The Rosenbach Museum

Sunday late afternoon we were lucky to spend two hours in one of the most fascinating museums I have ever seen. It is called The Rosenbach Museum and it is outside of the city center. It is an impeccably kept townhouse belonging to two brothers, Phillip & Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach. They were booksellers and dealt in rare books and also collected art. Dr. Rosenbach was the real book collector and his libraries hold the most amazing works we have ever seen. For instance, the original manuscript of Ulysses, an entire set of first edition Jane Austen, original letters and papers from every President until Roosevelt. Most everything is protected and cataloged behind glass. We did see Stoker's own copy of Dracula plus many of his original manuscripts and notes. They have a huge collection of Maurice Sendak's original illustrations and manuscripts. They were all on display in honor of the movie coming out Friday.

From October 2009

We learned SO much about what makes a book valuable, how books were printed in the early days...it is too much for me to type on my little phone keyboard.

Touring the house was incredible, there was art on display (paintings, sculptures, furniture, glassware, silver, etc) that rivaled what we saw in the Philadelphia Museum!  And none of it was under lock and key. We stood next to a Greek sculpture that was over 2000 years old - just displayed in an entryway

This museum is a must see for any book lover or collector.