"Superstars of the 1880s: Writers, Celebrities and Emerson's First Biographers" is the topic of a Feb. 22 presentation at Ball State University.

The program, led by Ball State English professor Robert Habich, will review how the writing of biographies evolved in the 1880s due a variety of non-literary causes.

Sponsored by Ball State's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, an all-discipline honor society, the presentation begins at 4 p.m. in Bracken Library, room 225. After the presentation, which is free and open to the public, refreshments will be served.

In addition to discussing the causes that dramatically changed biography writing in the late nineteenth century, Habich will also talk about his research on writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and the 1880s. He also will discuss archival discoveries in America and England, and present three stories about biographers that show how a public image is created by many outside factors.

Habich's research on literary biography has been supported by grants from the Ball State Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Antiquarian Society.