Libraries of Wonder & Delight


One of the greatest gifts my parents passed on to me is the love of books.

Immerse yourself in a book and the world around you disappears. Choose the right book and you can enter a world full of wonder and enchantment. You can travel the world and see marvelous sights without ever leaving your comfy chair. You are curled up in a large comfy chair aren’t you?

Along with the love of books came a love of browsing book stores and libraries. I can be content for hours in one of those places.

Imagine then, how it would be, to lose yourself in a library like one of these:

stiftsbibliothek-klosterneu

Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

longroom2

Trinity College Library, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland

 

strahov theological hall

Strahov Theological Hall – Original Baroque Cabinet

 

strahol philosophical hall

Strahov Philosophical Hall

 

abbey library St Gallen

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

 

 

angelica library rome

Angelica Library, Rome, Italy

 

wolfenbuttel

Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany

 

I luoghi della memoria scritta. Le Biblioteche italiane tra tute

Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, Italy

 

biblioteca di belle arti milano

Biblioteca Di Bella Arti, Milan, Italy

 

biblioteca do palacio e convento de mafra

Biblioteca do Palacio e Convento de Mafra I, Lisbon Coast, Portugal

 

biblioteca-do-palacio-nacional-da-ajuda-lisboa-iii-2006

Biblioteca do Pala`cio Nacional da Ajuda Lisboa III, Lisbon, Portugal

 

biblioteca geral da universidade de coimbra

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

 

biblioteca palafoxiana

Biblioteca Palafoxiana, Puebla, Mexico

 

biblioteca de la real academia de la lengua madrid spain

Bibliotecha de la Real Academia De La Lengua, Madrid, Spain

 

bibliotheque_alencon_670px

Bibliotheque Alencon, Normandy, France

 

bibliotheque nationale de france

Bibliothe´que Nationale de France, Paris, France

 

duke of humphreys

Duke of Humphrey’s Library, Bodleian, Oxford University, England

 

boston copley

Boston Copley Public Library, Boston, USA

 

british-library-london reading room

Old British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England

 

casanatense library

Casanatense Library, Rome, Italy

 

el escorial library san lorenzo de el escorial spain

El Escorial Library, San Lorenzo, Spain

 

frederick ferris thompson memorial library

Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA

 

peabody library

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

 

handelingenkamer-tweede-kam

Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag, the Hague, Netherlands

 

herzogin anna amalia bibliothek weimar ii germany

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek Weimar II, Germany

 

joanina library university of coimbra portugal

Joanina LIbrary University of Coimbra, Portugal

 

kremsmuenster

Kremsmuenster Abbey Library, Kremsmu¨nster, Upper Austria.

 

library_of_congress_reading

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA

 

library-of-parliament-ottawa-canada

Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada

 

library of st walburga zutphen netherlands

Library of St. Walburga, Zutphen, Netherland (Preserved from the 16th century)

 

library-of-the-benedictine-monastery-of-admont-austria

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria

 

library of the national palace of mafra

Library of the National Palace of Mafra, Portugal

 

library of the prussian king frederic the second in potsdam germany

Library of the Prussian King Frederic the Second in Potsdam, Germany

 

melk-library small--austria

Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria

 

nyc_public_library_research_room_jan_2006

New York Public Library, New York, USA

 

queens college library oxford

Queen’s College Library Oxford

 

real gabinete portugues de leitura rio de janeiro

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

 

riggslib

Riggs Library, Georgetown University, USA

 

rijkmuseum-amsterdam

Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam

 

nationalrussia manuscriptdept

Russian National Library, St. Petersburg

 

st florian monastery library

St. Florian Monastery-Library, Austria

 

salamanca small

Salamanca Library, Salamanca, Spain

 

sansovinos library

Sansovino Library, Rome, Italy

 

library of the sorbonne

Sorbonne Library, Paris, France

 

suzzallo library

Suzzallo Library, Seattle, Washington, USA

 

the new library of the royal college of physicians of edinburgh

The New Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

 

theology room at st deiniols library north wales

Theology Room at St. Deiniol’s library, North Wales

 

vatican Library

Vatican Library, Vatican City, Rome

 

vienna austrian national library

Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria

 

waldassen

Waldsassen Abbey Library, Bavaria, Germany

 

wren library trinity

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, England

 

Bad Schussenried bibliothekssaal

Bad Schussenried Bibliothekssaal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

 

medicea Laurenziana italy

Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence, Italy

 

bibliotheque solvay wall

Bibliothe`que Solvay, Brussels, Belgium

 

athenaeum 2nd floor reading room

Boston Athenæum, Boston, MA, USA

 

codrington

Codrington Library, All Souls College, Oxford, England

 

cornell-law-school-library-reading-room

Cornell Law School Library, Ithaca, NY, USA

 

Folger Shakespeare Library

Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., USA

 

vanderbilt

George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore House Library, Asheville, N.C., USA

 

harper_nufz

Harper Library, The University of Chicago, IL, USA

 

john_rylands

John Rylands Library, Manchester, England

 

 

Klementium library in Prague

Klementium Library, Prague, Czech Republic

 

morgan

Pierpont Morgan Library, NY, NY, USA

 

the grolier club nyc

The Grolier Club Library, NY, NY, USA

 

iowa_itbu

Law Library, Iowa State Legislature, IA, USA

 

St Johnsbury Athenaeum vermont

The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, Northeast Vermont, USA

 

thomas_crane

Thomas Crane Library, Quincy MA, USA

 

800px-umichiganlawlibraryinterior_hpf3

University of Michigan (Old) Law Library, MI, USA

 

0401library_5widener_b_feqs

Widener Library, Harvard. Cambridge, MA, USA

 

wiblingen-bibliothek-west_jwbd

Wiblingen Monestary Library, Ulm, Germany

 

Mitchell Library sydney

Mitchell Library, Sydney

 

 

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10 comments on “Libraries of Wonder & Delight

  1. Willis on said:

    Libraries are like Cathedrals. . In one you worship the written word. In the other you worship God.

  2. Susan Sontag on said:

    Thank you so much for this stunning website!
    The most breathtaking images of our local, magnificent restoration project (the ones that would be appropriate for your website) are acquired by googling St Louis Central Library and clicking images. Here is the address of their humble webpage: http://central.slpl.org/index.html

    • Susan thank you so much for the link to the library restoration. What an enormous task! But isn’t it wonderful that the right people saw the benefit of restoring the original and not ripping it down to make way for some bland steel and glass structure! Absolutely wonderful!

  3. This was a beautiful, amazing, and talented display of photography. Thanks!

  4. S VanNoy on said:

    Absolutely breathtaking!! Magnificent and hope-inspiring- We can’t be all bad as a human race, to have created these beautiful edifices… Thanks for sharing these pictures! 🙂

    • you are right, their beauty is hope inspiring. I have to believe that in order to create such beauty, the creators must have had beautiful souls.

  5. Thank you, such a surprising tour of places I have been and libraries I have missed.

    • I know right? who puts libraries on their list of things to do as a tourist? Yet look how utterly amazing and beautiful they are. I would feel the same kind of reverence in those places as I would in a cathedral!

  6. sandeep jaryal on said:

    i wish we have a big library as like this in my home town

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