Upcoming Events

View Event Calendar

In Conversation With The Rosenbach Mini-Series: The Legacy of the Thirteenth Amendment: Hosea H. Harvey

Date / Time

  • December 13, 2018
    6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Hosea H. Harvey is Associate Professor at the Beasley School of Law, Temple University. His research interests center around using empirical methods to solve a central question: what is the appropriate role of the law in minimizing the effects of race and gender disparities in business organizations, consumer markets, and regulatory policies? Professor Harvey’s future publications challenge the empirical basis for recent consumer finance law reforms, arguing that such reforms run counter to consumer behavior and have race and gender stratified consequences

Read more

Hands-On Tour: Early Hebrew Books II

Date / Time

  • December 14, 2018
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

While Jews themselves were rare in the Americas in the 17th century, word of the possible re-appearance of the Lost Tribes of Israel in the New World spread through the printed word in texts published in London and the Continent during the middle of the century. This tour examines early printed books in English, Latin, Dutch, Hebrew, and Native American languages, but only curiosity is required to learn about them. This fascinating mix of books tell a story of cultural misunderstanding in an age of exploration and expansion.

Read more

Friendship & Charity: A Themed House Tour

Date / Time

  • December 19, 2018
    6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

On December 8, 1938, shortly before the beginning of World War Two, Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach hosted a charity rare book auction to benefit European refugees, raising $35,000 through this interfaith endeavor. In the spirit of our founder’s philanthropy, The Rosenbach invites you to join us in tracing the little-known stories of friendship, good will and charity found in our collections.

Read more

Hands-On Tour: Sleuths and Spies

Date / Time

  • December 21, 2018
    3:00 pm - 4:00 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.

Read more

Museum Adventure at the Rosenbach

Date / Time

  • December 27, 2018
    10:00 am - 11:00 am

Calling all pre-schoolers! Come play with us on the last Thursday morning of every month. We’ll read a story together and then embark on a treasure hunt through the Rosenbach brothers’ glitzy Rittenhouse Square home to discover things that relate to the story. Afterward, families are welcome to join us in our activity room for hands-on art making activities, creative play, music and snacks.

Read more

Course: The Brontë Sisters

Date / Time

  • December 30, 2018
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
  • January 27, 2019
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
  • February 24, 2019
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

This course is devoted to the literary achievements of the Brontë sisters, whose first novels arrived on the scene in 1847 with the collective publication of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey. Representing themselves as a trio of brothers — Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell — the Brontës polarized their critics, with many insisting that works as complex as theirs could only be produced by men, while others noted their daring and sometimes radical representation of gender and sexuality.

Read more

Course: Ulysses by James Joyce (Wednesdays)

Date / Time

  • January 2, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • February 6, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • March 6, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • April 3, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • May 1, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • June 5, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm

Heralded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, Ulysses is also considered one of the most daunting. The Rosenbach offers a welcoming discussion-based environment and unparalleled access to primary resource materials from our James Joyce collection to deepen readers’ understanding of the text and the author himself. First-time Ulysses readers and returning fans alike are welcome in either group.

Read more

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

Date / Time

  • January 4, 2019
    3:00 pm - 4:00 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.

Read more