To celebrate Indiana’s state bicentennial, the Lilly Library is proud to display treasures from our collections relating to the state’s rich and diverse literary tradition.  Expect to find the unexpected in this unusual exhibition, from a book about seashells beautifully illustrated by Lucy Say (one of the earliest printed in the state) to children's fan letters written to James Whitcomb Riley to a poem written on an A & P bag by Willis Barnstone.  Other highlights include the original manuscript of Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, written entirely in purple ink; the Hoosier version of Animal Farm, produced by a young Gene Stratton-Porter; a pinboard that once graced the office wall of IU professor and novelist Don Belton; and a draft of a Ross Gay poem scribbled in the back of a book. Whether it's a Poe poem found in Kokomo or a photograph of Booth Tarkington's dog, the Lilly Library has it all!

The exhibition was curated by Christoph Irmscher, Provost Professor of English and Director of the Wells Scholars Program.