-fi book .
i absolutely adore mary shelley, so my favorite manuscript is definitely frankenstein! before watching this video i finished reading virginia woolf's a room of one's own, and i can't help but feel that that essay is connected to the 'issue' of frankenstein's authorship. mary shelley had the time, means and resources to write, and still people underestimate her and argue that her novel had to be written by her husband. have those people never seen this manuscript? the difference in handwriting should be definite proof that it is her novel and put the debate to rest.
I think my favorite manuscript is Kafka's. And I also think that the beauty and also the horror, the awe that those manuscripts cause, stem from the fact that we tend to make gods of writers and other artists. It is a thing of beauty but it also is a thing of shock to see those grandiose figures have doubts, receive advice or behave in any way that is not that of the so called "muse". That makes them closer to us and that is beautifully scary.
I have to go with Austen on this one. Her cut and pin method pre-figures the literal cut and paste of 20th century printing which in turn lends its name to the control-c control-v of today. It is her humanity rippling down through three centuries.
I found the Jane Austen section surprisingly relatable as a fellow artist although in a strange way. You see I'm a aspiring cartoonist and creator of sequential art and one correction technique I've learned from looking at original comic art and watching videos is instead of using white out, measure the panel or part of the art you wanna redraw, redraw it on a separate piece of paper and paste over. This was also for some comics how captions were put in or more correctly on top of the art. And how Jane would correct or rewrite her work reminded me of this technic in my own craft.
Frankenstein's manuscript seems like the one I would be most interested in I'd love to read the little suggestions and I think I saw an illustration that I'd love to look at.
I like the way Jane Austen pinned a new version on the old one.
If she was to change her mind again, she at least had the old version at hand in the right spot.
Very clever!
I agree with Tom. Seeing the artistic process taking place, as it were, right before your eyes enriches your appreciation of the finished article. Kafka's _Das Schloss_ would be my favourite of these three.
Awesome stuff. You're really finding your niche.
I love them all, but I really love knowing how Jane Austen made room for the process of correction in the documents. Actual pins!
Great video, Tom! My favorite is the Jane Austen manuscripts and the associated pins! 📌 What a great story/insight from Dirk! (PS. I love the Babar shirt! @rowingblazers?🐘)
The whole history of Mary Shelly and Frankenstein, the collaboration and editing of Percy, makes it my favourite.
New subscriber here. I thought it would be Mary Shelley, but I found myself instead drawn to Kafka changes. Maybe it’s the German in me. But no matter what, it’s a real treasure to have these insights into the writings of any author. Greetings from the US 💕🐝💕
My favorite manuscript discussed was Kafka’s manuscript for multiple reasons. First, it was supposed to be destroyed so seeing it feels illicit and exciting. Second, I always have trouble deciding if I should write a story in first or third person. It’s incredibly comforting to know that even a renowned author like Kafka was just as indecisive as me.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to make such lovely long-form content. I throughly enjoyed the video.💜
Jane Austin's manuscript is giving analogue copy/paste vibes
I love the fact that Frankenstein has its source in ghost stories told during a storm. It makes you think about how any stories that may look grand might have their roots in the most common of acts.
Manuscripts don’t burn. Franz Kafka’s The Castle manuscript endured despite attempts to destroy it, instructing his friend Max Brod to destroy all his manuscript upon his death. Of course, his literary agent and friend Max didn’t, I do ponder that for some reason neither did Kafka himself while he was alive. I remember reading it outside the library of my college on a sunny day just days before winter holidays. I loved how urgent it felt as if Kafka had transcribed his dream/nightmare soon after waking up. How strange the world Kafka had created through which lonely K, his alter ego, transversed and bootlessly tried to accustomed himself to it. I do remember feeling this is the closest thing to a dream/nightmare and true to the spirit of it you know. I genuinely felt I am having the strangest dream right now. The book we are reading is essentially a manuscript but to peer at the source manuscript like gazing into a wellspring. I do love the other two manuscripts although for me it would The castle.
