Goya and Lope de Vega at The Magic of Handwriting: The Pedro Corrêa do Lago Collection

This exhibition features 140 handwritten letters, manuscripts, and documents of illustrious figures in history and the arts spanning nine centuries.

Handwriting transports us back to defining moments in history, creativity, and everyday life and connects us intimately with the people who marked the page. This exhibition—drawn from the collection of Brazilian Pedro Corrêa do Lago—features 140 items, including letters by Hernando Cortés, Francisco de Goya, Emily Dickinson and manuscripts by Lope de Vega, Giacomo Puccini, and Jorge Luis Borges.

From a 1153 document signed by four medieval popes to a 2006 thumbprint signature of physicist Stephen Hawking, the items on view convey the power of handwriting to connect us with illustrious figures.