I'm back! Welcome to the day 6 recap.
Day 6
CITIES
Today was our first NYC day, and I believe it was the best day in "the city that never sleeps" that I have ever had. I can say with absolute surety that New York City is better than both Philadelphia and Baltimore. I might have stepped on a couple toes there, but if you are honest with yourself, you'll agree with me.
LIBRARIES
The New York Public Library
While I have visited the NYPL once before, I looked at the building, inside and out, with fresh eyes today - not just the eyes of a tourist, but with the eyes of a reader and an intellectual citizen. So, without any more prologue, here are a number of things I learned in and about the NYPL today.
The New York Public Library serves over 3.5 million people in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Established as an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization in 1895, the library has accumulated quite a collection over the years. Amazingly, I got to see a small part of the collection today, and I was one of the approximately 15 million visitors Patience and Fortitude (the iconic lions) will see this year.
The New York Public Library is unsurprisingly huge. But I can guarantee you it's bigger than you think it is. The NYPL has over 53 million items in 92 locations. It is the second-largest library in the United States (coming in behind the Library of Congress) and the fourth-largest in the world.
The New York Public Library is in possession of a Gutenberg Bible. For those of you who are not familiar with the Gutenberg Bible, this Bible was the first book ever printed by Johannes Gutenberg on his revolutionary invention: the printing press, with its movable type that allowed for books and pamphlets to be widely circulated through Europe. Nonetheless, this trip has turned into somewhat of a Gutenberg Hunt. We saw our first Gutenberg Bible of the trip today in the Treasures exhibit at the NYPL. While I have seen Gutenberg Bibles before, seeing the uniform black text exactly as it appeared in the 1450s always stirs something inside me. James Lenox bought the NYPL's copy, one of 48 in the entire world, in 1847. It was the first Gutenberg to be sold to an American citizen and was the first time one of the sacred books had ever touched American soil. Lenox famously told all the men present to remove their hats for its arrival.
Along with the Gutenberg, there were (of course) many other artifacts of interest in the Treasures exhibit. Particularly moving to me were copies of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol and Virginia Woolf's The Prime Minister, a story that would inspire the core of her masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway. Both of these manuscripts were written in each author's authentic handwriting. More significant still were the revisions, exes and marked-out lines, and notes by each author in the margins of the manuscripts. Actually, there were examples of revision and editing throughout the exhibit from Beethoven's edited musical masterpieces to George Washington's hand-revised speeches where he marked-out lines up to the moment he addressed his audience and starred places where he should speak with emphasis and intention.
These artifacts reminded me of every human's imperfect nature. I am a perfectionist. It is a tendency I have been fighting against for seventeen years. However, perfectionism is not the only tendency I have. I also tend to build up my favorite authors and historical figures as perfect human beings whose ideas and writings sprung out of their heads and onto crisp white pages fully formed. This simply isn't true. Even the first President of these great United States revised his speeches at the last minute. One of the greatest female writers of all time scratched out words and wrote a whole short story before finding the inspiration for her novel. Charles Dickens, who some would argue writes about the human experience better than any other author of all time, was imperfect and had to remind himself throughout the writing process of the desired tones for his characters in the margins of every page.
I am not perfect, and I never will be. I am a work in progress just like some of the best works of literature ever written, the best pieces of music ever composed, or the best speeches ever delivered. If I can have a fraction of Washington's eloquence, Dicken's character, and Woolf's detail, my life will certainly be worthwhile. If imperfection was good enough for them, it is certainly good enough for me.
Libraries on Columbia's Campus
We visited Columbia's campus today where Butler Library and the Low Memorial Library reign over the main quad opposite each other on a long, green (and crowded with construction at the moment) lawn.
After COVID, almost all college campuses are fully locked down, only allowing keycard holders to enter most if not all of the buildings. We were not able to go into either of these buildings. That said, Butler Library's reading room is internationally known, and Low is no longer a library but an administrative building. Yet, it still remains the most iconic building on campus.
*Fun fact: Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey Decimal System and founder of the American Library Association, was chief librarian at Columbia from 1883 to 1888 where he also founded the first School of Library Sciences in 1887.
PUBLISHING HOUSES
Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House
Seeing these two important literary landmarks was a nice juxtaposition to the NYPL, as I got to see our nation's literary history from its founding to now and into the future of publishing. While I did not get to go into either of these buildings, I could not help but think from the outside of both that maybe I will get to pitch a book to the editors in this building one day.
As I read recently in Emily Henry's latest novel and explosive bestseller Book Lovers, the main character steps out onto the sizzling, June streets of New York City as a successful literary agent. I stepped out on the sizzling, June streets of New York City this morning as well, only I am furthering my literary journey. Isn't it great when you can connect the exact moment you're living in to the scene of a book, much more the opening scene of one of your favorite contemporary novels?
BOOK STORES
Bauman Rare Books
After seeing this stunning shop in the Netflix documentary Booksellers two years ago, I finally got to visit it today. Bauman Rare Books is what I would call a true "find," or a place that I will likely remember for the rest of my life. First editions and signed copies of classic books in their original book slips and dust jackets are commonplace. Books like Ernest Hemingway's Farwell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles (published, in fact, before he was a "Sir" at all). I enjoyed watching each member of my family "geek out" over which book particularly spoke to him or her.
I took 15,841 steps today. Check back in for another recap!
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