They do burn. Especially when someone want to burn them, like manuscript of polish national anthem that was burned with whole national archive and old libraries that we had in Warsaw. Almost everything burned down.
"Ordinary people" do not understand artists. They are frightened by skills that seem miraculous. They are more frightened to discover that a masterpiece was achieved by a labor of enormous effort and persistence, because this infers that greatness is attainable ... in some measure ... by everyone, and why haven't they done so?
i usually dont know what i want . but now i do know i want to hear your voice more and talk about LOTR lore :P but pls take a mic close to you bc some times go away from the mic and losing rgw vol u know
My favourite of the manuscripts has to be Frankenstein. It is my favourite novel and I love hearing anything and everything about it. For those who want a great book which goes into how Mary Shelley conceived the idea of Frankenstein from a scientific basis, please check out 'Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' by Kathryn Harkup. It is a fascinating book. I am a scientist myself, completing my honours bachelors last year and hoping to do a PhD this year, so hearing about the evolution of alchemy to natural philosophy to science as we know it today is really fascinating, especially set on the back drop of this fantastic novel and the amazing person behind its creation
It is truly impressive that the most insignificant work of Jane Austen's life has become almost the only historical record of her creative process, and therefore, it is her most important work for critics and scholars of her life.
Only she could have done it.
Jane Austen's manuscript is a timeless treasure that inspires me to write more on paper.
Definitely Mary Shelly.
Such a story from such a young lady of those times. WOW!!!
Looking forward to finding out who received the giveaway 🤗🇦🇺
How fascinating! I would have loved to see Austen's manuscript. The challenge of re-writing a passage in the middle of a page is real. Personally, I leave margins for just this purpose. But to simply pin a revision over the top is brilliant.
Not only did you have the opportunity to see the process of art being made, but manuscripts give insight into the personalities of the artists as well. I'm sure you made the most of your visit. Like the rest of your viewers, I would have loved to have tagged along.
I think Kafka's manuscript is my favourite one that you have listed not only because of his indecision of using first or third person narration, which he eventually changes to K, but also trying to understand why he didn't want it published. It also had me thinking about my own favourite author, Terry Pratchett, who not only used a computer to create his manuscripts, which would have made it impossible to glean any insight into his thought process when making amendments, but he also ensured that the hard drive from his computer was destroyed after he past away. What stories were lost in the destruction of his hard drive. Even computerised notes of his partly formed story lines or characters could have gave some understanding how he created and developed his stories. In this modern age are modern authors less likely to have hand written manuscripts? If so what a shame.
As an aspiring author, I always look at the creation process of others with a spark of curiosity and a bit of fear, worrying about it being completely different from mine, or that I could accidentally "steal" from them or "contaminate" my writing (I think that usually, that's called learning, but my brain refuses to see it that way). The manuscript in this video that fascinated me the most was Kafka's, along with the moral dilemma (and the speculation I've heard asking why Kafka didn't destroy it himself; I try to imagine burning my own writing, even when it's not for anyone to see, and the answer couldn't be clearer).
Jane Austen‘s process of make changes is fascinating (and therefore my favourite of these documents) but to be fair everything about Jane Austen and writing makes me smile. Imagine seeing any of these manuscripts in person…wow. 🇦🇺
Jane Austen’s work is definitely my favorite of the three. I would love to see that open page of manuscript in person! ❤
My favourite is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, because I've recently been fascinated with long winters and years with no summers (due to recent discoveries in Denmark of gold buried the same year as this occured in 536), and how this event helped in the creation of what would be one of the key origins of science fiction as a genre. Its impact on literature is immeasurable, and the historical context and the proof that this WAS in fact written by a woman, despite how it was questioned for so long! Amazing!❤
its really hard to tell wich atuhor you talked about is my favorite, as your storytelling is really, really captivating through and through, you really brought to me the joy of old books, dieffrent than the more modern books i love and collect
Just went to this exhibit today. It's great to see the handwriting of so many famous writers. Also including Wittgenstein, Ian Fleming, and first draft of Ozymandias, etc etc.
