Do you go to the library on holiday? I am always looking for inspiration, so when I travel I like to visit local bookshops and libraries. I took the night train to Vienna recently, so of course I had to take a look at one of the city’s many opulent Habsburg legacies: The Imperial Court Library, now known as the Austrian National Library. It’s a dream of a library, and houses several museums, the most famous of which is the one I visited, the Prunksaal, or in English, State Hall.
It’s full of gold and light, and when you walk in, you feel just like Belle trailing the Beast into the most perfect gifted paradise. As anyone who grew up watching the movie knows, she definitely married him for that library. And I’m pretty sure that’s where we also learned at a formative time of life that the key to perfect happiness is a rolling library ladder.
Yes, as I made my way through the library in a trance of wonder, I was taking notes. The Wardrobe, my future bookshop in Italy, will most assuredly have a rolling library ladder. I don’t have quite as much space to work with as the Austro-Hungarian royal family, but at its highest point, my cellar soars to a good four metres (13 feet), which I think we can agree more than justifies a rolling ladder. Other things to love here: the warm wood and gilt flourishes, as well as the light streaming in through all those windows. And have I mentioned the painted ceiling?
I won’t be painting any Baroque scenes on my bookshop ceiling, since I lack the talent and want to keep the original finish intact, including a delicious heavy wooden beam. But part of it includes the unsightly beginnings of a half-finished renovation, so I definitely need to do something to cover up those messy cemented bricks and drywall. Any ideas?
The Austrian National Library houses several large antique globes, another point of inspiration. What is it about globes and maps that makes them feel magical? Maybe it’s the suggestion of other places, other times, the suggestion of parts unknown that might be reachable if we just look hard enough; and the magic of compass roses, shifting borders and “Here there be dragons.”
Several years ago I snagged this little world map lamp for €10 from a secondhand shop. It will definitely be finding a home in The Wardrobe. Is that enough, or should I get a globe as well?
The Austrian National Library is currently home to several small exhibitions, including one with facsimiles of its oldest illuminated manuscripts. Here’s a page from a textbook specially created for 7-year-old future emperor Maximilian. Isn’t it delightful? If you’re going to make a young child read Latin, here’s the least painful way to do it, with whimsical monkeys and musical bears and rabbits in the margins. More distracting than helpful? Perhaps. But what a work of art.
You probably won’t find anything this old or expensive when you visit The Wardrobe in the future, but who knows? Used bookshops are known for hiding unexpected gifts. You never know what you’ll find if you spend an hour or two browsing through the stacks.
So that was my summer adventure/research trip. What’s your favourite bookshop or library you’ve visited on holiday? Or one close to home you’d recommend to someone visiting your home town?
Lovely, and SO inspiring - for both art and travel, thank you!