Every June 16, we gather together to read from Joyce’s Ulysses. It’s a beloved and foundational event for this institution, the home of Joyce’s manuscript of a novel that continues to inspire, scandalize, and thrill.

Join artist John Y. Wind at the Rosenbach’s brand new exhibition, Treasures from the Rosenbach’s Collection: History of the Material Text for a special viewing of his artworks and a tour of the show before stepping outside for a walk to the John Frederick Lewis / John Yaron Wind home on Delancey Place. 

What is the difference between a fake and a forgery? How do either of those differ from a copy? And why does authenticity matter in museum collections? On this tour, we’ll explore these questions by using a wide range of objects in the Rosenbach’s renowned collection.

Join the Rosenbach Museum & Library and the DVLF, Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ community foundation, for a rare opportunity to step inside Princess Grace’s childhood home for a conversation about George Kelly’s identity as a gay man within a proud Irish Catholic immigrant family that prized traditional masculinity. 

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

The Spanish Empire and, later, Mexico relied on ink, paper, and the flow of information to rule over thousands of miles of territory and a complex web of people of various races and ethnicities. On this tour, you will meet Indigenous peoples, mestizos (people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry), Europeans, and African peoples both free and enslaved. 

The Rosenbach Museum & Library holds one of the world’s most significant collections of Burns letters, literary manuscripts, rare books, and artifacts. In this special, hands-on Behind the Bookcase tour, timed to coincide with the 229^th anniversary of Burns’s death on July 21, we will consider enshrinements of Burns and in Burns’s literary works. Even as the poet celebrates life, his work is shot through with meditations on death.  

For over a century, readers have been thrilled by Arthur Conan Doyle’s adventures of the world’s first consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. John Watson, as they battled the criminal forces of London. We’ll use our magnifying glasses to inspect not only first editions of these stories and Doyle’s handwritten manuscript of the Holmes story, “The Adventure of the Empty House,” but also investigate some of the earlier influences of the mystery/detective genre, like Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens.

The Rosenbach Museum & Library holds one of the world’s most significant collections of Burns letters, literary manuscripts, rare books, and artifacts. In this special, hands-on Behind the Bookcase tour, timed to coincide with the 229^th anniversary of Burns’s death on July 21, we will consider enshrinements of Burns and in Burns’s literary works. Even as the poet celebrates life, his work is shot through with meditations on death.  

Herman Melville possessed a warm heart for human nature, a cold eye for the human condition, and the ability to write prose that would awe a Biblical prophet. Join an odyssey through the Rosenbach’s mighty Melville collection in this Behind the Bookcase tour.

Look at rare books and manuscripts in the Rosenbach’s  collection and read aloud some of the most gothic of the Southern Gothic in Dr. Rosenbach’s historic library.

Join the Rosenbach Museum & Library in considering the development of the office of the presidency over the last 249 years. View rare books and manuscripts documenting presidential history from George Washington to Franklin Delano Roosevelt; discuss how the powers of the executive office fit into the separation of powers as outlined in the U.S. Constitution; and reflect on the evolving role of the presidency in the wider work of the federal government and American national life. The tour will include time for reflection and dialogue among participants about the executive office and civic participation. 

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

Celebrate the start of the fall season at the Rosenbach with cocktails, light fare, and a special after-hours opportunity to visit our permanent galleries, Treasures from the Rosenbach’s Collection.  

The game is afoot! Investigate the realm of detective and spy literature in this Behind the Bookcase tour. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discover connections between famous fictional mysteries and the lives—and legacies—of real-world spies. Explore early mystery stories including Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, examine an original cypher belonging to a female socialite and Civil War spy, and exercise your sleuthing skills to detect a forgery in the Rosenbach’s collection. 

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

For over a century, readers have been thrilled by Arthur Conan Doyle’s adventures of the world’s first consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. John Watson, as they battled the criminal forces of London. We’ll use our magnifying glasses to inspect not only first editions of these stories and Doyle’s handwritten manuscript of the Holmes story, “The Adventure of the Empty House,” but also investigate some of the earlier influences of the mystery/detective genre, like Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens.

The apparent simplicity of Emily Dickinson’s poetry is deceptive—beneath her brief, direct language lies profound depths of emotion and insight. In this three-part yoga series, we’ll explore her life and work through movement, breath, and reflection. Each session will weave selected poems into a gentle and meditative yoga sequence, inviting you to embody Dickinson’s themes of solitude, transformation, and wonder. 

In this tour, we’ll connect historical treasures of the Rosenbach collections to the contemporary creative field of Book Arts.

This free, casual open house is the perfect way to explore the Rosenbach at your own pace and introduce your friends and neighbors to the institution.  

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

• May 13, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• June 3, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• July 8, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• September 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• October 14, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• November 11, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• December 9, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

This special book club season of The Ladies of the House of Love will begin with three iconic Gothic works, including one, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), that Austen heavily satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Then, the club will explore lesser-known books that Austen references as “horrid novels” in Northanger. Finally, on December 9, 2025, just one week before Austen’s 250th birthday, the club will read Northanger Abbey and hold a birthday party for the Authoress.  Don’t miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of the Gothic as part of a community of fellow book lovers and Janeites!

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings. 

This American history book club is a partnership of Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Sessions meet variously at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach; check individual program descriptions for details. At least one book club session in the season will include a presentation of rare collection materials related to the themes and topics under discussion during the meetings.