Austen was the greatest writer of her generation, one of the few that we can still read with pleasure and ease 200 years later. Six terrific novels that both span the range and plumb the depths of social norms, personal relationships, and human behavior, all while telling a great story with wit and skill. It's awing to see her manuscripts: the simple pen strokes, the choices made, the almost childlike hand -- the mind of a master at work.
Franz Kafka’s manuscript is definitely one that is haunting to glare over. You can almost feel its sentiment through by as you said peering over a young Kafka.
The context of Mary Shelley's life and upbringing has more influence on Frankenstein than a lot of people realize. Once you read it as a story about being brought into the world for reasons that aren't your own, it makes too much sense. If you have the Norton Critical edition, most of Percy's suggestions are alongside Mary's original, and it's fascinating to compare the different versions. Also the Oxford World's Classics edition of Dorian Gray has all the revised changes in the endnotes, which is where they belong IMO 😂
Thanks for your videos Tom! Seeing the manuscript of Milton was interesting. Even more interesting is Milton having gone blind in 1652 and Paradise Lost was largely dictated by his friends and daughters (see painting by Henry Fuseli) . It makes sense for it to be a mess. The mess of his writing also is reflective of the turmoil in his soul when he wrote his sonnet on his blindness (Sonnet #19: When I consider how my light is spent), and also lamented at the death of his second wife (Sonnet #23).
I like the idea of Mary’s husband Percy supporting his wife to help edit her masterpiece instead of being jealous or trying to take credit for it himself.
My favourite is the manuscript of Jane Austen. So little remains of her that every single piece is a priceless treasure
Hello there! Thank you for letting us know about the exhibition. I would be thrilled to be face to face with one of Jane Austen's manuscripts. From what I can see in the video her penmanship is every bit as economical, succinct, precise and neat as her books are. Thanks again!
It’s so interesting to see some of the developments of Frankenstein. I was particularly drawn to that one because I’m working on the first ever translation into Māori. I know when I work I always want people to see the final product rather than the path I took to get there, but seeing these historical manuscripts in their raw form somehow humanises these masters of literary, and instills a sense of self belief that I can still create something worthwhile even if the path I took to get there isn’t the one I first imagined.
thank you for translating literature 💛
5 months late to the party - Nevertheless, I go (maybe not surprisingly coming from a German) with Kafka's manuscripts. Not only is Kafka one of the most important and influential writers of the 20th century, his texts being quite unique, the stories about his manuscripts itself deserve to be told. Nearly everybody slightly familiar with the name Kafka knows about his wish that his unpublished work should be destroyed and how Max Brod denied it. Brod was convinced of Kafka's genius when only few others took notice. He did not only save the manuscripts from Kafka's request to be destroyed, but also rescued them from the Nazis, who undoubtedly would have burnt them, would they have gotten hold of them. Brod took them with him and his wife when they fled to Palestine. This in itself is a drama. Brod's brother as well as several members of Kafka's family died in the concentration camps. As the texts were mostly fragments (most apparent with "Amerika"), selection of text fragments and organizing them into narratives fell to Brod. This also led to quite some controversy over the decades, questioning Brod as presumptious. The stories about Kafka's manuscripts do not just provide some glance behind the curtain, they are an integral part of the perception of Kafka's work.
It's really difficult to pick a favourite one out of these three options! They all survived via very different circumstances, and it's an honour to still be able to access them and to be able to follow the writing process behind these authors' literary works.
I'd love to come face to face with all of them! I think I'd go with the Frankenstein script because it proves that Mary Shelly actually wrote the novel that would invent a whole new genre and did not have to live in anyone's shadow.
Jane Austen is my favorite! I found it so interesting to peer over her shoulder and see her editing and writing on the whole page 😊😊
Just as the unexamined life is not worth living, the UNEDITED manuscript is not worth reading!
