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V15 2012 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 12, March 18, 2012, Article 24

BOOKS AS ART: THE BEINECKE RARE BOOK LIBRARY

Joe Boling writes:

Check out Ailsa Prideaux-Mooney's post, for bibliophiles. Ailsa is an acquaintance from my Seattle theater days. She now works in New York as an actor.

beinecke library exterior This weekend, I found myself in New Haven, Connecticut; home to Yale University and their famed Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. How could I resist? I went along not knowing quite what to expect, and was bowled over by this incredible gem of a library. From the outside it is a gleaming, chequered, rectangular building of translucent marble.

Walk through the doors, however, and the gleaming facade becomes a distant memory. The marble that shines so brightly from the outside takes on a delicious brownish hue inside the building, transmitting the faintest of light devoid of damaging rays that could harm the delicate pages of the rarest of books.

And there, right in the centre of this dimly glowing building, is a glass-encased tower of stacked book shelves, towering impossibly high above your head, reaching right up to the ceiling.

Shelves and shelves of the most tantalising books, the majority leather-bound, some brightly embossed, some dulled with age, all beautiful.

beinecke library interior

On the upper level, some books were singled out for special attention; the Gutenberg Bible and Audubon’s The Birds of America amongst them. In the eerie half-light, the books almost seemed to be levitating mid-air. It was magical.

beinecke shelves As I was on my way out, I stopped to chat with security, and asked them which lucky people got to snuffle through all those incredible books. They told me, to my delight, that anyone can read the books there, provided you supply a driver’s license, or a passport if you’re from overseas. Their catalogue of books is available online. That service is only available from Monday to Friday, however, so I shall have to return mid-week at some point and crack open a well-worn tome or two.

There are some very beautiful images on the blog - be sure to check it out. -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Books as art at the Beinecke (http://wheresmybackpack.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/books-as-art-at-the-beinecke/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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