We four "glampers" were winding up our action-packed itinerary on the final day of our New York City 2015 visit and after the enchantment of The Merchant's House all decked out in its December holiday finery, the plan was to divide and conquer to fit in the various landmarks and museums that we each had on our individual lists.
I've been lucky enough to visit New York quite a few times but always on a tight schedule. Last, but not least on my must-see list this time was the inside of The New York Public Library on Fifthth Avenue.
"A Writer's Christmas — Dickens and More" (exhibited through Jan 4th) being right up my alley, I was enthralled to peruse this charming display from the Library's Berg Collection of English and American Literature. What a thrill to read through hand-pasted pages of A Christmas Carol, Dickens' fable of personal redemption and social reform that became a fast Christmas favorite both sides of the Atlantic since 1843.
Though the open book was protected by its placement in a small, glass cabinet, I was able to read Dickens' handwritten notes of very specific intonation for his hugely popular public reading tours. I also learned that Tiny Tim was modeled on his sister's beloved son, Henry, who died of tuberculosis as a child.
I took a look at the first Gutenberg Bible to come to the New World and wandered the marble corridors to take in another fascinating temporary exhibit: Printing Women: Three Centuries of Female Printmakers 1570 - 1700. and an excellent "Public Eye: 175 Years of Sharing Photography large exhibit (through Jan 3rd).
This being my first visit, I made the most of a three hour window to give myself a brief tour and an education in what to plan for, on which day and how much time to allocate to specific research rooms next time that I find myself in New York.
The Library's main Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is part of the New York Public Library that consists of four major research libraries and 88 branch libraries located in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
The Beaux-Arts landmark building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street houses research collections in the humanities and social sciences and a circulating children’s collection.
It has an interesting history and cost nearly $9 million to complete, opening in 1911.
- During World War II, Allied military intelligence used the Map Division for research on the coastlines of countries in the theater of combat.
- Television and print journalists first consulted the Slavic and Baltic Division when covering the changing political structure of the former Soviet Union.
- Authors of countless literary and nonfiction books cite the Library as a major resource in their work.
- Countless individuals have reconstructed family histories and located long-lost relatives through records in the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History, and Genealogy.
The monumental library's Berg Collection of English and American literature is one of the most celebrated research collections of literary manuscripts, letters and rare books in the world.
Holdings range from early Chaucer to Shakespeare to manuscripts of Virginia Woolf's novels, a special focus on Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackery and other important 19th Century writers. Dr. Albert A. Berg presented the library with an incredible endowment collection in 1940 in memory of his late brother Dr. Henry W. Berg.
The brothers, both distinguished in their medical careers, lifelong bachelors and passionate bibliophiles, lived together in a town house on Fifth Avenue with their three canaries, each, conveniently, named "Dickie". Dr. Berg's second purchase and donation of two magnificent collections of English and American literature soon followed.
Today, the Berg Collection comprises 35,000 printed volumes, 2000 feet of manuscripts and archives and over 15,000 prints and drawings.
More recently, the collection has acquired papers of Vladimir Nabokov, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac. Memorabilia includes Charlotte Bronte's traveling desk, Virginia Woolf's walking stick and Charles Dickens' ivory letter opener, the handle of which is made from one of the forepaws of his beloved cat "Bob".
I visited on a Monday but took careful note of the collection's opening hours for a future visit. Berg Collection hours are: Tues & Wednesday 11 am to 6.45 pm and Thurs - Sat 10 am to 5.45 pm.
Click here for tours and events at the New York Public Library.
What better way to wrap up a fifth day in New York than to take a walk, window shop the fineries and fancies of the big city and wonder at it all?
Until next time!
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