Its got be Kafka. I remeber reading it at school and thinking What madeness never the less no other book make me whant to read more.Greeting Form Bolivia
Absolutely extraordinary. I would love to see every one of the manuscripts you mentioned. Kafka and Jane Austen are two of my favorite authors but in this case, being able to see the proof that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and to see how Percy lended his hand, is the most exciting. Milton’s writing would’ve excited me to no ends too! Oh how I wish I were in the UK to be able to see such wonders! Thank you for this glimpse!
I'm glad the Kafka manuscript survived, thankfully Brod had the foresight not to burn it. It seems to be a common feeling among authors that works they have left behind should die with them, even Virgil wanted the manuscript of the Aeneid burned. Luckily it wasn't.
While I think Kafka’s death wish should have been honored….as a reader, I cannot deny the impact of his works had on me. I don’t think fame was what Kafka was after, but rather a kindred spirit. His writing, his handwriting, is seeped in loneliness, irony, self-hate, and hopelessness….but that’s just my cursory impression. It makes me want too reread his work and delve deeper into finding out about “K.”
How do you feel about 'Tauchnitz' first editions, many of which predated the London firsts by days, or sometimes months.
Personally, I like the Frankenstein manuscript, because that process feels very real to me - I could absolutely see writing that way!
Although all three have fascinating and poignant aspects, I think my favorite is Mary Shelley's. It opens up their personal and professional partnership to see him editing her as the writer she was. She grew up in an intellectual household, reading her father's 1200 books. She authored several novels and exquisite travel writing. I once fell in love with the fact that each of them wrote a version of Cenci in Italy, his a lyrical play and hers a novel. To see their hands in each other's work dispels the Romantic myth of the inspired individual on the snowy cliff, of course, but it's how art really happens. As anyone there that night in Geneva would tell you!
What I enjoyed about seeing all of them but especially Jane Austen's, is how much editing and review really goes into writing a good story. I end up hating a lot of my own first drafts, and it can be discouraging. Knowing that such great authors reworked so much of their writing makes me see making necessary edits in a much more positive light. While i am sure some writers have instant genius it is clear that for many great writers it is hard work! Respect.
All of those manuscripts are fascinating but my favourite has to be Mary Shelleys. Frankenstein is my favourite book of all time and the story of how this story was written contributes to why I love it so much.
I'm going to be difficult & discuss the first drafts of two novelists who aren't featured in this exhibit. First is Tolstoy, whose drafts of Anna Karenina (I am told) are marked-up galley proofs: he rewrote as the book was going to press -- which is an expensive way to compose a book, but as a wealthy Russian aristocrat he could afford this.
The other is Jack Kerouac, who submitted his manuscript for On the Road as typed out on a roll of teletype paper. He was definitely going for the experience of a spontaneous composition. When editor as his publisher looked at it, the first response was "But how is this to be edited?" Kerouac responded with shock & took the typescript back. He was so insistent that the book be published *exactly* as he wrote it, that when he found a copy editor changed all of the abbreviations he used for states -- e.g. he preferred "Flagstaff, AZ" over "Flagstaff, Arizona" -- that he used his allotted number of corrections to the printer's gallery to change them all back.
I don't know where one could view the original author's copy of these books.
Just saying...there is the giant's skeleton held still? by the Hunterian museum ( next to LSE ). Poor guy paid for burial at sea but Hunter paid more for the bones..... which have since proved useful ( invaluable?) in genetic studies. Do we honour the wishes of folk who are now dead? Only if we want to.
If Kafka had wanted his work destroyed, he could have done the job himself. It is a way of saying, I'm not responsible for this. Same for Vergil and the manuscript of the Aeneid. Luckily for all of us of course
The "year without a summer" was caused by the eruption of Mt Tambora the year before. The cloud of ash traveled around the globe, reducing sunlight sufficiently to cause crops to fail, and snow to fall in July in New England.
That monstrous volcano led to the creation of Frankenstein.
