Hands-On Tour: 19th Century Gay Lives, or, Love Revealed

Date / Time

  • June 5, 2019
    6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Bold, cautious, resolved, ambivalent, and sometimes all of the above, gay men of the 19th century strove for authentic identities in art, literature, and love. In this Hands-on Tour, we’ll look at the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde, follow John Addington Symonds path from self-acceptance to advocacy, fraternize with Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, and see the first use of the word homosexual in an English publication.

Hands-On Tour: Shakespeare the Poet

Date / Time

  • May 31, 2019
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Shakespeare’s youthful narrative poems made his reputation as a writer; his sonnets continue to bewitch and bewilder readers, and the poems in his plays cast spells, calm seas, and unite lovers.

Hands-On Tour: Sleuths and Spies

Date / Time

  • May 22, 2019
    6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

The game is afoot to ferret out the realm of detective and spy literature at the Rosenbach. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore early mystery stories, examine an original cypher belonging to a female Civil War spy, and exercise your sleuthing skills to detect a forgery.

Hands-On Tour: Picturing Cervantes

Date / Time

  • May 1, 2019
    6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

“Picturing Cervantes” explores the ways Don Quixote has been imagined and illustrated through the centuries, featuring remarkable drawings and prints by notable artists such as Gustave Doré and Honoré Daumier.

Hands-On Tour: Shaping Shakespeare

Date / Time

  • February 22, 2019
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

When is Shakespeare not Shakespeare? And what is a folio, anyway? After seeing some of Shakespeare’s earliest printings and books that inspired his plots, we’ll explore how his work has fared at the hands of actors, editors, and forgers.

Hands-On Tour: Mary Shelley

Date / Time

  • May 9, 2019
    6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

The young widow who kept her husband’s heart in her desk, the author of the first post-apocalyptic novel and the immortal Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was so much more than a goth pin-up!

Shakespeare Free Read-Aloud Group: King Lear part 1

Date / Time

  • April 6, 2019
    1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Reading Shakespeare’s plays aloud offers not only a communal way to enjoy these great works but also promotes a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s poetry and wordplay. No acting experience is required to participate — just bring a copy of the play we’re reading…and your voice!