In discussing the Museum, it is crucial to remember that it, the Museum, is a dealer’s collection. It consists of the things the brothers kept, the things that they couldn’t emotionally bear to part with, things priced too high to sell, or things with an anecdotal quality. For instance, there is a Chaucer manuscript from a Phillips sale emendated by a contemporary reader. I believe that the biography [Rosenbach: A Biography, by Edwin Wolf 2nd John Fleming, Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, [1960]] makes the case that Dr. Rosenbach ultimately wanted to keep almost everything he acquired. We hope with time to capture this quality of his, either through a conventional exhibition or through a video or digital presentation about the Rosenbachs as collectors.
AT: I must admit that I’m a bit confused by the adjoining townhouses and by the renovations now underway. Can you explain in a bit of detail the difference between the adjacent townhouses and the purpose(s) of the renovations?
MB: Sure. There are two main buildings involved: 2008 DeLancey Place, and 2010 DeLancey Place. There was also until recently a third building, 2006, which had been office space for the Museum staff, but it’s important to mention for historic reasons as from around 1926 to 1949 it’s where the Rosenbachs lived. They moved into 2010 (which is now under restoration, not renovation) in about 1950. One reason was that there were fewer stairs and an elevator. Also, it was one of the first houses in Philadelphia to have central air conditioning. 2010, the brother’s last residence, is the House Museum. 2008 – which we also call the New Building – was never a residence of the Rosenbachs. That building was completely renovated and taken apart and put back together again. The easiest way to think of it is that 2008 is the auxiliary building to the House Museum and as such it contains office space, storage space and programming space. It also is now the main entrance and it contains the gift shop. Prior to now, we had no lecture space for our very active education program. The New Building allows for this in that it contains a stand alone gallery/exhibition space.
Rare Book Monthly
A Collector’s Collection:The Rosenbach Museum & Library
Thomas Jefferson manuscript list of Slaves on his Tomahawk and Bear Creek Plantations.
Rare Book Monthly
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ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000. -
Sotheby’s
Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections
Open for Bidding 2-17 AprilSotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.