Hogwarts and the History of Magic at the New-York Historical Society
Fresh from a highly successful showing at the British Library (indeed, it was the most successful one ever), Harry Potter: A History of Magic has arrived in New York. Who could possibly stay away? Visitors with tickets to the New-York Historical Society’s exhibition get a little bit of Harry Potter nostalgia along with some valuable lessons on flights of imagination (on a broomstick or not), the value in being different (and using herbs and other potions to improve one’s life), and the occasional danger in doing so.
Writers will trill at seeing J. K. Rowling’s handwritten notes, marked-up manuscript pages, and drawings of characters (really, is there anything this woman cannot do well? She amazes). Her story, and magic’s story, and Harry’s story intertwine—isn’t all of it just a bit more possible, and real, when presented together?
A Harry Potter Exhibition in New York’s Oldest Museum
What is particularly wonderful about the Harry Potter exhibition (aside from the glorious artifacts on display) in New York is the transformation, from floor to ceiling, of the first level of the New-York Historical Society into a facsimile of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (really, wouldn’t it be wonderful if the interiors of U.S. public schools were designed to engage with such thoughtful care?) as well as the placement of interesting objects at all levels, from the floor to the ceiling.
How often can one learn about chemistry and hippogriffs on the very same day?
Younger visitors to the exhibition can marvel at feathers and other objets displayed beneath glass under their feet and at broomsticks hovering over their heads. Museum goers of all ages should be drawn to an interactive potions display and a fortune-telling tarot cards table.
The Exhibit Isn’t Scary but Treatment of Witches Sometimes Was
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first Harry Potter book, was published by Scholastic in the United States in 1998 a year after Bloomsbury published it in the U.K. under the name Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Now that Harry Potter has been with us for 20-odd years, it can be hard to imagine a time when magic was viewed with suspicion. Over the ages, so many thinkers thinking beyond established norms were castigated (or worse) by society, so I am glad that this exhibit includes mention of the difficulties the Salem witches and others mostly trying to make lives better sometimes suffered. Of course, even today, things having to do with witches can still become controversial.
How to Turn Yourself into a Lion and Other Important Matters
At the Harry Potter exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, opportunities for learning about both magic and history abound as visitors move through rooms organized by the subjects taught at Hogwarts, from potions and alchemy to herbology, divination, charms, and astronomy and finally to defense against the dark arts and the care of magical creatures. Ancient charms (such as an Ethiopian one for turning yourself into a lion) and manuscripts mingle with an exploded cauldron and oracle bones in an exhibition that both intrigues and delights. How often can one learn about chemistry and hippogriffs on the very same day?
New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at West 77 Street, New York, NY 10024. The Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition will be open from Oct. 5, 2018 through Jan. 27, 2019.
—Lori Tripoli
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Interested in magic? You might like these posts:
- Are Witch Hunts Good for Tourism?
- Traveling with Witches
- Bonus History in Witch City
- In Praise of Pachamama
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