Love the peer review seen in the Frankenstein manuscript. Worth mentioning that stylometric analysis also suggests that Mary Shelley is the primary author.
Always love these stories, how something is made. Noting is ever in a perfect form at first. Knowing these great artists are human and have drafts is reassuring. I really like Mary Shelly works. There is a letter from Lord Byron to John Murray in May 15th, 1819. He states that Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein. But people thought she did not write it, is crazy to me.
Surely Charles Lamb, as a poet, would have understood poetry as an iterative and constantly incomplete process. I understand the romantic urge to treat poetry as divinely inspired and fully formed, but surely a practising poet couldn't have believed this...
I think the manuscript of Mary Shelly is my favourite of the three. Not only for the paramount task, as a young woman in a male dominant domain. But the philosophical implications in Frankenstein.
I think Jane Austen is my favourite but Mary Shelly is a close second
It's awful because two! of these manuscript's stories have hit me home. Mary & Percy Shelly's reminded me of a much older time when I, as a little child, would silently sneak into my dad's room where he'd be working on an essay or some other work and tiptoe my way to his computer desk where, at a close enough point, he'd feel too guilty to kick me out for being disruptive (he used to be easily annoyed; even by footsteps). I'd make it, he'd notice (I think he always noticed), and I'd bring up a plastic kitchen chair that sat (and still sits) conveniently in the corner of his room and would stare into his computer screen, either laughing whenever I understood a funny word he had used; and laughing even more when He started laughing at my own laughter 😭. Or I'd sit in silence, admiring sentences I couldn't translate into the lexicon of a young child but remained in that childish innocent awe because of how 'complex' they looked.
Jane Austen's had that same effect, I think the sentence you repeated that goes: "Peer over the shoulder of an artist and watch them as they work" sets these fireworks of memories aflame
If you could read in Arabic, you should definitely look at some of his essays & short stories posted in his personal blog on Facebook titled "Dr Munir T. Shawagfeh." You might even catch sight of a little free poem I had written about Palestine that he had posted!
This is genuinely amazing. To see the process is quite an incredible opportunity. I tend to think of works of art as fully formed. As if it just came out of the end of the author’s pen. To see the words scratched through and replaced is quite inspiring. I was particularly excited to see Frankenstein. Given that Mary Shelley was so young makes the work even more impressive.
Ok, I have to say that I loved the part about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein the best. Of course, few people would be able to credit that a woman, young, wrote a literary masterpiece. I love that the exhibition had both the F manuscript and the Percy notebook, and in their own writing. Wow 👌 proof positive. That is new information to me. That is very, very cool.
The one library in the world I have dreamed of visiting is the Bodleian library in Oxford. Alas I cannot travel for health reasons.
Thank you for your videos they are so compelling.
They’re all interesting, but I think my favorite is the Frankenstein manuscript. I think it’s a bit misogynistic for people to have thought Percy Shelley actually wrote the novel, and here we have definitive proof that it was Mary’s creation.
The modern Word Processor must be Charles Lamb’s perfect Dream.
John Milton is one of my favorite English authors. I find his manuscript very interesting, as I wonder how he had to change his creation process after he went blind. Having to use amanuenses must have been frustrating for both Milton and his scribes. I’ve read that he would mentally compose 20 lines of Paradise Lost each night, and recite the lines in the morning to be written down. I wonder how much this change in process altered the final product of Paradise Lost.
Speaking of manuscripts, I had an English professor who strongly disagreed with Milton’s authorship of the discovered De Doctrina Christiana manuscript. Discovering the definitive authorship of this manuscript is extremely important, as it informs us regarding the contested theological intent of Paradise Lost, especially concerning Milton’s view on Arianism.
Thank you for the wonderfully informative video!
I love Jane Austen. I would love a published book with all her notes in her handwriting. I love the notes and processes of artists and writers.
I'm not sure if anyone is out there, I'm enjoying listening to your voice. I need help. If I spoke to someone, I wouldn't know what to say..
