Frankenstein & Dracula: Gothic Monsters, Modern Science

In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein, the Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia will present Frankenstein & Dracula: Gothic Monsters, Modern Science, an exhibition highlighting Mary Shelley's 1818 novel and Bram Stoker's Dracula—two seminal Gothic works that probe the intersection of scientific literature and social anxieties. The exhibition will include manuscripts from Oxford University's Bodleian Library and from one of the Rosenbach's best-known collections—notes Bram Stoker made while writing Dracula—as well as cross-disciplinary materials from the American Philosophical Society, Chemical Heritage Foundation, College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Combined with on-site symposia and workshops, the exhibition will ask questions that connect these historic materials to modern life, such as: What are society's responsibilities to the scientific discovery or creation of new life? When and how do we decide to create or destroy a "monster?" An interactive portal to the Frankenstein Bicentennial Project—an international collaboration of museums, science centers, and community maker spaces including the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the Rosenbach, the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, and the Science Museum of Minnesota—will reveal the novel's appropriation during times of apprehension prompted by scientific advancements.

Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.