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EDITORS: Photos available upon request.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana's beloved poet, James Whitcomb Riley, whose famous "Raggedy Man" inspired schoolchildren in the early part of this century, is the subject of an exhibition at the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington.
Honoring the 150th anniversary of Riley's birth, the exhibition draws from the library's extensive collection of manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia relating to his life and work.
Known in the early 1900s as the "national poet," Riley had considerable impact on American society and the 19th-century literary world. Memorable rhymes such as "Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie" had such widespread appeal that Riley's image helped market canned vegetables such as Hoosier Poet brand asparagus, and songwriters set his poems to music.
Riley was especially popular with children, who recited his poetry and marched past Riley's Indianapolis home to celebrate his birthday. In 1915, the National Commissioner of Education recommended a nationwide Riley observance in all public schools.
Curator Cinda May selected highlights from the Lilly Library's collection, which contains more than 1,500 autograph manuscripts by Riley, thousands of letters to and from the poet, hundreds of first editions and annotated proofs, original illustrations, and a variety of miscellaneous items. The exhibition includes newspaper clippings describing Riley's famous hoax, in which he passed off one of his early poems as that of Edgar Alan Poe.
Also on display are photographs and correspondence of Riley's literary associates, including Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, Rudyard Kipling, Joel Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus), George Ade, Lew Wallace and William Dean Howells.
The Lilly Library is a member of the Sesquicentennial Committee formed last year by the Indiana General Assembly to honor the Hoosier poet and his legacy. Events honoring Riley are taking place throughout Indiana during the Year of Riley, which will continue through Oct. 7.
Housing more than 400,000 books, 7 million manuscripts, and 150,000 pieces of sheet music, the Lilly Library is IU's principal special collections repository and one of the 18 libraries of the IU Bloomington Libraries. Its collection of Riley materials is the largest anywhere.
The exhibition will continue at the Lilly Library through Sept. 4 and is free and open to the public. The Lilly Library is located on the Indiana campus in Bloomington, on Seventh Street south of Showalter Fountain. The library is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Tours are available each Friday at 2 p.m. or by appointment for larger groups or special events.
For more information about the exhibition, call 812- 855-2452. An online version of the exhibition is available on the Web at www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/riley/exhibit.htm
(Eric Bartheld, Lilly Library, 812-856-4817, ebarthel@indiana.edu)