I’ve really enjoyed this video, as well as your entire channel. So much knowledge is a gift for bibliophiles.
Mary Shelley has long been a favorite of mine. When I was a child it was a fun fact to me that she and I share the same birthday. As I grew older, I could closely identify with the Monster from Frankenstein. I had a disfiguring accident as a child and suffered some abuse from my peers about it. This brought me closer to realizing that pain in life is a common, shared experience and no matter how alone one might feel, we are all kindred spirits in the Human Experience.
As someone with an undergraduate degree in English Lit, I find myself fascinated with Mary Shelley's proof of authorisation. I feel the thought processes of the creators of such beautiful works such as Frankenstein gives the a richer depth to the work. It would've been a shame if the original worked manuscripts had been destroyed.
Love the Mary Shelley story, and as of now I have a different destination if I had one chance to travel in time: to that Lake Geneva mansion in 1816 to eavesdrop on these 4 telling ghost stories. (It used to be, of course, watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel :) )
It's a tough choice, but I think I'd like to see the manuscript of Frankenstein close up to consider Mary Shelley's original word choices and ponder whether any of them were better than Percy's suggested replacements!
We really live in a different world, don't we? As I am writing my own book, you have now made me wonder what will become of what I write if for no other reason than for my children. You see, I write everything... or rather type... into my phones notebook. When I am waiting for coffee, waiting at the doctors, sitting up in bed in the middle of the night because of my unrelenting insomnia, it's all on my phone. Things are deleted on an extremely regular basis. I own some beautiful fountain pens; maybe I should ink them up and get to writing the old fashion way. It might be a powerful artistic force igniting new imaginations.
Which is my favourite you ask? It will always be Jane Austen!
I am deeply conflicted about Kafka's work not being burned as requested. A few years ago, I was practicing painting hummingbirds, and I tore out the ones I didn't like and threw them into the trash. My boyfriend, (now husband) pulled them out and kept them. I know they're substandard work, I see all the flaws and know that I can, and have, done better work since. I argued that since they were MY work, I was the only one who could decide their fate and I wanted them in the trash because I want the work that other people see to NOT be substandard and flawed. In response to this, he framed them and hung them up on the wall in our living room. I stopped fighting with him about it, he can have them, and I've since done much better work that he also framed and hung.
So I empathize with Kafka who didn't want his work to be read, but I'm also quite grateful that we have it
To say I'm conflicted is an understatement
I remember studying Persuasion in college and comparing the published ening with her older manuscript version. How I wish I could read Wentworth’s letter again for the first time. To me, this is the greatest example of revision done right.
Lamb is like a fan seeing their favorite actor up close and being disappointed. Such unrealistic expectations come out of hero worship. "Never meet your heroes" I guess that old proverb is a good idea for people like Lamb.
Seems rather naive of Lamb to expect perfection in a manuscript to me. I agree with Tom that seeing the genius at work is fascinating!
I've long been interested in the Percy / Mary story so I really enjoyed this look at the Frankenstein manuscript. I have yet to read Polidori's The Vampyre, which was also inspired during that visit, but I do plan to get to it at some point.
Definitely, Mary Shelly's manuscript showing that young rampant creativity in collaboration or confrontation to the points and comments of the more experienced writer, trying to control the wild horse. Also, a bit of consideration for Kafka's wish, choosing another author rather than him.
Most bibliophiles would scoff at Lamb’s absurd reaction. As you say, to have a chance to set eyes and even gloved hands on the actual working copy of such an extraordinary manuscript would be fascinating, personally illuminating and would open up for any serious reader possibly never before conceived insights into the author’s thinking, the alternate choices in passages or words, their very psychology and genius- who knows what secrets revealed in such things! Also, what a lesson about literary creation and ownership of ideas. After death, works become the property of humanity, wishes be damned. Also, who would ever want the horrifying responsibility for carrying out such an awful task as destroying a potentially priceless body of work. I couldn’t imagine trying to defend the act in the face of public scrutiny, certain to forever after be known as a scoundrel, a criminal and surely a possible liar with tyrannical or jealous motivations enacting some hideous final assault on a great artist by the attempted assassination or erasure of their life’s work lol. Kafka’s writing reveals so much of the personal struggle he had with himself that it is not difficult to imagine that he would make such a request, but still, what an awful thing to ask of someone. Great video.
