March 7, 2008
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Safely Here
GhostFroggy, BlueSmurfGirl, and Eatyourweightincheesepuffs have all safely arrived. Whee! I have friends here to visit! I’m hoping for lots of fun and travels. But, they are all jet lagged and asleep right now.
Speaking of visits, Thursday we went to London. It was 14 hours of travel and sightseeing, but I’ll just give you one bit right now, The British Library.
This is the entrance to the courtyard.
This is me, looking squinty-eyed and tired in front of the door. You can barely make out “The British Library” on the door behind me.
Why did we go to the library if we weren’t going to check out books? Well, they also have a display room which set my literary heart to pounding. If pictures had been allowed, I’d be regaling you with dozens, but they were not. What did I see in the British Library?
- A Gutenberg Bible
- The Lindisfarne Gospels
- A page from the book of Hebrews from 200 AD
- A letter from Elizabeth I explaining to her counselors why she would not marry
- Edward VI’s diary
- Captain James Cook’s journal
- Original scores in their own handwriting from Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin
- One of W.H. Auden’s notebooks
- A handwritten draft of Oscar Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol
- Jane Eyre written by hand by Charlotte Bronte
- Lewis Carroll’s diary
- A history book Jane Austen and her sister made and illustrated as children
- John Milton’s commonplace book
- A First Folio of Shakespeare
- The Magna Charta (four copies!)
- A Wycliffe Bible
- Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and notes
- The first drafts of many Beatles songs including Hard Day’s Night which was written on the back of a birthday card
- The most exquisitely drawn and painted scrolls from China and the Middle East which were hundreds of years old.
This bibliophile was in alt! The children sat on a bench or amused themselves with the coolest touch-screen thing. You could select a book and then turn the pages via the computer screen. Nifty!
What treasure would you like to see?
Comments (30)
That entire list made me salivate! How I’d love to be there! Did you read why Elizabeth wouldn’t marry? That had me curious.
I have visitors too…the canine kind. 2 added to my own 2, and they are PLAYING hard. I get them for 3 days and it will be loads of fun. My husband is gone for the weekend for work. He’s a pilot, and every 3mos he goes away for the weekend with another pilot and they test/train one another. Many guys pick destinations to party in the evenings when they’re not training, most pick places to golf in their hours off, but my husband and his sidekick pick places to go see their grandmas, their long-time friends, or to see an amazing sight. You should see their photographs of Crater Lake and of Niagara Falls! (I’ll post my favorite of Crater Lake on my site.) So I’m going to work on editing my novel, playing with the dogs, a few projects on the to-do list, and uploading the photos into Kodakgallery of what we did in February (message me your email address if you enjoy looking at people’s photo albums). I’m going to watch The Jane Austen Book Club and Becoming Jane as a follow-on to reading&watching Persuasion last week. Then I’m going to watch Namesake. That’s a wonderful novel that I don’t intend to read. The movie should be a good one.
I AM SO JEALOUS!!!
AND SO COOL THAT YOU HAVE FRIENDS VISITING!
Wow. What a treat to see all of those things!
A treasure I want to see : Tolkien’s journals (C.S. Lewis too!) I’m curious if they ever doodled in their notebooks, they both had such amazing imaginations!
I also love to look at letters/diaries/photos from WWII (one of my favorite history timeperiods.) I’ve seen many of those but they always intrigue me.
Ancient history also interests me … so I’d love to see King Tut’s treasure, or Roman baths … and too many other things to name!
I have been there during a school trip many years ago. I expected a boring library but there is such an amazing collection. You just brought back some great memories to me, thanks!
I’d like to see the ABBA-museum in Sweden. Don’t know if that can be called a “treasure” though.
Once I am done with my jaunt in Norway, I am very much looking forward to my six treasures (1 + 5)…
You are all constantly in our thoughts. If you have a chance, we would love to see pics of you guys with the girls. Hope they are keeping their eyes open!
VERY COOL! That sounds amazing! I would have liked to have seen Beatrix Potter originals.
I knew you would love the British Library! The Museum of London was another one of our favorites.
sounds like fun
ah-ah-ah *swoons*. I so wish you could have taken pictures!! If I ever go to England someday–make that when I go to England someday–I have to visit that library. It is so amazing to think that things that old are still around. It gives me chills.
Aw, man. I always was annoyed by people who took pictures *anyway*, even when they weren’t allowed, when I was straining to keep the rules even though I so desperately wanted pictures. Grrr. I love the handwritten copy of Jane Eyre!
That sounds absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!! To see all of those things…in their original writing! WOW! How amaingly awesome. lol. It would have been uber exciting to be able to take pictures. Whenever I’m in a place where I can’t do that I look at the details and engrave them in my brain, and then like to put bits and pieces into a book. That is always cool. I haven’t done much book writing though physically, just menatally, but you get the idea. Glad you are having such a great time!
Wow, that sounds like a GREAT time! And have fun with your friends, once they get over their jet lag.
Wow! A day of treasures indeed! I’m so glad you are enjoying all of these highlights of the “Mother Land”.
Wow! You must be having a wonderful time! I am enjoying reading your posts and seeing your great photos. It’s almost as if I’M in England
Be still my heart.
Wow! I would love to see all of those. I may just have to start a bucket list and put the British Library on it.
Saw this and thought of you
http://www.zazzle.com/who_would_you_choose2_edited_shirt-235424965631623936?ZCMP=ProductPageRecs
@englishwestern -
Hee hee. I pick the golden eye. Thanks for a remember and a chuckle.
C iao, sono/Je suis martino digesu, un Cinese che abito in Hongkong, Cina. Sono un voluntario per i andicappati. Possiamo essere amicizie? Dio ti ama immensamente. Auguri. my blog is網誌是http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/mar-gesu， 謝謝你，願主的平安及祝福常與你同在。耶穌基督無限的愛你，祂為你我的罪惡而釘死在十字架上贖罪，來訪認識祂吧。God loves you so much that He dies for you. Trust Him.
It all sounds wonderful!
That display room sounds like heaven too me! All those magnificent orginals. What a treasure!
I would’ve loved to see some of Chopin’s original scores! His collection of etudes is one of my favorites.
I just saw this post, and may I say that I am truly envious. I’m glad you had the chance to see all of those works…I’m sure it was a wonderful experience.
Too cool for words.
God bless you Mary!
I would very much like to see a Gutenberg Bible. I guess I’ll just have to go to Wikipedia . . .
What a trip you are having!
If I had to pick one place I’d like to go, I would choose Jerusalem. I would love to see that. But there are so many great things to see!
Easter shopping went well which means, it is done! whew! When we were little, we got new dresses and hats and white gloves. Hannah got khaki walking shorts! Things change and battles are chosen. This isn’t one I want to fight. Clothes don’t make the person; at least she will be clean.
Oh, wow. Just plain wow. That would be awesome!
Coolness!
I think I would like to see the Lindisfarn Gospels, since I don’t know what those are. I would like to see an illuminated manuscript too.