The British Library has confirmed details of what visitors can expect in the year ahead, including an exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. 

2017 will begin with the opening of Jane Austen Among Family and Friends on the 10th January. Marking the bicentenary of the death of the author, the British Library will bring together her writing from her teenage years for the first time in 40 years, from the British Library and Bodleian Library collections. Many of the exhibits will exposes the joys and sadness which helped to shape the writer – from the death of her father to the birth of her nephew. Visitors will be able to see this display until the 19th February.

The next major exhibition to take place at the British Library, will mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Titled Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths, the display will focus on the experiences of ordinary Russians living through extraordinary times. One of the items on display will be a letter written by Lenin in April 1902, applying to become a Reader at the British Museum Library, now part of the British Library. The story of the Revolution will be told through posters, letters and photographs, bringing it to life. It will run at the British Library from the 28th April 2017 until the 29th August 2017.

The Library will then celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in a special exhibition titled Harry Potter: A History of Magic.  Running at the British Library from the 20th October 2017 until the 28th February 2018, the exhibition will showcase a display of wizarding books, manuscripts and magical objects, and combine centuries-old British Library treasures with original material from Bloomsbury’s and J.K. Rowling’s own archives. Tickets for the exhibition will go on sale from Monday 3 April 2017.

In other news announced, the British Library confirmed that the personal archive of P.G. Wodehouse will be made publicly available for the first time. The archive material includes material dating from 1900-2005 including manuscript drafts and notebooks relating to Wodehouse’s fiction and essays as well as material relating to his writing for film and cinema alongside extensive correspondence with family, friends and fellow artists.

It was also confirmed that for the first time ever, the British Library will take some of its most outstanding items on tour to cities across China. The items being taken on tour include Charlotte Brontë’s handwritten manuscript of Jane Eyre and one of the earliest quarto editions of Romeo and Juliet.

For more information on the exhibitions and display at the British Library in 2017, visit: http://www.bl.uk/.