It's almost impossible to choose one from among these brilliant writers, but I shall choose Jane Austen because her pins foreshadow the great American short story writer Eudora Welty who revised with pins, too--more than one hundred years later and across an ocean! 🙂
I absolutely love innovative literature like Kafka’s. His is definitely my favorite.
I have to say Jane Austen, because I've been wondering about her process for a long time.
As a science fiction reader since I was a kid, I'd have to go with Shelley, but Kafka's is so poignant. When someone wants their work destroyed, it's invariably out of despair and a deep sense of hopelessness that no one would ever want to read it anyway, brought about by a grinding life of alienation. I like to think that Kafka would be confused, stunned, and maybe even allow a little hope into his heart if he were alive now and learned that actually, a LOT of people feel the same as he did and could also see themselves in K, and he wasn't as alone as he'd thought.
The 'latter cantos of Spenser' are spectacular. Lamb could be a right prat.
I find it interesting to see how the sausage is made. I find Frankenstein to be such a seminal work. It could be marked down as one of the first if not the original recognizable horror, thriller, mystery and Sci-fi book .
i absolutely adore mary shelley, so my favorite manuscript is definitely frankenstein!
before watching this video i finished reading virginia woolf's a room of one's own, and i can't help but feel that that essay is connected to the 'issue' of frankenstein's authorship. mary shelley had the time, means and resources to write, and still people underestimate her and argue that her novel had to be written by her husband. have those people never seen this manuscript? the difference in handwriting should be definite proof that it is her novel and put the debate to rest.
I think my favorite manuscript is Kafka's. And I also think that the beauty and also the horror, the awe that those manuscripts cause, stem from the fact that we tend to make gods of writers and other artists. It is a thing of beauty but it also is a thing of shock to see those grandiose figures have doubts, receive advice or behave in any way that is not that of the so called "muse". That makes them closer to us and that is beautifully scary.
I have to go with Austen on this one. Her cut and pin method pre-figures the literal cut and paste of 20th century printing which in turn lends its name to the control-c control-v of today. It is her humanity rippling down through three centuries.
I found the Jane Austen section surprisingly relatable as a fellow artist although in a strange way.
You see I'm a aspiring cartoonist and creator of sequential art and one correction technique I've learned from looking at original comic art and watching videos is instead of using white out, measure the panel or part of the art you wanna redraw, redraw it on a separate piece of paper and paste over.
This was also for some comics how captions were put in or more correctly on top of the art.
And how Jane would correct or rewrite her work reminded me of this technic in my own craft.
A manuscript with writing of two great minds or a manuscript where one person corrected her own thoughts? But those pins! I like Jane Austen more
Frankenstein's manuscript seems like the one I would be most interested in I'd love to read the little suggestions and I think I saw an illustration that I'd love to look at.
Milton, as I unfortunately observe some of my own notetaking to be similar to his
I like the idea of the love of Percy encouraging his wife to do her own thing. And her getting the credit.
Virgil's Aeneid was also supposed to be destroyed after his death.
Frankenstein for me. It has the most exhilarating story behind it.
Hard to choose just one. I will say Kafka.
I felt the same way when I first saw Picasso's sketchbooks.
The Frankenstein manuscript is my favourite
I am definitly Team Ayling. I want to see how they work!
Think upon all the letters, Tolkien and his wife destroyed.
Is that a little Babar in a green suit on Tom's shirt? I loved those books as a kid.
Jane Austen’s would be my favorite
It's sad we'll rarely see another one of these, thanks to word processors.
My favorite is definitely Mary Shelley’s