UW American Heritage Center Opens Exhibition About Mystery Books

From Gothic tales to cops-and-robbers, from “whodunit?” stories to true-crime dramas, mystery stories have long fascinated us. The quest to solve a crime or mystery draws us in until it is solved.

The University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center (AHC) is launching an exhibition -- “Unmasking the Unknown: Delving into Literary Mysteries” -- that celebrates mystery books. The exhibition explores the history of mysteries by drawing on works in the Toppan Rare Books Library. It will open Thursday, Dec. 7, and runs through Friday, April 5.

Mystery books were written alongside the development of novels in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The AHC exhibition will follow the evolution of the mystery genre from its early beginnings to its more recent adaptations that continue to engage with today’s audience. These collections of books span multiple artists, from Arthur Conan Doyle to Agatha Christie to more recent novelists such as Wyoming author C.J. Box.

“In the 21st century, we have different avenues to enjoy mysteries -- from radio, TV and film to documentaries, podcasts and web series. But nothing is better than seeing how classic mystery books and stories were enjoyed by the public in their original, written form,” says Mary Beth Brown, AHC Toppan archivist. “Come and peek at this ever-expanding genre and get a glimpse of the mysteries that have fascinated the world since the genre’s conception more than two centuries ago.”

The exhibition will feature titles from the Toppan Rare Books Library, including Doyle’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” (1950); Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto” (1803); Carolyn Keene’s “The Ghost of Blackwood Hall” (1948); and Box’s “Open Season” (2001).

The exhibition explores subgenres within mystery, including Western and Gothic mysteries that show how the genre has evolved over time.

“One of the books on exhibit, ‘The Castle of Otranto,’ first appeared in 1764 and is considered the earliest Gothic novel,” Brown says. “The Toppan edition was published in 1803 and has an unusual burn hole in the middle of the book. This only adds to the mystery of the story itself, as we will always wonder how and when the burn happened.”

Bailey Bonner, a UW senior from Casper who is graduating this year and has worked in the AHC Toppan Library the past year, curated the exhibition. She has a double major in English and anthropology as well as minors in museum studies and honors.