My Word with Douglas E. Welch

There’s nothing better than getting lost in a stack of books—bonus if it’s amidst impressive architecture. Given that it’s currently National Library Week, there is no better time to visit (albeit virtually) some of the most impressive libraries in the world. Below, House Beautiful has rounded up a list of virtual tours of libraries in places like England, Austria, New York, Massachusetts, Mexico, Portugal, and Prague, and we cannot wait to bask in the joy that these magnificent libraries have to offer. Happy library hopping, bibliophiles!

It’s National Library Week 2020! This year’s theme is “Find your place at the library.” While the Smithsonian Libraries has closed its 21 physical branches during the COVID-19 outbreak, our work continues. We invite you to find a place with us online through our virtual resources, continued services, and digital content. We are here to help you explore and discover from the comfort of your home–and we look forward to welcoming you back in person as soon as we can.

If any one of us ran our own country, we’d surely drive no small amount of resources toward building an impressive national library. That would be true even if we ran a country the size of the Vatican, the smallest sovereign state in the world — but one that, unsurprisingly, punches well above its weight in terms of the size and historical value of its holdings. “It was in 1451 when Pope Nicholas V, a renowned bibliophile himself, attempted to re-establish Rome as an academic center of global importance,” writes Aleteia’s Daniel Esparza. That formidable task involved first “building a relatively modest library of over 1,200 volumes, including his personal collection of Greek and Roman classics and a series of texts brought from Constantinople.”

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Huntington House, Huntington Library and Gardens, Pasadena, California

South Front Watercolor

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

Where is your favorite Little Free Library? Share in the comments!

Little Free Library at Center for Colorado Women’s History at Byers-Evans House, Denver, Colorado

Wandering about Denver, we happened upon this historical home which also serves as an important women’s history center. 

This @littlefreelibrary is a miniature version of the historic home. I love Little Free Libraries and echoing the design of the house is wonderful. 

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

The Canterbury Tales, Figure and Text

Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanic Gardens

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Read the Canterbury Tales and More!

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Get The Canterbury Tales for FREE from Gutenberg.org

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Library, Interior, Villa Reale, Monza, Italy

What are your favorite historic sites? Share them in the comments!

I love visiting historic places of all types be they natural or manmade. This is a palace of the Savion Kings of Italy. 

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library