Check Out a New Digital Exhibit on William H. Gass

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Very cool site: William H. Gass: The Soul Inside the Sentence. Where you can–

Explore drafts of published and unpublished writings, recordings of his interviews and readings, photographs and scans of important documents and objects that have shaped his life. You will also find an essay, “My Memories of the Service,” which Gass wrote specifically for this digital exhibit.

Lots of great photos, including lots of pics of Gass’s book shelves, which is the sort of thing you might like to nerd out over (I did, anyway), and all the slides Gass used to accompany his “The Surface of the City” lecture. The site even shares a digital gallery of a scrapbook of reviews, articles, ads, and photos that Gass created in the 1950s and ’60s. Also: report cards, a map Gass drew of places he went in the navy, letters, poems, essays, all kinds of manuscripts, etc. etc. etc.

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Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Manuscript for “Ozymiandias”

shelley manuscript

“Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley—

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said — “two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert … near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lips, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” —

(Via).

 

Emily Dickinson’s Handwritten Manuscript for “Wild Nights — Wild Nights!”

Emily Dickinson's "Wild Nights -- Wild Nights!" Manuscript

Here is the poem (sexy good times!)–

Wild Nights – Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile – the Winds –
To a Heart in port –
Done with the Compass –
Done with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden –
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor – Tonight –
In Thee!