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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2009 22:13:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2009 2:40:24 GMT
i've only seen the Pierpont Morgon Library in N.Y.,the N.Y. Public Library isn't too shabby either. Have you visited any of the ones posted K? Are they accessible to the public as libraries or museums?
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 27, 2009 4:57:41 GMT
I imagine The Library to be something out of Borges, something different for everyone. I like fairly plain spaces for libraries, perhaps a library that was once an old house, but with excellent lighting and no crowding. In The Library here, I could be browsing the utilitarian shelves on my side, while just on the other side of the stacks someone else is selecting a leather bound volume from gleaming mahogany shelves, while down an echoing stone side aisle softly lit by stained glass, another person unbinds a vellum volume.
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Post by tillystar on Feb 27, 2009 9:37:25 GMT
Out of those libraries I have visited the Trinity College Dublin Library. It was amazing. I recently went to a talk which was held in the Historical library of the Royal College of Physicians. The library is nothing out of the ordinary - just a 1970's functional jobby - but it was amazing sitting amongst these great medical books that are hundreds of years old. They also had some ancient medical implements on display which was interesting. www.rcplondon.ac.uk/heritage-centre/library/Pages/Foundation.aspx
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Post by spindrift on Feb 27, 2009 15:24:21 GMT
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Post by Jazz on Feb 27, 2009 19:32:51 GMT
I have visited the Strahov library in Prague. It is breathtaking (see the two photos in the OP). Here are two exterior shots, a private door into the monastery, Strahov monastery in white clothes,
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Post by Jazz on Feb 27, 2009 19:59:16 GMT
Sometimes. Our library looks like my mood of the moment. I am always alone in the library. Most of the time, I am surrounded by rich colour and texture...very middle eastern, lush Persian rugs, cushions, incense... sultry...there are beautiful flowers with a rich perfume. Often I imagine water and waves and smell salt air. Or, I am in a library with stone walls, renaissance. I smell the wood burning in the fireplace, a simple wooden table and chair, a candle, an arched window with leaded glass panes, illuminated manuscripts. Sometimes the library is stark, austere and remorseless. The walls are white. Pure sunlight floods the room.
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Post by Jazz on Feb 27, 2009 21:07:50 GMT
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Post by spindrift on Feb 27, 2009 21:40:13 GMT
That might have been in Iraq? in ruins of course.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 27, 2009 21:41:42 GMT
Actually, I was thinking of the "The Book of Sand" when I wrote my reply, as I was not familiar with "The Libarary of Babel". Thank you for the link!
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