Image from Leona Queyrouze Papers.

Exhibition on display in the Hill Memorial Library Lecture Hall through September 3, 2011

Though Louisiana is better known for its politics and laissez les bons temps rouler approach to life, the state also has a long and colorful literary history. The exhibition Louisiana for Bibliophiles: A History of Reading in the Bayou State explores little-known aspects of the history of reading in this corner of the South from the 18th century to the 1940s. Several books from colonial and antebellum Louisiana will be on display, highlighting the importance of books as artifacts. Also included are materials on women’s reading, libraries, and scientific knowledge. Four Louisiana Creole authors are profiled in the context of America’s “forgotten literature,” i.e., American literature written in languages other than English. Aspects of the history of Louisiana newspapers, perhaps the most common and accessible reading material, are also featured.