CHARMING & GORGEOUS

The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library… Swoon!

Los Angeles is full of hidden gems. One could spend a lifetime in this city and never fully come to know all of its glorious facets. One of LA’s best kept secrets is the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Built between 1924 to 1926, the library boasts a breathtaking collection of rare books and manuscripts, predominantly English literature and history, dating 1641 to 1800. The feather in this grand chapeau, is that The Clark Library has the world’s most comprehensive collection of Oscar Wilde manuscripts and materials. The collection is a treasure trove, offering an inspirational archive that touches the soul and stirs the emotions. It is rare that we have to opportunity to come so close to a great artist.

The Clark Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, with tours available upon appointment. There are also a number of delightful events offered throughout the year. This is a must do/must see for any aesthete.

SCHOLARLY MUSINGS

The Captive

 

“A jealous lover exasperates the woman he loves by depriving her of a thousand unimportant pleasures, but those pleasures which are the keystone of her life she conceals in a place where, even at moments when he thinks that he is showing the most intelligent perspicacity and third parties are keeping him most closely informed, he never dreams of looking.”

 

–The Captive, by Marcel Proust (1941)