All Program Dates
October 12, 2025 | 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET
October 19, 2025 | 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET
Registration
Tuition for this course is $75 Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.
Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email rsvp@rosenbach.org.
This program is for those 18 and older.
Registration opens for Delancey Society members on Friday, August 22, for Rosenbach members on Friday, August 29, and for the general public on Friday, September 5. Registration opens at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Description
Friend John,—
I write this in case anything should happen. I go alone to watch in that churchyard. It pleases me that the Un-Dead, Miss Lucy, shall not leave to-night, that so on the morrow night she may be more eager. Therefore I shall fix some things she like not—garlic and a crucifix—and so seal up the door of the tomb.
Dracula is one of the most renowned epistolary novels of all time. The thrilling, chilling, and above all creeping dread invoked by Bram Stoker’s vampire builds within the everyday diary entries, newspaper clippings, and letters of our protagonists.
Create your own suspense-filled letter in this two-part class. In session one, you will learn the fundamentals of Gothic calligraphy, inspired by passages from Bram Stoker’s writing. In session two, you will explore letterlocking—the the historical practice of folding letters to become their own creatively secured envelopes—and turn your gothic script into a wax-sealed secret message.
Instructors
Susan vonMedicus is an artist specializing in the sacred arts. Her work is featured in private and public collections internationally. Ms. vonMedicus teaches studio art at Villanova University and private workshops for the Prosopon School of Iconology. She was awarded the 2018 Tolle Lege Medal for excellence in teaching by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Villanova University. Fascinated by the Irish manuscript tradition, in 2013 she completed a residency at Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland, followed by a 2015 residency at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco.
Bryn Michelson-Ziegler is the Associate Curator & Manager of Public Programs at the Rosenbach Museum & Library and maintains an active book arts practice. She holds an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from University of the Arts and was a short list nominee for the 2024 Cartoonist Studio Award. Bryn utilizes her book arts practice, which encompasses everything from hand-papermaking and traditional letterpress typesetting to risograph zines, to offer Rosenbach guests exciting material insight into our collections.