{"id":3071,"date":"2021-12-01T15:55:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T20:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/?p=3071"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:49:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:49:53","slug":"treasures-of-the-new-york-public-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/explore-new-york\/treasures-of-the-new-york-public-library","title":{"rendered":"Treasures of the New York Public Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to choose an exhibition to break out of the difficulty and isolation that the Covid pandemic has produced for more than a year-and-a-half, how about one where you can see the original umbrella connected with Mary Poppins, a tablet of cuneiform characters from the 3rd to the 1st millennia BCA, and a letter that a freed black man wrote to purchase the freedom of his daughter in 1778? The New York Public Library\u2019s Polonsky Exhibition<\/a>, opened as a new permanent offering this fall, has this and more. In a word, it\u2019s sure to engender wonder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The exhibition\u2019s objects span thousands of years of human history. The library has selected 250 rare items from its renowned research collection of some 56 million objects including rare books, prints, photographs, ephemera from pamphlets to flyers, letters, audio and moving images, household items, theatrical props, furnishings, and more. Each extraordinary object tells its own story, reflecting the intricacies of a turning point in history, a memorable cultural moment, a witnessing document or other object from a movement, or a time of great discovery, tragedy, or resilience. In this debut of the \u201cTreasures,\u201d the New York Public Library has organized the exhibition into nine sections: Beginnings, Performance, Explorations, Fortitude, The Written Word, The Visual World, Childhood, Belief, and New York City.<\/p>\n

The exhibit is in the newly restored and renovated Gottesman Hall on the main floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. It is open to the public and free. Admission is by reserved, timed entry, through the New York Public Library\u2019s site, nypl.org\/treasures<\/a>. The exhibition is the first-ever permanent exhibition spotlighting the library’s research collection. It is made possible by a $12 million gift from philanthropist Leonard Polonsky.<\/p>\n

As New Yorkers welcome an active, thriving city after suffering through the Covid pandemic’s shutdowns for a good chunk of the past year-and-a-half and tourism returns bit by bit to New York, this exhibition is a thrilling addition. Still, many remain quite cautious about indoor public settings and travel. So it’s even more heartening that the thoughtfulness evident in the exhibition’s creation extends to a robust online experience (with images and text) and an Audio Guide<\/a> focusing on a selection of objects.<\/p>\n

The exhibit\u2019s aim, in spanning 4,000 years of human history, is to build on the library\u2019s legacy to make new connections that expand understanding of the world and each other, and, in doing so, to shape a better future.<\/p>\n

Here are just some highlights on view in this first iteration of the Treasures exhibition. The exhibition will change and evolve over time, in its themes and selections, which will allow the public to experience the depth of the vast collection within the library\u2019s research collections.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/a>