Harry Ransom Center
300 W. 21st, 512/471-8944
Come for the rarest of rarities on permanent exhibit – the Gutenberg Bible (one of six complete copies in the U.S., printed ca. 1450-55) and the first (known) photo ever, shot by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce – stay for whatever exhibitions have been drawn from this University of Texas humanities research library’s stunning collection. Its unparalleled holdings include the archives of literary lions (Gabriel García Marquez, David Foster Wallace, Norman Mailer), film legends (David O. Selznick, Robert De Niro, Nicholas Ray), stage giants (Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Tom Stoppard), and major figures from history and photography (Napoleon, Churchill, Woodward & Bernstein, the Magnum collective).
- 2017: Critics Most Ubiquitous Brow (Frida Kahlo)
- 2005: Critics Best Destination for Literary Groupies (The Harry Ransom Center)
- 2004: Readers Best Recently Restored Building (TIE: Penn Field, Harry Ransom Center, Driscoll Villa Laguna Gloriansom Ce)
- 2003: Critics Best Lightening Up of a Building
- 2000: Critics Best Interactive Art Exhibition
- 2000: Critics Cheapest Highbrow Date