Areas of Collecting

The Rosenbach’s 1860s townhouse and garden provide an intimate setting for the brothers’ collections of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, silver, paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture. The house is located in the heart of the Rittenhouse-Fitler historic district in Center City Philadelphia.

In the years since its founding, the Rosenbach collections have continued to grow.

The decorative and fine arts collections are rich and varied, ranging from Egyptian sculpture and English furniture to American portraiture. Highlights of these collections include a fine mid-18th century Philadelphia tall chest, silver by Hester Bateman and Myer Myers, a portrait by painter Thomas Sully of 19th century civic leader Rebecca Gratz, and the largest collection of oil-on-metal portrait miniatures in the United States.

The Rosenbach preserves a nearly unparalleled rare book and manuscript collection, with particular strength in American and British literature and history. Exhibitions, programs, and research with this collection have focused on Colonial American history, African American history, children’s literature, book arts and technology, gay and lesbian literature, early Modernism, and much more.

Additionally, the Rosenbach has a long and important relationship with the modernist poet Marianne Moore (1887-1972). In the late 1960s, the museum purchased from Moore virtually all of her manuscripts and correspondence. When she bequeathed her personal belongings to the Rosenbach, the living room of her Greenwich Village apartment was recreated in the museum as a permanent installation. The Marianne Moore papers and living room have earned the Rosenbach designation as a National Literary Landmark by Friends of Libraries, USA.

The Rosenbach is an internationally known destination for lovers of literature, art, and history. Permanent installations, special exhibitions, outreach programs, and individualized research appointments work to bring the Rosenbach brothers’ vision to new and broader audiences every day.