For she who gifted me with loving books, I present this gallery from the book Temples of Knowledge: Historical Libraries of the Western World, by photographer Ahmet Ertug. I was going to do the right thing and BUY the book for her, but don’t have $7500 layin’ around. What the! Thank heavens for the website.
Each of the thumbnails below can be clicked to see the the larger, sumptuous version. Share your favorite in a comment, and I’ll share mine. :-)
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- National Library, France, Labrouste Room
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- National Library, France, Oval Room
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- Library of St Genevieve, France
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- Library of the Senate, Annex, France
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- August Herzog Library, Wolfenbuttel, Germany
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- August Herzog Library, Wolfenbuttel, Germany- 2
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- Library of the National Palace of Marfa, Portugal
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- Royal Library of the Monastery of El Escorial, Spain
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- Angelica Library, Rome
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- Library of the University of Salamanca, Spain
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- Library of the University of Salamanca, Spain- 2
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- Library of the Wiblingen Monastery, Ulm, Germany
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- National Library of the Czech Republic, Prague
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- Library of the St. Florian Abbey, Austria
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- Library of Fine Arts, Milan, Italy
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- Library of Joanina, University of Coimbra, Portugal
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- Marciana National Library, Venice, Italy
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- Picton Reading Room, Liverpool Central Library, England
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- Library of the Metten Abbey, Germany
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- Trinity College Library, the Long Room, Dublin, Ireland
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- Library of St. Gallen Abbey, Swtzerland
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- Duke Humphrey’s Library, Oxford, England
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- British Library, the King’s Library, London, England
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- Library of the Melk Abbey, Austria
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Thank you for the poem. And, thanks for the jaw-dropping photos. As I jotted notes about the ones I especially liked, I realized 1) they were British or French with one lone Portuguese library; and 2) they shared traits of being relatively simple, graceful, and symmetrical. I didn’t like the frou-frouness, garishness, and juxtaposition of too many non-complementary shapes in the Italian, German, Spanish, and Chezch libraries. The title of the book is so apt. These all ARE temples of knowledge and inspiring for that reason alone. Their beauty is a bonus. A great 2-part gift! Thanks so much.
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“Library of the National Palace of Marfa, Portugal”
Is not Marfa, but MAFRA.
Thanks! Will fix.
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