Mathematician and cleric Charles Lutwidge Dodgson published children’s books under the pen name Lewis Carroll. This tour explores both the man and the author with the help of letters from Dodgson to his publishers, original drawings by John Tenniel (the illustrator of the Alice books), photographs of children taken by Dodgson, and of course, copies of his books.

Rosenbacchanal 2025: The Power of the Book will feature a conversation between writer and essayist Adam Gopnik, best known as a staff writer at The New Yorker for the past forty years, and Honoree Arthur Spector, the Rosenbach’s Chair Emeritus. Their discussion will explore the allure, the potency, and the omnipresence of one the most powerful objects the world has ever known: the book.

This tour features the Rosenbach’s collections from Mexico and Texas, including materials from the Spanish Empire, the early years of Mexican independence, and relations with the expanding United States in the 1800s.

The book club’s first season is titled “The Founders, Revisited.” Inspired by rare books and manuscripts in the Rosenbach and Carpenters’ Hall collections, this season’s book club meetings will critically examine the contributions and complicated legacies of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Benjamin Rush. 

This in-depth tour brings us back to the early 18th century as we journey from New York City, home to America’s first Jewish community, to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Together, we’ll meet a vivid cast of characters, learn about a dramatic public spectacle in Harvard Yard, and work with some of Dr. Rosenbach’s treasures of early American Judaica.

On this tour, explore the mythical, enchanting work of the Pre-Raphaelites through the Rosenbach’s collection, and then step into the life of the Pre-Raphaelite’s’ most recognizable muse, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, through the first popularly available edition of her poetry. 

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

• September 22, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

• November 3, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

• February 23, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

• May 18, 2025 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

In this four-part workshop series, explore the creativity and connection that live within the art of Hebrew lettering.  

Join us as we celebrate the June 2025 opening of artist John Y. Wind’s new exhibition, “DEAR JOHN” John Frederick Lewis, John Yaron Wind and the Rosenbach Brothers, that will be featured in the Rosenbach’s newest permanent collection gallery, Treasures from the Rosenbach’s Collection: Judaica, Continental European Literature, the Rosenbachs, & History of the Book. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that rare books and afternoon tea make for a delightful combination! Join the Rosenbach Museum & Library for an unforgettable afternoon voyage into the literary world of Jane Austen.

During this tour, learn how writers such as Lewis Carroll, Eudora Welty and Rudyard Kipling approached the craft of writing.

Join the Rosenbach Board and Delancey Society for our festive annual Spring Soirée.

In this tour, we will meet Queer people from history and consider how their diverse identities shaped their lives and informed their work.

Members are invited to join Kelsey Scouten Bates, The John C. Haas Director of the Rosenbach, and artist John Y. Wind for a fun morning of coffee and conversation.

Every June 16, we gather together to read from Joyce’s Ulysses. It’s a beloved and foundational event for this institution, the home of Joyce’s manuscript of a novel that continues to inspire, scandalize, and thrill.

Join artist John Y. Wind at the Rosenbach’s brand new exhibition, Treasures from the Rosenbach’s Collection: History of the Material Text for a special viewing of his artworks and a tour of the show before stepping outside for a walk to the John Frederick Lewis / John Yaron Wind home on Delancey Place. 

What is the difference between a fake and a forgery? How do either of those differ from a copy? And why does authenticity matter in museum collections? On this tour, we’ll explore these questions by using a wide range of objects in the Rosenbach’s renowned collection.

Join the Rosenbach Museum & Library and the DVLF, Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ community foundation, for a rare opportunity to step inside Princess Grace’s childhood home for a conversation about George Kelly’s identity as a gay man within a proud Irish Catholic immigrant family that prized traditional masculinity.