When we spent a long weekend in Philly last month, my sister-in-law and I toured the rare book collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

It was such a large tour group that we had to split into two. During the one-hour tour our docent kept encouraging us to get up close and take pictures of the books and manuscripts, so I snapped many photos so I could remember what I wanted to look up later. Here are a few of the fascinating things that were on display.

New-England Primer Enlarged (1771)

This was the first reading textbook published in the colonies. On the frontispiece “George the Third” has been changed to George Washington, “protector of American liberty.”

Bible (c. 1250)

This Bible created in Paris was stunning. I still cannot fathom how anyone could write such tiny script.

Cuneiform Student Tablets (c. 1900-1600 BC and c. 2100-2000 BC)

These handheld tablets were used by students training to be scribes. They would press a stylus into the clay to make wedge-shaped symbols; mistakes could easily be smoothed over. The Free Library of Philadelphia has about 3000 of these ancient cuneiform tablets and, surprisingly enough, used to lend them out to patrons!

A true & faithful relation of what passed for many yeeres between Dr. John Dee and… some spirits (1659)

This page from a book about John Dee (1527-1609) was basically a precursor to the Ouija board. Dee was a court astronomer and advisor to Elizabeth I, who was also an occultist who tried to communicate with angels.

Illustration for Rip Van Winkle by N.C. Wyeth

The Free Library has a “Brandywine School” collection featuring the work of Howard Pyle and his followers. It was lovely to see some of N.C. Wyeth’s illustrations as full size paintings.

Poison Books

One interesting display was of books with green covers. Copper arsenic compounds were used to colour some cloth bound books in the Victorian era. I can see why, since they are a lovely shade called Paris green; unfortunately arsenic is poisonous and frequent handling could cause dizziness and nausea.

Fraktur Art

Fraktur is a type of folk art created by the Pennsylvania Dutch; it was used to decorate important documents like birth and baptism certificates.

As you can see, the Free Library’s collections are wide-ranging — thematically, geographically, and chronologically. If you are ever in Philadelphia I recommend that you stop by and see what’s on display.