Scotland's Chamber of Secrets...

The final book may have been published, but Hary Potter fans have been handed another exciting unveiling. Original handwritten manuscripts by author J.K. Rowling are going to be displayed to the public for the first time in Scotland this week. Donated by Rowling in 2005 to help fund a Scottish language dictionary, the two pages are  extracts from the series' second novel 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' which didn't make it into final publication, including The Ballad of Nearly Headless Nick.

The works are being displayed as part of the Wigtown Book Festival, running form 24th September - 3rd October. This is a major scoop for a relatively small festival, and Potter fans must seize the opportunity, for as Gerrie Douglas-Scot, co-ordinator, said: 'this is a one-off exhibition and contrary to belief it is not on a world tour'.

Scott's lost poem...

A poem by Sir Walter Scott, previously unpublished, is to read in public as part of the 'Scottsland Programme'. 'The Hills of Killearn' had been kept for 200 years in the care of the Baillie-Hamilton family of Cambusmore House, alongside 9 nine letters written to an associate of Scott. The emergence of these documents celebrate the 200th anniversary of Scott's poem 'The Lady and the Lake'. 

J.G. Ballard reveals all...

Following his expressed wish, the archive of science fiction author J.G Ballard has been acquired for public viewing. Ballard, who died last year at the age of 78, is most famous for his award-winning novel 'Empire of the Sun'. Now, 15 large storage boxes, containing an 'extraordinary insight' into his writings and covering his output from 1962 to 2008, have been obtained by the British Library. Items range from corrected manuscripts, notebooks of ideas, and even more personal articles, including childhood photos, reports and passports. Jamie Andrews, head of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library, deemed the acquisition 'hugely exciting', and hopes that the archive will be fully accessible by the summer of 2011.

People never give your message to anybody...

Aspects of J.D. Salinger's intensely private life have been revealed with the opening of a new exhibition. A previously unseen collection of the author's letters have gone on show in New York. Although the Morgan Museum and Library has been in possession of these letters since 1998, it had chosen not to make them public, on account of Salinger's own wish for privacy.

Yet following his death at the age of 91 earlier this year, the museum has ended the wait, and believes that the letters portray Salinger positively; 'They show that he wasn't this weirdo, reclusive, bizarre man that many people have come to think of him as'. The letters, dated from 1951 to 1993, include popular culture references, deatils of his ongoing, yet unpublished, works and even contain a Holdenesque idiolect discernable in addresses such as, 'old orange' and 'buddyroo'. Overall, the audience is able to see 'a much more attractive, fully human side of Salinger'. The exhibition will last from March 16th until May 9th.

Messy Dickens a New York success...

A new exhibition has opened in New York, based around a handwritten manuscript of 'A Christmas Carol'. The famous Dickens novel was written in a period of six weeks, starting from October 1843, and according to exhibition curators, the speed is obvious. 'The manuscript is a mess', showing Dickens' revisions and annotations and revealing the way in which the plot was developed; for instance, the name Bob Cratchit was not thought of until midway through writing. Originally written for quick commercial success, due to failing finances after last novel 'Martin Chuzzlewick, the initial print run sold 6,000 copies in one week and has never been out of print since. It has been adapted innumerable times for stage and screen; the most recent being Jim Carey's film version, which premiered earlier this month. The book, bound in red morocco leather, along with other Dickensian items are on display in the Morgan Library in New York until January 2010.

A Woman's Wit...

New material relating to one of the most popular novelists, has been unveiled at an exhibition in New York. 'A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy', contains more than 100 items, such letters written by the author to family and friends; including one to her neice in which Austen wrote each word backward as a puzzle. Also of great interest, is the only surviving, complete, handwritten manuscript of 'Lady Susan; a Austen novel written in 1795 - predating the publication of 'Sense and Sensibility' by 16 years. Another manuscript, that of 'The Watsons', shows her work in progress, complete with annotations and plans for improvement. Perhaps the most touching exhibit, is a letter written by her sister Cassandra to Austen's neice, Fanny Knight, in which she reports Austen's death, saying: 'I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed.' The exhibition runs in the Morgan Library until 14th March.