London Exhibitions for Literary fans.

It's a while since my last trip to the many museums of our capital city, and alongside the usual "we have to see the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum" we discovered the London Transport Museum as well. (review here)

I've now seen two exhibitions which are pulling me back towards an awesome day in London, with a bit of a dark literary twist...

Sherlock Holmes
The Man Who Never Lived And Will Never Die
Open until 12 April 2015 

As a fan ever since I was about 12 years old, up in my bunk bed with a very very fine print copy of the collected works (possibly one of my first crushes...) Sherlock Holmes  has undeniably grabbed collective consciousness in a very definite way.

The Museum of London is looking at the fictional character, his impact and rise, and the Victorian London Conan Doyle set him in.

"Through early film, photography, paintings and original artefacts, the exhibition will recreate the atmosphere of Sherlock’s London, with visitors able to envisage the places that the detective visited and imagine they are standing on the pavement of the Strand watching the horse drawn traffic pass by. "

Full details here. 

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Terror and Wonder: 
The Gothic Imagination
Open until 20 Jan 2015

Gothic is a fuuny old word, originally an insulting Renaissance term for earlier architecture and design. We now know it as a very vast genre of film, writing, design, music, fashion and art - and the British Library is exploring the paths of this form, and our fascination with it.

"Iconic works, such as handwritten drafts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the modern horrors of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and the popular Twilight series, highlight how contemporary fears have been addressed by generation after generation."

The images I've seen of this exhibition's design have made me dribble a bit...

Full details here.

Image credits to The British Library, Museum of London, and The British Library again.