What to See:
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Even if you never step foot inside the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library you have to see this amazing building from the outside. It is a cube shaped building that is made of entirely of translucent marble.
Above: Me in front of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
Although it is a pleasure just to walk around the building and marvel at the architecture let us venture inside the library… this is after all a reader’s vacation! Inside the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is one of the largest collections of manuscripts and rare books you will see in the United States. And although you as just a reader on vacation will not be able to have any of the books pulled for you, you will be able to see one of their jewels and several more pieces of the collection. First if the reader heads up the stairs the will discover the Gutenberg Bible the first book created with a printing press (only Harvard holds another in the United States).
Above: The Gutenberg Bible found in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
As if seeing this beautiful and wonderfully preserved piece of literary history is not enough, just turn around and marvel at the floors and floors of rare books and manuscripts behind the glass located right in the middle of the building.
Above: Me inside the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
You can spend hours walking around and around the center of the building and seeing what titles you can see from eye level. It is a real treat for anyone who enjoys books, history or architecture. It is located on Old Campus at Yale University (maps can be found at the Yale University Visitor’s Center).
Yale Center for British Art
Another place that is on the must see reader’s vacation list at Yale University is the Yale Center for British Art. The Yale Center for British Art was given to the university by Paul Mellon and it is the home to the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside of the United Kingdom. It is a multi-floor building with an impressive collection of art and literature. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, rare books and manuscripts all of which revolve around the development of British art and life. The time periods you will find in represented in the Yale Center for British Art are the Elizabethan period to more modern pieces. The center is open year round and offers different events and educational programs.
Unlike some of the other collections, the British Center for Art and Literature will allow any user to access any of the materials that are available for viewing. Yes, that means you want to see a Henry Fielding manuscript that they have in their collection just ask and pull up a chair and enjoy the manuscript in their reading room.
When to See It:
Since both the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Yale Center for British Art are open all year round, a reader can visit anytime of the year but the best time for the crowd factor would most likely be when classes are not in session. Summer is a great time to experience both locations and the campus without the normal throngs of students that roam the grounds (we took this Reader’s Vacation in Summer 2010). Plus there are several events and festivals in New Haven in the summer that might interest the reader as well.
How Much Time Do You Need?:
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Yale Center for British Art are just two of the must see things that the reader must see when on a reader’s vacation at Yale University. Those two things alone can easily fill a week. This reader spent a week exploring Yale’s campus and did not feel that was enough time to really enjoy the collections that Yale possesses. I highly recommend this reader’s vacation and will more than likely do it again myself.
What is the Cost? :
There is no charge to get into either the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library or the Yale Center for British Art. There is of course the cost of getting there, staying there and eating in New Haven but once you take care of all that you can enjoy the free admission to two of the finest collections of books and art in the United States.
More Information:
For more information and directions to the Yale Visitor’s Center check out their website.
For more information about the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library check out their website.
For more information about the Yale Center for British Art check out their website.
If you have taken this “Reader’s Vacation” and would like to share your experience or add more to it please email Amanda at amanda@amandasweeklyzen.com. I would also love to hear about any “Reader Vacation” you have taken or ideas you have for “Reader’s Vacation.”
Stiefvater writes an elegant story of young love that borders on desperate obsession. The characters are constructed with care and gradually as you get to know each one better you begin to see depth in most of them.