Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 2:01pm

PHILADELPHIA – As part of the museum’s popular Hands-On Tours, the Rosenbach Museum & Library will present Love Letters, a peek into some of the most personal and emotional writing in the museum’s collections, including some of the most famous, and touching original love letters written by poet John Keats to his beloved, Fanny Brawne. The first Love Letters Hands-On Tour of the fall will be held on Friday, October 9 at 3 p.m., with additional tours offered on November 13 and December 16. Coinciding with Love Letters is the release of the highly-acclaimed motion picture Bright Star, a drama about the intense love affair between John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). The latest film from Academy Award-winning director, Jane Campion (The Piano) will play in local theaters, opening Friday, September 26 at the Ritz East (Landmark Theatres) and Friday, October 2 at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

Love Letters presents a rare look at the museum’s collection of love letters, from the aching yearnings of John Keats for Fanny Brawne, to the dying wishes of a Civil War soldier writing home to his family. The museum’s Hands-On Tours offer audiences an intimate and unique view of the Rosenbach by inviting visitors to examine, touch, and read directly from the collections. Objects discussed and handled in the Love Letters tour include:

• A love letter from John Keats to Fanny Brawne, written just before he died.
• A love letter from Marlene Dietrich to Mercedes de Acosta, begging her forgiveness.
• A forged loved letter from Shakespeare to Anne Hathaway.
• A love letter from Benjamin Rush to Julia Rush, outlining in a very scientific fashion the principles behind a successful marriage.

Bright Star explores how the love letters exchanged during the romance strengthen the bond between the Keats and Brawne, while circumstances bigger than love take hold of their future together. Bright Star premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Film Critic Kenneth Turan of the Los Angels Times hailed the film as, “One of the major successes of this year’s Cannes Film Festival… Bright Star is one of the most deeply moving romantic films in memory,” while The New York Times calls it, “Romantic in every possible sense of the word.” For more about the film, visit www.brightstar-movie.com or watch/embed the trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTetIodauIM. [A full film synopsis is included below.]

The Rosenbach’s Hands-On Tours are approximately one hour in length and free with museum admission. In addition to Love Letters, various Hands-On Tours exploring different subjects are provided every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday through December 2009 at 3 p.m. Tours are limited to six guests, ages 8 and up. No RSVP required. The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for children under 5. For more information, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.

BRIGHT STAR FILM SYNOPSIS: London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year old English poet, John Keats (Ben Wishaw), and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), an outspoken student of fashion. This unlikely pair started at odds; he thinking her a stylish minx, she unimpressed by literature in general. It was the illness of Keats’s younger brother that drew them together. Keats was touched by Fanny’s efforts to help and agreed to teach her poetry. By the time Fanny’s alarmed mother and Keats’s best friend Brown realized their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Intensely and helplessly absorbed in each other, the young lovers were swept into powerful new sensations, “I have the feeling as if I were dissolving”, Keats wrote to her. Together they rode a wave of romantic obsession that deepened as their troubles mounted. Only Keats’s illness proved insurmountable. Director: Jane Campion 

LOCAL RELEASE (as of Sept. 26)Opens Friday, September 26 @ the Ritz East Ritz East – Landmark Theatres 125 South Second Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 925-7900 http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/Philadelphia/RitzEast.htm Opens Friday, October 2 @ the Bryn Mawr Film Institute Bryn Mawr Film Institute 824 W Lancaster Ave # 5 Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 (610) 527-1319 www.brynmawrfilm.org

ABOUT THE ROSENBACH: The Rosenbach Museum & Library seeks to inspire curiosity, inquiry, and creativity by engaging broad audiences in exhibitions, programs and research based on its remarkable and expanding collections. The museum was founded by legendary book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother and business partner Philip. With an outstanding collection of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, and art, the Rosenbach is a museum and world-renowned research library, set within two historic 1865 townhouses, that reflects an age when great collectors lived among their treasures. For more information about the Rosenbach Museum & Library, visit www.rosenbach.org.