A friend sent me a link to this joke, which is one of the best I’ve heard in a while. Yes, it is Rosenbach-related, but to say more would be giving it away. If you don’t yet know about this aspect of our collections, when you’ve finished groaning you can search the Web site for …
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The Woman on a Pedestal: Rita de Acosta Lydig
Sitting in the bay window of the Rosenbach Museum & Library is an alabaster bust of Rita De Acosta Lydig by artist Malvina Hoffman. Hoffman’s sculpture is particularly striking not only in her choice of subject matter but also in her choice of stone. On certain afternoons it glows.The Rosenbach has more than one Hoffman …
Dracula, one of the most famous literary characters ever created, first appeared in an 1897 novel written by an Irish theatre manager, Bram Stoker. Dracula was a popular, sensational “pot-boiler” that at first attracted only modest critical attention, but became enormously popular when performed on stage and later in film. The Rosenbach preserves Stoker’s outlines …
Dickens and sister(in- law)ly Love By Rosenbach Docent and Dickens Fellow Barbara Zimmerman
On the North wall of the library, one finds among the Dickens’ collection the manuscript of The Pickwick Papers, Dickens’ first novel, (written in serial form and published monthly) which catapulted him to fame at the age of 24. In March of 1837, the recently married Dickens, moved into 48 Doughty Street with his wife …
Michael Jackson goes into studio with Robert Burns
From Steve Bartholomew, a visitor services manager at the Rosenbach Museum & Library: I share this somewhat tongue-n’-cheek, but ….. Knowing that the staff of the Rosenbach is up on both ancient and modern pop-culture, I don’t need to remind you that today is Michael Jackon’s 50th birthday, nor are you unaware that he is …
This series of photographs are of the Rosenbach brothers’ New York City home, located at 322 E. 57th street. The home was more of a show room the a residence. Many of the objects in these photos are now on display at the museum.
II Charters by Charles II
In 1681 Charles II King of England (so handsomely portrayed in the upper left hand corner of this Charter) granted tracks of land to William Penn. This “birth certificate” for what later became the state of Pennsylvania will be on display at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg from March 7-16th. This will mean …
Happy New Years Robert Burns!
The Rosenbach Museum & Library has one of the largest selections of Robert Burns (1759-96) material in the world. The highlight of the collection, purchased by ASW Rosebach in 1929, is an edition of Burn’s poems which was owned by Mrs. Dunlop. (It is shelved on the western wall of the British collection in the …
A Sendak Riddle?
In advance of the May 2008 opening of There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak—the Rosenbach’s very large exhibition of the work of Maurice Sendak—I thought it might be fun to get the ball rolling on this blog and provide a few sneak peeks of the exhibit while also opening up discussion of Sendak’s work. …
The Joys of Smoking
Lets take a moment here to examine smoking in the Rosenbach collections! The inspiration for this course of study is greatly inspired by the recent publication of The Joys of Smoking by author James Fitzgerald (who is also my father). The Rosenbach brothers were smokers, their generation was the “smoking generation” when cigarettes became king …