The Beinecke

I struggled to drag Tony away from here today but I must admit to also finding the rare books on display extremely interesting, mainly because they were old British ones. This is the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. From the outside the building looks like one of those architectural monoliths which so readily mar the landscape, particularly when surrounded by the 'Collegiate Gothic' style of the Yale University buildings (some of them styled I would think on Oxbridge Colleges). However you can forgive the architect when you go inside the building and its purpose becomes clear. Each of the marble panels is just 1.5" thick and it allows an orange glow to permeate the inside. This protects the rare books and manuscripts from light damage. The central storage facility is humidity controlled and you can only access the books in there with a special pass. We had to make do with looking at the books in glass cases around the outside. There was one document which appeared to be written by Queen Elizabeth's tutor and it gave a real insight into her character - but we couldn't turn the page to find out what happened next!
It's been a fascinating first day in New Haven. We took a guided tour of the University Campus with a student guide then met Becks and Rob for lunch before wandering back through Yale, the Sterling Memorial Library (I wasn't so sure about this, looked too much like a cathedral),the cemetery (Glenn Miller's Grave amongst others) and yet another coffee shop. We also got to see the lab where Becks and Rob work which means I can visualise it when we are back home. Roll on Day 2!