The Strange and Supernatural in NYPL’s Collections

By Laurie Beckoff, Communications
October 24, 2022

The New York Public Library’s special collections are full of awe-inspiring items, but some truly defy explanation. While many of the materials document history, others depict wonders beyond imagination: the impossible, improbable, and unbelievable. From folklore fairies to modern magicians, Gothic ghost stories to macabre mysteries, the Library has books, manuscripts, artworks, photographs, and more that send a shiver down the spine with both their content and their cultural significance. These works show risk-taking and genre-bending as creators dared to try new things and revive ancient ideas that invoke fear and wonder, bringing dreams and nightmares to life. Some of these items are on view in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures, and many are accessible via the Library’s Digital Collections. Gather round, ghosts, witches, and ghouls, for a look at the magical, mysterious, and macabre items deep within the Library.

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein and Beyond

Black-and-white miniature portrait of a woman with dark hair labeled Mary Shelley, miniature by Reginald Eastman, by permission of the Bodleian Library

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) was an English novelist, best known as the author of Frankenstein, a pioneering work of both Gothic and science fiction. She also wrote short stories, poetry, biographies, journal articles, reviews, and edited the works of her husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose skull fragments reside in the Library in addition to much of his work. Mary Shelley’s letters and manuscripts in the Library’s holdings showcase the recurring motif of the supernatural in her writings.

Explore the collections of Mary Shelley’s letters and manuscripts.

Washington Irving: Sleepy Hollow and 20 Years of Sleep

A portrait of a man with dark hair wearing a black jacket and high-necked white shirt against a dark background with an ornate gold frame

Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American author of short stories, travel literature, humorous and historical works, folklore, biographies, and essays. He was born in New York City and later lived north of the city in Tarrytown, where he learned about local legends surrounding the village known as Sleepy Hollow, inspiring his enduringly popular story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” featuring the haunting Headless Horseman. The tale put Sleepy Hollow on the map and has become a classic, adapted numerous times over the 200 years since its publication. Irving is also known for “Rip Van Winkle,” the story of a man who falls asleep and wakes up 20 years later to find that he has missed the American Revolution. The Library holds a large collection of Irving’s manuscripts, papers, letters, portraits, and editions of his work, including those illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Explore the Washington Irving collections of papers in the Manuscripts and Archives Division and the Berg Collection, as well as manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection.

Poe’s Poetry and (Never)More

Etching of a man in 19th-century dress with dark hair and a mustache, with birds below, labeled Edgar Allan Poe in the upper left

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is known for his chilling poems and stories such as “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” “The Raven’s” opening line of “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…” sets the scene for a spooky story typical of Poe. He also wrote the first known work of detective fiction, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The Library holds some of his manuscripts, letters, and criticism, as well as various portraits of the author and editions of his work.

Explore the collection.

Posada’s Calaveras

Print titled Calavera del Drenaje with various skulls with text underneath each and skeletons along the sides

José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) used calaveras, representations of skulls and skeletons, in his incisively political and satirical artwork. These images have become strongly associated with the Mexican holiday of Día de los muertos, or the Day of the Dead, which honors and celebrates the deceased.

When he died, amid the political and social upheaval of the Mexican Revolution, Posada left behind an enormous body of work. A commercial illustrator, Posada created designs that appeared in advertisements, periodicals, cookbooks, children’s books, and, most famously, on the brightly-colored penny broadsheets sold primarily to the working class in and around Mexico City. The New York Public Library’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs holds over 600 items in one of the largest collections of original Posada prints outside Mexico. Many of these are digitized and feature his iconic calaveras.

Explore the collection.

 

Arthur Rackham’s Fantastical Illustrations

A frightening figure perched in a tree looks down on a gathering of several white animals, including a fox, lion, bear, wolf, and rabbit, and nearby stands a young man in a plumed hat

Multiple illustrations by Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) have been featured in the Polonsky Exhibition of the New York Public Library’s Treasures, including ones from “Cinderella,” “Rip Van Winkle,” and “The Two Brothers.” Rackham was known for his beautifully detailed drawings of mystical and magical stories, such as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, and The Ingoldsby Legends. His work, mostly done in pen and ink with watercolor, made him a major figure in the Golden Age of Illustration.

Explore the Digital Collections.

See Rackham‘s illustration for “The Two Brothers“ in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library‘s Treasures.

Harry Houdini, Master Magician

Poster with an illustration of three men standing against a red background, and a cutaway of the can on the water-filled ground reveals another, Houdini, crouched within. One man holds the lid of the can, a second pours water into the can to cover the mag

The Houdiniana Collection includes correspondence, clippings, ephemera, programs, police certificates, photographs, and posters related to the life and legacy of magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (1874–1926). Of particular note are several manuscript letters by Houdini to various colleagues, documentation about Houdini’s death, and also a large group of “police certificates” that describe and attest to Houdini’s escapes in front of groups of police, civic leaders, and journalists across the United States and Western Europe. One of these is on view in the Polonsky Exhibition, along with a poster advertising his daring exploits. Houdini is also included in the Magic Scrapbooks and Posters Collection alongside other magicians, mentalists, conjurers, and escape artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the Golden Age of Magic.

Explore the Houdiniana Collection and the Magic Scrapbooks and Posters Collection.

See a Houdini poster and a police certification of one of his escapes in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library‘s Treasures.

Black Magic

A black-and-white book cover with a drawing of a Black man in a tuxedo seated on a globe with his foot on a stack of books and a club in his hand reading POWER. The text reads The World's Greatest Magician, Black Herman, Secrets of Magic-Mystery & Legerdermain: The Missing Key to Success, Health and Happiness.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is rich with entertainers, including African American magicians. Among these is Benjamin Rucker (1889–1934), better known by his stage name, Black Herman. Born in Virginia and rerouted to Harlem, his specialties included levitation, spiritual mysticism, fortune telling and lucky numbers, escape, and a “buried alive” act in which he would exhume himself “from the dead” after a few days. When he actually died, people thought that it was an act and they might see his final appearance. His book Black Herman’s Secrets of Magic-Mystery and Legerdermain is available at the Schomburg Center for anyone wanting to learn his pocket tricks and secrets of the occult. The book claims that “Black Herman comes through once every seven years,” which was taken as a cryptic hint that he would return from the dead at this interval.

Request access to Black Herman‘s secrets at the Schomburg Center.

Sondheim’s Stagecraft

A woman with dark curly hair in a witch costume stands downstage of two men and two women who look on in fear.

The late, great Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) brought many stories to life onstage, including frightening and fanciful ones. His musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring the also late, great Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, tells a bloody story of revenge. Somewhat lighter, though more magical and with a rather dark second act, is Into the Woods, which reimagines and deconstructs beloved fairy tales as princesses, witches, wolves, and giants cross paths. The Library for the Performing Arts has many photographs from productions of these Broadway classics.

Explore Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods in Digital Collections.

Historical Halloween Greetings

Postcard with a picture of a witch on a flying broomstick in front of a full moon on the right and a rhyme titled Hallowe'en Precautions on the left

The Picture Collection’s holdings of holiday-themed postcards date from the early 20th century. The Halloween cards feature familiar tropes like witches and pumpkins accompanied by rhymes. Some are cute, some are creepy, and some are even romantic.

Explore the collection.

Check out NYPL‘s digital guide on the Bloomberg Connects app for more highlights. Reserve your free tickets to the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library‘s Treasures to see some of these unusual items in person, or start your research into the mysteries of the collections by searching the catalog or making an appointment with a librarian.