June 16th! It is Bloomsday once again and it has special significance for Philadelphians. Bloomsday celebrates the day on which James Joyce's protagonist, Leopold Bloom, made his "odyssey" through Dublin in "Ulysses." The entire novel takes place on June 16. And the entire hand-written novel resides in Philadelphia at the Rosenbach Museum, once the Delancey Street home of the brothers Rosenbach who collected rare manuscripts as a hobby. Every June 16, volunteers undertake to read from the manuscript as visitors come and go from the old house and listen in to Joyce's writing.
In addition to "Ulysses," the Rosenbach has the original manuscripts of Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers" and Joseph Conrad's "Lord Jim." Other interesting items on display are Nathaniel Hawthorne's personal copy of "Moby Dick" and Herman Melville's bookcase. The original illustrations for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and the only surviving first printing of "Yankee Doodle" are housed at the Rosenbach.
It is a fine resource we have here in Philly and one that we are proud of.
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