How Do I Get Into The Rare Book And Manuscript Library At Yale University?

4 Comments »

• Nick Pelling says:

  June 26, 2009 at 3:56 am

  The Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library now has a policy of refusing to let anyone examine MS 408 (the Voynich Manuscript) without a very good reason. I was lucky enough to examine the VMs myself in Spring 2006 (and I’m neither a Yale alumnus nor a Beinecke family member), and frankly I can see their point: though most pages are in good condition, some parts (particularly the “9-rosette” fold-out map, and pages near the spine) are extremely fragile. It’s in need of restoration, but that would be costly.
  On the bright side, the Beinecke has put really good scans of all bar one page (I think) on its website: these are at a high enough resolution to answer most straightforward codicological questions.
  All in all, I would say that if you have a very specific question about the VMs which cannot be answered by looking at the scans (which, after all, are easily available and free gratis) and which should be able to be answered merely by looking at the manuscript, the Beinecke may well be happy for you to look at it.
  However, if you don’t have any academic credentials, it may sharply limit the length of your examination (5 minutes might be representative) and insist that a curator is with you throughout. You may also not be allowed to physically touch it.
• Weird Videos says:

  June 26, 2009 at 9:03 am

  Look for the university archives. They are generally open to the public and, in most university libraries, are the ones who run the rare book/manuscript rooms–I’ve worked at 3 archives through college and law school (one state school, one Seven Sisters, and one small Midwestern school) and that is the way it was handled at all three of them.
  In the Yale directories, you’d be looking for Bob Smith, University Archivist, or Jane Smith, Special Collections Librarian, to give you some idea what to look for. I can’t speak to Yale in particular, though.
• Baby Dress Shoes says:

  June 26, 2009 at 11:52 am

  Go to the front desk and ask for an appointment.
• guess who at large says:

  June 26, 2009 at 5:06 pm

  Here is the Voynich Manuscript*:
  Look at it… and contact them if you need more information:http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_cros…http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/
  * It is available for viewing on-line!

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