Open Winter 2025

Incognito

Incognito reveals hidden aspects of authors’ lives! Some writers conceal their names to avoid debt or a questionable past. Some take different names to spark creativity, to write in a different genre, or to safely express controversial issues. Many women have taken male pen names to gain readers and sell more books. Others adopt alternate names just for fun.

Find out more about Agatha Christie, the Brontë Sisters, Charles Dickens, Voltaire, Isak Dinesen, Ben Franklin, Stephen King, George Orwell and many other celebrated authors you thought you knew!

 

 

A sideshow within the exhibit features incognito animal and plants that mask their identity for many of the same reasons authors do—safety, nourishment, and to attract followers.

The exhibit poster shows Nathaniel Hawthorne dressed as his pen name, M. del’Aubépine.

The exhibition is free and open to all during the Athenaeum’s regular open hours:
Tuesday – Friday, 11:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M.
Saturday, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 P.M.

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