October MeetingNancy was our host for our October meeting about the book The Personal Librarian, a novel about a real-life figure, Belle da Costa Greene, the librarian and later Director of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. The book was a collaboration between Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. Pat (me) led the discussion. I went into a pretty deep dive on this topic (and sorry to share so many links!). I had the chance to go to the Morgan Museum and Library (here's a link to Morgan website: Morgan Library and Museum) the weekend before our meeting. That was my second visit, but it had changed since my first visit and I had a lot more information after reading the book. Although a small "museum," there is a lot to see and absorb. And there are changing galleries of art and manuscripts and illuminations on display. Belle's interesting life as the Morgan librarian was made more intriguing by her mixed race ancestry, her "passing" as white, as well as her distinguished father, Richard Greener, who was a part of the civil rights movement that sprung up during and after Reconstruction and black elite mother from Washington, DC. We learned about art world experts and dealers; the most important one to Belle was Bernard Berenson, whose patroness in the US was Isabella Stewart Gardner (and we learned a new word, "incanabula"). I am still reading An Illuminated Life by Heidi Ardizzone, which has lots more information, 479 pages not including notes, etc. Among our topics were the value of historical novels, the ethics of "passing" and/or making up one's heritage, the printing press and its effects on Western civilization. I loved Shelley's picture of a similar library she visited in Switzerland! Thank you, Nancy, for hosting, and thanks for the great discussion everyone! Great turnout, too!  Upcoming Meetings
*THIRD THURSDAY OF THE MONTH, WITH EXCEPTIONS |