A True Bibliophile’s Work

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~ Aristotle

What a pleasure to return to the Cathedral of Books, well-known as The George Peabody Library in Baltimore.  I wrote about my first visit in August 2018 on SowtheHeart.com, too.

There is so much to learn about this venerable institution, which is one of the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University. This trip a visit to the Rare Books Room made the day very memorable. Along with other things, our tour group learned about fore-edge painting made visible only when the book pages are fanned out, and not closed, Here is an example, but to read more about this hundreds-of-years old unique decorative effect used in book binding, please visit this website.

The library opened its doors in 1878 and many architects come from places worldwide to see this drop-dead gorgeous structure Edmund G Lind designed. From any perspective, it’s a real site to see! Over 300,000 volumes from the Renaissance period through the 19th Century, are housed inside the building walls. The holdings are not books you’d find in any public library. Most are medical and scientific volumes which are now archaic, yet very valuable. First edition printings of publications by Baltimore authors H.L Mencken and poet Edgar Allen Poe can be found on the shelves.

Above Photo: Curator and Librarian Paul Espinosa explaining the acquisition

of the original block used for print making of the image in this rare antiquarian book.

Thanks to Paul Espinosa for sharing his time and vast knowledge. The private tour was arranged by one of our valued book club members, Meg Heisse. It was a wonderful outing.

Join Us back here on SowtheHeart.com on Tuesday, April 9th. I’ll take you to a place where my sister and I and our sidekick used to go when we were teens on our joyrides!