Library and Archives Canada

May 29, 2008 19:37 ET

Reflecting on Anne of Green Gables, a Beloved Novel Comes to Life at Library and Archives Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 29, 2008) - On the occasion of thsary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) takes you back to a simpler time and an enchanting world with the launch of an exciting new exhibition of author Lucy Maud Montgomery's works and memorabilia.

The exhibition entitled Reflecting on Anne of Green Gables opens on June 4, at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. It will explore the writing of this novel, its literary success, its creative transformation into other media and the phenomenon of its international popularity.

Visitors to the exhibition will see documentary evidence, including some new findings andarchival records, about influences on Lucy Maud Montgomery's writing as well as a selection of material relating to the success of the novel, its subsequent adaptations to stage and screen, and its enduring appeal to people of all ages.

"This exhibition gives us a glimpse into the magic and joy of Anne Shirley's world and captures enduring popularity of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels with the young and the young at heart, in a great many countries," said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. "Library and Archives Canada is proud to highlight this important Canadian author and to introduce her works to a new audience and a new generation."

There are more than 75 items on display, the majority of which are taken from the vast literary collection at Library and Archives Canada. Some of the items include pages from L.M. Montgomery's handwritten manuscript of Anne of Green Gables, on loan from the Confederation Centre for the Arts, novels translated into15 different languages, sound recordings, correspondence and a rare lithographed poster from the 1919 silent film adaptation starring Mary Miles Minter. Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to compare video extracts on display from the 1934 film version and the 1985 mini-series.

The most significant contributions to the exhibition are documents from the Ronald I. Cohen collection of Lucy Maud Montgomery memorabilia, all of which were donated to Library and Archives Canada between 1999 and 2003. The collection contains posters, advertising slides, screenplays and photographs connected with the film and stage version of Anne stories.

Library and Archives Canada has planned a wide variety of programming activities in celebration of the 100th anniversary, including the joint release of a Canada Post "Anne of Green Gables" with the Japanese overnment; on-site school programming for children from Grades 4 to 6 organized by the LAC Learning Centreand costumed volunteers and summer students on hand to give guided tours of the exhibition.

Reflecting on Anne of Green Gables is open to the public every day until March 1, 2009, at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. Admission to the exhibition is free of charge.

- L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables are trademarks and official marks of the heirs of L.M. Montgomery and the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority Inc. and are used under licence.

Reflecting on Anne of Green Gables -

Exhibition at Library and Archives Canada (LAC)

BACKGROUNDER

Anne of Green Gables - An Immediate and International Success!

Anne of Green Gables was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and published in 1908. It has been popular in the last 100 years not only in Canada, but throughout the world, giving rise to a national and international cultural phenomenon. Montgomery was inspired by experiences and characters from her childhood in Prince Edward Island.

The first novel of Anne of Green Gables was followed by a series of sequels with Anne Shirley, the central character. There were highly acclaimed television miniseries and several other television movies and programs based on the Anne character.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) exhibition will explore the writing of the novel Anne of Green Gables, its literary success, its creative transformation into other media, and its national and international impact.

A Precious Donation to Library and Archives Canada

Between 1999 and 2003, Ronald I. Cohen donated to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) his superb Lucy Maud Montgomery collection. Painstakingly assembled over many years, the collection contains dozens of editions of Montgomery's novels in numerous issues and impressions, many with exceedingly rare dust jackets and all in fine original condition. Montgomery's fiction was translated into many foreign languages, and these are represented too, from Korean to Polish, Japanese to Finnish. To complement this core collection, Cohen added scarce ephemera connected with film and stage versions of the "Anne" stories, including posters, glass advertising slides, programmes, screenplays, and studio publicity photographs. The most imposing such piece is an enormous lithographed poster for the 1919 silent film adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, starring Mary Miles Minter in the title role. This rare piece of film memorabilia was purchased for the library by the Friends of the National Library of Canada.

LAC's Invaluable Collection

The Cohen donation augments the sizable number of Montgomery works already held in the Juvenile Collection at LAC-a collection that continues to grow as new editions of the novels appear and as older imprints are added retrospectively. And the Cohen acquisition provides a rich context for two treasures held in LAC's Rare Book Collection: the first impression of the first edition of Anne of Green Gables printed by L.C. Page in Boston in April 1908, and the exceedingly rare private printing of early Montgomery poems, which the author issued as a Christmas keepsake to her friends in 1902.

LAC's Montgomery collection is invaluable to researchers. Its size alone demonstrates the enduring popularity of L.M. Montgomery's novels, for each item on the shelves represents thousands of copies printed in a particular place and time to satisfy eager readers. But numbers tell only part of the story. The quality of the copies in the Cohen collection, with their original bindings and dust jackets, facilitates many kinds of research. The collection reveals how publishers presented and marketed Montgomery's fiction to the public over the course of a century and helps us to imagine how past readers experienced Montgomery's novels. The collection allows researchers to explore the publishing history of the works by permitting them to compare everything from portrayals of Montgomery's heroines to book cloth colours, dust jacket design, illustration styles, presentation inscriptions, placement of plates, paper stocks, textual variants and different type settings. The collection is a rich resource for the book historian, the editor and the Montgomery scholar, and Library and Archives Canada is delighted to highlight portions of the collection in this exhibition.

What to See at LAC's Exhibition

The exhibition will display documentary evidence (including some important new findings and rarely-seen archival records) about influences on L.M. Montgomery's writing as well as a selection of material relating to the success of the novel, its subsequent adaptations to stage and screen, and its astonishing and enduring appeal.

The exhibition will include over 75 objects. The majority of these will come from LAC's collections-mainly from the Ron Cohen collection and from L.M. Montgomery's letters. Items from LAC's collections will be supplemented by some borrowed material from various institutions.

Key items on display include:

- 4 pages from Montgomery's handwritten manuscript for Anne of Green Gables (borrowed from the Confederation Centre of the Arts)

- Original letters written by Montgomery to long-time friends and pen pals, her first publishing contract and a very rare private collection of her poems

- Over 45 books published in 15 foreign languages

- Posters from different stage and screen adaptations

- Clips from the 1934 film and the 1985 television mini-series

- The original work of art from the 1975 stamp and the electronic artwork from the new stamp coming out in June 2008

- Coins from the Royal Canadian Mint-including a 1974 gold bullion coin commemorating the centennial of the birth of Montgomery as well as the new 25 cent collector coin issued this spring

-L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables are trademarks and official marks of the heirs of L.M. Montgomery and the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority Inc. and are used under licence.

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