Shanghai Museum is presenting an unprecedented exhibition exploring six centuries of world-famous portraits and rare manuscripts from literary legends at its East branch between March 18 and July 13.

The exhibition, titled "Writers Revealed: Treasures from British Collections and The National Portrait Gallery, London," provides local audiences a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come face-to-face with some of the most well-known figures in English literature, including William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, William Blake, Virginia Woolf, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro and Zadie Smith.

For the first time, rare personal artifacts from famous British writers – handwritten drafts, private letters, and rare, published editions – alongside striking portraits from London's National Portrait Gallery, are brought together to reveal how authors' lives shaped their work, and how artists captured their creative spirits on canvas.

The exhibition will allow visitors to encounter some of the world's most celebrated individuals who created great literature such as "Romeo and Juliet," "The Lord of the Rings," "Alice in Wonderland," "the Harry Potter series," "Oliver Twist," "Winnie the Pooh," "Dracula," the Sherlock Holmes stories, Peter Rabbit and many others.

Featured writers include, but not limited to, Jane Austen, Brontë Sisters, Lord Byron, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Ben Jonson, James Joyce, John Keats, Rudyard Kipling, D.H. Lawrence, A.A. Milne, Beatrix Potter, J.K. Rowling, William Shakespeare, Zadie Smith, Bram Stoker, Dylan Thomas, J.R.R. Tolkien, Virginia Woolf and William Wordsworth.

Date: March 18-July 13, 10am-6pm (last entry at 5pm), closed on Tuesdays (except national holidays)

Venue: China Eastern Airlines Exhibition Gallery 2, Shanghai Museum East

上博东馆

Address: 1952 Century Ave, Pudong New Area

浦东新区世纪大道1952号