Anne of Green Gables lovers take note—Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts has launched a new digital exhibit that takes you deeper into the world of L.M. Montgomery’s beloved novel. The interactive website invites visitors to explore the original manuscript of the novel, including revisions and even what was written on the back of the pages.
Emily Woster, curator of the exhibit, said the website features material that has never been seen before online, including Montgomery’s original publishing contract. The 1,142-page manuscript has been digitized in its entirety, allowing visitors to scroll through the pages accompanied by photos, videos, and audio annotations.
The exhibit is the result of over two years of work by Woster and a team of more than a dozen people. The project required hundreds of hours of annotating pages with text, images, and helpful commentary. Woster said, “It was a huge effort but the final product is worth it.”
The original manuscript is housed at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, but typically only a few pages are displayed at a time.
There are also 24 articles written by authors from 15 different countries that delve into the book’s international impact and the history of the Island that inspired the series.
Philip Smith, chair of the L.M. Montgomery Institute, which co-presented the exhibit, said the project builds on decades of scholarship into Montgomery’s life and provides a unique opportunity for scholars, fans, and even those new to Montgomery’s work to explore the process behind Anne of Green Gables.
Despite the digitization of the manuscript, there are still some mysteries that remain, such as the meaning of numbers visible on the manuscript and the exact date it was written. But Woster says, “There’s always something new to find or learn about Montgomery or about Anne.”
The digital exhibit is the perfect example of the L.M. Montgomery Institute’s mission to promote research into the life and work of Montgomery and celebrate her legacy.
Visit annemanuscript.ca to view the manuscript.
Read more by Nicole on her page here
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
