The fallen leaves rustled down the residential street lined with well-maintained brick exteriors, which echoed wealth. We were not quite sure we were in the right place. The street did not look like a museum belonged on it. There was nothing to make you think this was an area tourists should be wandering about, and then suddenly at the end of the street was a sign, a sign with a monster on it, and I knew that we had indeed found The Rosenbach Museum.
The moment we walked through the doors, a woman jumped up to greet us.
"Welcome to the Rosenbach, are you here for the tour?" We nodded yes.
"Oh, well it’s a good thing you came today, it’s Tuesday and so that means the tour is free." We feigned surprise, not wanting to appear cheap, but of course we had planned our visit on Tuesday purposefully to get in for free (the admission is usually $8). She told us that she was just waiting for an available docent, who should be here shortly, and that we were free to browse in the gift shop with another gentleman who was also waiting for the tour.
After 15 minutes or so, we were greeted by our friendly tour guide, who led the three of us into a small room with chairs set up lecture style. This part of the tour reminded me of the staging areas they have at theme parks where you have to listen to a little story of whatever before boarding your ride. Similar to that, our docent embarked on a speech giving the historical background of the museum.
The Rosenbachs were brothers with a love for business, books, and antiques. They spent their lives collecting and dealing rare books and manuscripts and amassed a great wealth of art and antiques as well. They resided in a row home in Philadelphia, located at 2008 DeLancey Place, where the museum continues to reside today. It has become such a staple in the surrounding residential neighborhood that there is a sign on the door giving instructions for deliverymen leaving packages.
"The neighbors usually leave a sign on their doors telling the deliveryman to drop the delivery off at the Rosenbach and then they come here and retrieve their package. We don’t mind, it keeps the residents happy," the docent explained.
After the prepping room we were ushered through various rooms of the house and informed with great passion about this antique, that painting, or this particular book collection. Portraits came alive as our docent talked about each person as though they were close personal friends. Antiques from around the world made me want to travel and collect similar treasures; and, of course, there were the books. Numerous first editions or the author’s personal copies; most notable for me was Lewis Carroll’s personal copy of Alice in Wonderland. The Rosenbach had actually owned the first copy as well, but after much controversy was nice enough to sell it to London, who felt they were the rightful owners. There were books by Hawthorne, Melville, and Joyce. In fact, every June the museum hosts their Bloomsday festival for James Joyce fans. During the festival, notable persons in Philadelphia come and take turns reading Ulysses on an outside stage.
"We close the whole street off and everyone just has a wonderful time," our docent beamed.
My favorite part of the museum was the Maurice Sendak (author of Where the Wild Things Are) gallery. Mr. Sendak visited the Rosenbach Museum often to admire the rare books and finally decided to dedicate a huge collection of his artwork to the museum. The stark white gallery is full of original artwork by the artist/author and is very inspiring. To protect the artwork, huge, thick shades featuring huge wild monsters cover the windows. Sadly, after this grand finale our tour was over.
I really liked the Rosenbach Museum and found it both relaxing and interesting. I was a little disappointed that photography within the museum was prohibited. Also prohibited was wandering around the museum on your own. My husband and I are the kind of people that well after everyone else has become bored or restless, we are still intently investigating and reading every plaque at a museum. At the Rosenbach you must be accompanied by one of their docents at all times and generally in tour format. I do understand that this is for the safety and well being of the artifacts in the museum, but I do love to wander. If you’re not into art, books, or antiques, I do believe that you would be bored with the Rosenbach Museum. Children also would find it pretty dull. There is no touching of anything allowed, except in the Maurice Sendak gallery, and if you have a child who is a Sendak fan you can make special arrangements to visit that room only. If you’re a nerd like me, however, and know you’ll get a thrill just from seeing Lewis Carroll’s personal copy of Alice in Wonderland or the first edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress or even perhaps would like to learn the significance of the pineapple in colonial antiques, then the Rosenbach Museum is not to be missed.
2008-2010 DeLancey Place
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tel: (215) 732-1600
Fax: (215) 545-7529
Email: info@rosenbach.org
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday 10am-5pm
Wednesday 10am-8pm
Saturday & Sunday 10am-5pm