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The Rosenbach Museum and Library
A wonderland for lovers of books and antiques
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The personal library of famed twentieth-century book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach
Photo courtesy of The Rosenbach Museum & Library
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Other Information
Open Tue - Sun
Insider Tip
The entire Greenwich Village living room of poet Marianne Moore, complete with photographs of her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, has been installed here.
Some Kids' Stuff
The museum has an extensive collection of the drawings of Maurice Sendak, one of the most beloved children’s book authors of the 20th century.
The Experience
Tucked away among the elegant 19th-century townhomes near Rittenhouse Square, The Rosenbach Museum & Library houses one of the world’s great collections of manuscripts, literature and rare books.
A list of some of the treasures amassed by the Rosenbach brothers is amazing in itself – Lewis Carroll’s own copy of Alice in Wonderland, a first edition of Don Quixote, James Joyce’s handwritten manuscript for Ulysses, and the earliest extant letter from George Washington – but the real treat is to see them among the Egyptian statuary, Persian rugs, 18th-century furniture and Thomas Sully paintings that graced the 1860s mansion during the Rosenbachs’ lifetime.
The library has more than 130,000 manuscripts and 30,000 rare books; the museum boasts the largest U.S. collection of miniature portraits painted in oil on metal.
History
In 1954, after the deaths of the Rosenbach brothers – Dr. A.S.W., a dealer in rare books and manuscripts, and Philip, a dealer of fine arts and antiques – their individual libraries and collections were organized in the doctor’s townhouse. In 2002, the museum expanded into the historic house next door for more research and display space.
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